This week’s report includes some exciting additions, from updates to our knowledge base on working groups, exciting new DRep Pioneer Program, new funding opportunities, Intersect workshop in Tokyo, and much more. It’s another big week at Intersect!

Committees & working groups - new knowledge base update

Intersect and its members play an important role in shaping the advancement of the Cardano blockchain, including the upcoming governance features. Driven by committees and working groups, members are shaping the future of Cardano in a distributed and collaborative way.

Since Intersect’s launch last summer, there have been numerous working groups proposed and stood up by members, including pre-existing working groups that have migrated over. Surfacing and navigating current working groups and how members can contribute has been a challenge. We’ve now updated the knowledge base to reflect active or proposed working groups. We will update and evolve this section regularly to provide greater transparency and improve onboarding.

DRep Pioneer Program grant

DReps are a vital part of Cardano’s governance design - voting on governance actions on behalf of other ada holders who have delegated their voting power. As we embark on this new governance journey, participation and inclusion are critical for a healthy system, and education continues to be a core pillar.

Building off the progress the community has already made on DReps through numerous global workshops, we’re opening up a new DRep Pioneer Program grant. We’re specifically looking for applications from member organizations capable of delivering a co-designed DRep Pioneer course to the Cardano community as Pioneer Workshop Leaders. If you are interested in collaborating on designing & launching the program as a Pioneer Workshop Leader, grants of ₳25,000 are available.

Express your interest

Community tooling update

A big update to community tooling and grants on offer to Intersect members! The Inclusion and Accessibility Category has now opened for three weeks. This grant category supports different initiatives to open up and make Cardano governance and Intersect more accessible.As such, we have identified specific opportunities and split this grant into subcategories:

1. Intersect Town Halls: We’re looking for a member to lead organizing, facilitating, and creating an identity for our monthly town hall meetings. The applicant will suggest and agree with Intersect on the fixed topics that get covered at every Town Hall (eg spotlight on a particular DApp, regional Intersect Community Hub insights, what’s new on the blockchain, etc.) One grant of ₳30,000 to run Town Halls until the end of 2024 (likely starting in either April or May) is available.
   
2. After Town Halls: Similar to above, we’re looking for either a joint application to run both the main and after Town Halls virtual gatherings or two different applicants. We are looking for a member to collect topics for these spaces, promote, and facilitate sessions with other members. One grant of ₳10,000 to run After Town Halls until the end of 2024 (likely starting in either April or May) is available.
   
3. Twitter space: We are looking for a member to run two Twitter (X) spaces per month for the year (24 X spaces at least one hour long - 2 a month for 12 months). This would include mapping out a content plan, inviting members to co-host, promoting spaces through various channels, and keeping spaces that are fun, engaging, and active. ₳30,000 available.
   
4. Open space: Similar to the open category, this area’s goal is to capture ideas on inclusivity and accessibility that may not be covered by current opportunities. We encourage you to be thoughtful and creative to enable anybody from around the world to easily engage with Intersect and Cardano governance. ₳30,000 available.
   
5. Cardano Governance remote workshops: The aim of the remote virtual workshops is to educate and inform the Cardano community about all the new governance features making their way on-chain later this year. Participation and accessibility to Cardano’s governance will be vitally important as the governance rollout continues. Applicants can consider all governance and Intersect topics (see CIP-1694 for inspiration). ₳500 per workshop. This category will open at the start of April.
   
6. Governance tools multi-language support: Translation of governance tools into multiple languages (eg GovTool, Constitution Committee Portal, the Constitution). ₳200,000 will be available to be split across multiple proposals. This will open at the start of Q3, once tools are built.
   
7. Intersect are also providing an incentive range between ₳1,000 - 5,000 for local face-to-face meetups covering Intersect and Cardano’s governance. If you are interested in running an event like this, please complete this form and we will get back to you.

Read more and apply

In other news, the Open Category will close on March 28. Click here to apply or get more information.

Intersect events

Intersect members Adam Dean and Yuta hosted a fantastic workshop in Tokyo on March 16, focussing on Cardano’s governance system, including Intersect’s evolving role and impact. Over 35 attendees considered a range of topics from treasury withdrawals, budget allocations, educational programs, and much more. You can read the summary and output on the Cardano Forum.

Intersect returns to Tokyo in April for the Teamz Blockchain event. We’ll be highlighting Cardano’s pioneering governance rollout and why it positions Cardano as a leading example of how global financial and social infrastructure can be governed at scale for diverse global needs. Jack Briggs, Intersect’s director of marketing and communications, will deliver a keynote speech on the main stage at 14:00 JST on April 13. You can review the full agenda here. We’d love to see you there, and we’ve secured a special discount for our members. To attend, please visit https://en.web3.teamz.co.jp and use the code INTERSECT2024 at checkout.

Looking a little further ahead to May, there will be another Intersect workshop in California, plus Intersect heads to Consensus! More on both soon.

SanchoNet and CIP updates

Intersect member IOG released a new SanchoNet-compatible pre-release build of DB-Sync (Sancho-4.1.0). This, among other updates, adds initial support for the governance metadata standards CIP-100 and CIP-108. CIP-100, developed by SundaeLabs, proposes a base standard for all CIP-1694-related off-chain metadata. This first implementation of both CIPs marks a step forward for all governance tooling.

This week, representatives from the Wallets Working Group attended a workshop hosted by the Cardano Blockchain Infrastructure Alliance (CBIA), to present work on their Query Layer Initiative. This initiative aims to standardize, via CIPs, how Cardano data is requested and returned from blockchain data providers. CBIA members keenly discussed the motivations and challenges for the initiative. See the recording here.

Here are this week's stats for SanchoNet:

Governance Tooling Update

Governance tooling - including Govtool - continues to evolve. The Byron team has been progressing with the development of two crucial features: governance action submission and DRep directory. These enhancements aim to streamline governance processes and improve user experience overall. Soon, users will be able to propose and submit actions directly on the platform, fostering transparent decision-making, and view all the registered DReps, including their profiles, in an easy-to-access list.

Additionally, our direct voter feature is undergoing testing and will soon enter beta, allowing users to register to vote with their own voting power. Furthermore, the WeDeliver team has been progressing with the proposal discussion feature which is nearing the end of its design phase, with usability testing on the horizon. We're committed to fostering a collaborative environment where every voice is heard. Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to enhance your experience.

In addition, the Bloxico team has completed the design phase of the Constitutional Committee Portal in alignment with the Civics Committee and the LidoNation team has started refinement of the DRep Campaign Platform.

Govtool user stats for the week:

This week we held the first session of the Governance Tools Working Group, which is tasked to define the process to decentralize the ownership of these governance tools (including Govtool). We are extending the call to those who may wish to join a governance tool working group and participate in decentralizing governance tool development. If you’d like to participate, please complete this form or join the conversation in this discord channel. You can learn more about decentralizing governance tool development in this short orientation.

Start testing the latest governance features using GovTool

ICYMI - New role to support the consultation on Cardano’s constitution

Intersect and its members play an important role in shaping the proposed on-chain governance mechanisms - and the development of off-chain tools and processes to support it, including the rollout of Cardano’s first Constitution, which will be drafted and ratified throughout 2024. This process will involve thousands of participants worldwide. We’re looking for a Community Engagement Manager to support the rollout and consultation process. For those interested, Intersect members are encouraged to apply! Read more.

And remember to save the date for our town hall on March 26 at 16:00 UTC—we're eager to connect with you and hear your insights. Register here to secure your spot!

We’re always interested in hearing more from you about any of the subjects important to you, such as Cardano’s governance. If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions, please get in touch via email, Twitter, or LinkedIn.