8 dRep Cardano Catalyst Proposals which won and will be funded

This article is the list and analysis of 8 dRep proposals which won in Project Catalyst Fund9 and very soon they will funded. For those who don't know, in brief - Project Catalyst is Cardano governance platform (DAO or Decentralized Innovation Fund) where people submit proposals, analyze them, vote, and successful proposals get funded from Cardano treasury. dRep stands for Deletagated Representative - that's the next step of Catalyst governance evolution. The Project Catalyst grew so big when there are more than 1000 proposals which makes it hard for people even vote for the big amount of them (and imagine how many proposals would you be able to study). That's why in the future there will be a possibility to delegate you voting power to dReps. So in a way dRep is the analogy of a Deputy or MP (member of parliament). I submitted my application to be a dRep. Since the beginning of Project Catalyst I've read and studied so many proposals so I think I might a be good dRep.

About dRep, Cardano governance, and blockchain governance in general there will be more material. There were 2 workshops and I will cover this topic more in a future article. But in this particular article, I want to study the winners of Fund9 for the particular "dRep improvement and onboarding" category. The same category with the total budget of 100K ADA will be in the next Fund10, so if you become interested - you can join and submit your proposal or you can cooperate with somebody else on already existing projects if there will be such opportunities.

I. Catalyst SDK dRep support

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/419171

Problem statement: Cardano will be introducing dRep support for Catalyst. However, at the moment, there is no SDK for wallets and projects to implement dRep support

No wonder this proposal became #1 by votes as dcSpark and Sebastien Guillemot are very popular in the Cardano community. The voters entrusted dcSpark with $40000. For me there are still many questions about how dRep system will function, I got the basic info from the workshops, but I'll think we'll know more in a month, in 2 months. Also what I need to say is that Sebastien has interesting ideas on reforming Catalyst, I recorded with him interview in past, and will try to make an interview with him in the future.

II. Eastern Hemisphere dRep TownHall

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/420262

Problem statement: Participating as a dRep is difficult when you live in a different time zone and when English is not your main language.

The Eastern Hemisphere Town Hall was created as a safe place for the different time zones and languages of Eastern Hemisphere communities to learn, collaborate and build on Cardano. It's functioning for a while as an addition to the main Catalyst townhall (which is every Wednesday), and this project with budget $23060 might be called an addition to Eastern Hemisphere proposal with a focus on dRep aspect.

III. Support dRep Japan and Vietnam

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/415035

Problem statement: The dReps in the non-native English community like Japan and Vietnam have difficulty reading and understanding meeting documents, announcements, and communications from Catalyst, Cardano.

This project with a budget of $14500 will Create Japanese and Vietnamese versions of dRep documents, information, and announcements and share them with the community to support existing dRep and attract new dRep.

IV. dRep tool for non-English speakers

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/414969

Problem statement: The busy dReps in non-English communities don't have enough time and language skills to select and vote on the right proposals. This affects the efficiency of voting delegation.

This project with a budget $26500 will create a searchable tool for dRep use, which contains the proposal summary’s content and review in 3 languages: English, Japanese, and Vietnamese.

You might wonder, why again Japanese and Vietnamese languages? But that's how decentralized voting works. This and the previous proposal are different, the voters couldn't know that both of them will win.

V. Underprivileged DREPS Campaigning

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/421816

Problem statement: We need Dreps representing diverse regions and cultures. Those Dreps living in underprivileged countries will find difficult to achieve saturation, creating inefficiencies in the governance.

This project with a budget $19600 will create underprivileged DREPs campaigning center, for 5 DREPs that will have to apply, contest, and be voted by the community (LATAM).

VI. dRep Interview Channel

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/421562

Problem statement: A lot of people don't know about dRep. Voter doesn't have much information about dRep to delegate their vote. Many people want to become dRep but don't know how to introduce themselves to the community

This proposal with a budget $16800 will create a Youtube channel to interview dReps.

VII. dRep Education Book Club

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/414985

Problem statement: IOG has recommended some books for dReps to read. It’s hard to get motivated to read books, and often harder to fully comprehend on one’s own. We benefit from a facilitated way to learn the material.

This proposal with a relatively small budget (compared to other proposals) $3750, will continue a series of book club meetings with a focus on dRep books and topics as recommended by IOG.

VIII. Democracy Means Everyone is dRep

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/414407

Problem statement - Link to dRep application form

The answer to this problem statement also leads to the same application form, as well as all the other links. The budget is $100 and basically, that's the empty proposal, was it a joke or just a message that "Everyone is dRep" which got enough votes and therefore additional attention?..

So these are 8 projects. Let me know if such articles are useful and I will be analyzing more proposals in the future.