As the Cardano ecosystem readies itself to welcome in the age of Voltaire, a brand-new member-based organization has launched with the purpose of creating a new generation of tools for supercharging community participation in Cardano governance.

Its name: Intersect.

Advancing Progress at the Intersection of Cardano and Its Community

Intersect is a community-driven organization tasked with ensuring the ongoing maintenance and future development of the Cardano ecosystem.

Maintaining Cardano’s core technology and developing a roadmap for the future attracts a diverse group of stakeholders. As a natural aggregation point—a Cardano town square—Intersect allows firms and organizations making contributions to the ecosystem to raise and elevate their voices on how Cardano’s should evolve.

Borne out of the sentiment that every voice deserves to be heard, and that power should not be concentrated in the hands of a few, but rather be diffused among the many, Intersect unites members behind a shared vision to create a safe, secure, and collaborative ecosystem where continued growth and evolution of Cardano is guaranteed.

What It Means to Build Together on Intersect

Cardano was founded on the belief that the current global legacy architecture is outdated and no longer fit for purpose. The more people participate, believe in, and contribute to Intersect, the more, together, we can disrupt this architecture and build a fairer global system for all.

For this reason, Intersect members play a central role in shaping the future direction of Cardano—explore below what becoming an Intersect member can deliver to you specifically, and the Cardano community as a whole.

Companies

For companies, Intersect delivers direct access to the underlying blueprints and technology for the community, beginning with the Cardano Node, core Cardano libraries and accompanying documentation, knowledge, and contributors.

Individuals

For individuals, Intersect brings together everyone who wants a voice in the future of Cardano, while also ensuring that they have all the resources they need to fully understand the choice they make.

Developers

For developers, Intersect will bring faster decisions around proposals, more visibility in the CIPs process, and transparency around where to submit and raise issues.

Community

For the Cardano community, Intersect is the filtering point to bring together all the distinctive voices, resources, and projects in Cardano. It is both a philosophical hub and an administrative center for the latest Cardano news, open-source projects, repos, documentation, guides, and knowledge required to maintain the protocol.

The Future of Intersect in 2023 and Beyond

Intersect puts the Cardano community at the heart of its mission to build together.

In pursuit of this goal, Intersect will be the community’s town hall for advancing Cardano’s core technology, and developing a roadmap for the future of Cardano. This includes funding opportunities in the form of grants and work packages for which members can apply, the organization of events to bring together the community, and the launch committees to make sure every member gets their voice heard in the discussion of Cardano’s future.

Grants and Work Packages

These can best be thought of as procurement briefs capturing the requirements that Cardano and institutions (including, but not limited to, Intersect) need vendor support to deliver. Through working groups, committees, and the governing board, Intersect, in furtherance of votes and mandates by the Cardano community, will identify work packages aimed at maintaining the current state of Cardano, or contributing to the Technical Roadmap that will define its future direction.

Intersect may also look to propose work packages for community consideration and approval. Once approved and created, Intersect will then invite experienced and capable members to bid for them, and facilitate oversight.

For larger work packages, Intersect will facilitate delivery progress and, through its members, hold firms accountable. Members will participate in Cardano’s governance through various member-led committees and working grounds who may, ultimately, author technically-sound governance action proposals.

Events

Intersect members, initially its Founding Members, will also enjoy the opportunity to propose and run events for fellow members both virtually, and as local meet-ups.

The ambition of these events will be to unite the Cardano ecosystem and build stronger working relationships—crucial to realizing the ultimate potential of the Cardano ecosystem. These member conferences will require a working group for whom the responsibility to plan events and content will be necessary on an ongoing basis—as such, marketing opportunities will exist for all members.

Committees

As Intersect launches, committees and working groups will form and become the pulse and stimulus to everything that Cardano can achieve. Right from the start, the Parameter Committee will be hosted at Intersect to help align objectives, and a Technical Steering Committee will follow soon after to help guide progress forward.

Other committees and working groups can form around CIPs or specific topics on which members want to have a structured forum, and will be key to driving unity across the wider community.

Putting You at the Heart of the Future of Cardano

Ultimately, the future of Intersect is what its members want it to be. As a member, you will have the opportunity to define the role you play in shaping the ongoing evolution of Cardano, and how it supports the development of the protocol.

Intersect is here to facilitate the continued development of Cardano towards its participatory governance and self-sustaining future. If you’d like to be one of the Founding Members of Intersect playing a central role in enabling individuals and communities to work collaboratively to actively shape their own destinies, start your journey with Intersect.