Community Engagement Scores

Compnay Name

Photrek

Service Details

Photrek proposes to support the community decision-making processes for SingularityNET’s Deep Funding program by developing a Community Engagement Score (CES). Photrek successfully completed the proof of concept with Deep Fund 2 Tooling funds. With the Round 3 SingularityNET RFP funds Photrek will:

1. advance the development of the CES system to integrate further requirements that satisfy deep funding’s processes of outputting final voting weights and rewards for their users;

2. ensure that the tool remains grounded in current academic literature and best practices including the investigation of future functionalities such as social metrics, knowledge graphs, and the potential impact of this tool on the centralization in decision-making as highlighted in the RFP. Evaluate the tool’s integration with available and emerging products and maintain engagement with the SingularityNET Community; and

3. deliver a refined, tested, and community-aligned feature-rich system ready for testing, complete with documentation and ready for deployment. System will be aligned with community values and with functionalities that adhere to the foundational requirements.

The proposal outlines a 6-8 month timeline to build a system that seamlessly integrates voting calculations with the determined engagement scores. Utilizing agile methodology, the development process is divided into essential milestones. These include the creation of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), research and investigation of advanced features, exhaustive testing, and final deployment. Our approach is designed to provide a solution that is not only more efficient and accurate but also aligns with the values and needs of the SingularityNET community.

The Photrek team will work closely with our advisors, Jan Horlings, SingularityNET VP of Product.

Problem Description

The problem we are aiming to solve

Organizations frequently confront the necessity of decision-making and resource allocation, often basing these decisions on feedback from their users. Insights gleaned from a user’s engagement history and their record of positive contribution enable the tailoring of their influence in the organization's decisions.

In a system where all members have equal voting weight, decision-making may not accurately reflect the diverse attributes of users, such as their history of constructive participation or ownership of assets within the organization. A more nuanced approach is necessary.

SingularityNET is a prime example of a platform that requires a user-influenced decision-making process. Two main use cases in SingularityNET where reputation or engagement scores are pivotal are as follows:

1. Deep Funding: Users rate proposals on a scale from 1 to 10, and those accumulating enough points are eligible for funding. Funds are allocated based on aggregate grades until resources are exhausted. Here, voting power depends on users' AGIX holdings and activity on the SWAE portal.

2. Governance: Users vote on Deep Funding’s direction, choosing from predefined answers. Once again, AGIX holdings and SWAE portal activity influence the voting power.

SingularityNET uses Quadratic Voting, where the square root of a user's balance determines a vote's weight, in conjunction with an engagement score, which protects against wallet splitting and gives credit to active members of the community. The current process however poses many potential problems:

• Inefficiency: The manual analysis in spreadsheets becomes increasingly tedious and prone to mistakes as participation grows.

• Lack of Transparency: There is a susceptibility to human error and a lack of clear explanation for the community.

• Difficulty in Tracking: From an organizational standpoint, there is no tool that can seamlessly consolidate data from multiple platforms to calculate engagement scores based on various configurations.

• Opacity in Calculation: Users are unable to modify their actions to align with community values, as the calculations of voting power remain unclear.

Photrek collaborated with the Deep Funding team and the SingularityNet community during deep funding round 2 to create a transparent and dependable proof of concept for calculating user engagement scores, determining rewards, and voting weights in line with SingularityNET's values. This includes the implementation of network centrality algorithms for more complex future calculations, the definition of requirements for subsequent phases of the project, and research determining a set of principles and procedures for the SingularityNET community to establish a framework for engagement scores. 

The existing proof of concept however doesn’t encompass all that is needed for finalizing voting weights for community members. Photrek is now committed to developing a minimum viable product (MVP) that will seamlessly integrate the automated engagement scores with voting calculations, ultimately yielding a final voting weight.

In addressing these problems, we are aiming to create a system that is more responsive, scalable, and aligned with the needs and values of the community. By focusing on these aspects, we believe that our efforts will contribute positively to the evolution of user-driven decision-making within deep funding and the Singularity Net ecosystem.

Solution Description

Photrek has successfully completed a proof of concept for deep funding 2. An open-source tool that processes JSON output generated by the current proposal platform Swae and calculates an engagement score for each participant, excluding those with minimal or no engagement.

POC Key Features

• Participant Ranking: The system classifies participants based on their scores.

• Algorithmic Rewards Distribution: Rather than using fixed tiers, the system employs an intelligent algorithm to determine both rewards and voting weights.

• Network Centrality Algorithms: Exploration of these algorithms allows for more nuanced calculations down the line, where scores may depend on both the feedback provided and the position of the individual offering it.

• Intermediate Reports: The system is capable of generating detailed reports, offering insights into the workings of the algorithm.

  See this intermediate report

  as an example output

The efforts also include the implementation of the definition of requirements for subsequent phases of the project, and research determining a set of principles and procedures for the SingularityNET community to establish a framework for engagement scores. 

For additional details, see the evolving

the

and the

produced by the team.

Milestone & Budget

This is potentially a 6-8 month project, broken down into six milestones plus the contract signing. Each milestone is estimated to be one month with a one to two month buffer for unanticipated requirements. For each milestone, the Program Management will include team and community meetings conducted using the principles of Sociocracy as well as written reports of milestone accomplishments.

Milestone 0: Contract Signing & Management Reserve

• Funds held in reserve for unexpected requirements

• Bonus pool for team if deliveries are on-time and within budget

Milestone 1: Initial Setup and Community Alignment

• Conduct team and community meetings to establish objectives and align on the project vision.

• Set up necessary project management tools and procedures for effective execution.

• Early engagement with the SingularityNET community and integration partners for value alignment. 

• Deliverable: A well-established project environment and initial alignment with community values.

Milestone 2: Preliminary MVP Development

• Expand database to include new data sources

• Ability to import data exports from Voting Portal + wallet linking tool (wallet addresses, token balances, and voting results)

• Create a mapping between the voting portal data and the wallet linking tool export to associate UUIDs with the respective wallet addresses.

• Deliverable: Initial system functionalities that adhere to the foundational requirements.

Milestone 3: Advanced MVP Development and Knowledge Graph Research

• Start processes to consume wallet balances and prepare for quadratic voting calculations. 

• Research regarding the role of knowledge graphs in managing engagement score inputs and outputs.

• Implementation of Voting Weight calculations based on the engagement rating of participants. 

• Deliverable: Advanced MVP functionalities, including role of knowledge graphs.

Milestone 4: Awards Calculation, Project Scoring, and Documentation

• Implement algorithms to calculate engagement awards.

• Calculate the total score for each project, define awarded proposals, and design a dashboard for data presentation.

• Develop a CSV generator for engagement rewards payment and ensure functional and technical documentation is in place.

• Initiate and maintain a GitHub repository for open-source collaboration. 

• Deliverable: A feature-rich system ready for testing, complete with documentation.

Milestone 5: Investigation of Enhanced Features and Non-Functional Requirements

• Analyze "should have" and "nice to have" requirements, creating blueprints for potential implementations.

• Explore future functionalities like social metrics and knowledge graphs.

• Assess the tool's potential influence on decision-making centralization, emphasizing blockchain's decentralized nature. 

• Deliverable: A comprehensive report and plan on the next stages of enhancements and potential functionalities.

Milestone 6: Testing, Refinements, and Final Community Engagement

• Rigorous testing to ensure system robustness.
• Host Q&A sessions with the Deep Funding Team to gather feedback.
• Further value alignment by engaging the SingularityNET community and deep funding team for feedback and refinements. 
• Deliverable: A refined, tested, and community-aligned system ready for deployment

Related Links

Blog articles that present previous manual calculations and graph visualizations:

• Analysis of Deep Funding round 1
• Analysis of Governance round 1

• Photrek Deep Funding Round 2

  proposal and reports

  .

• POC example output:

  https://deepfunding.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/report.html

Community Governance Repository:

Long Description

Company Name

Photrek

Request for Proposal Pool

RFP1: Community Engagement Score - Part 2

Summary

Photrek proposes to support the community decision-making processes for SingularityNET’s Deep Funding program by developing a Community Engagement Score (CES). Photrek successfully completed the proof of concept with Deep Fund 2 Tooling funds. With the Round 3 SingularityNET RFP funds Photrek will:

1. advance the development of the CES system to integrate further requirements that satisfy deep funding’s processes of outputting final voting weights and rewards for their users;

2. ensure that the tool remains grounded in current academic literature and best practices including the investigation of future functionalities such as social metrics, knowledge graphs, and the potential impact of this tool on the centralization in decision-making as highlighted in the RFP. Evaluate the tool’s integration with available and emerging products and maintain engagement with the SingularityNET Community; and

3. deliver a refined, tested, and community-aligned feature-rich system ready for testing, complete with documentation and ready for deployment. System will be aligned with community values and with functionalities that adhere to the foundational requirements.

The proposal outlines a 6-8 month timeline to build a system that seamlessly integrates voting calculations with the determined engagement scores. Utilizing agile methodology, the development process is divided into essential milestones. These include the creation of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), research and investigation of advanced features, exhaustive testing, and final deployment. Our approach is designed to provide a solution that is not only more efficient and accurate but also aligns with the values and needs of the SingularityNET community.

The Photrek team will work closely with our advisors, Jan Horlings, SingularityNET VP of Product.

Funding Amount

$80,000

Our Solution

The problem we are aiming to solve

Organizations frequently confront the necessity of decision-making and resource allocation, often basing these decisions on feedback from their users. Insights gleaned from a user’s engagement history and their record of positive contribution enable the tailoring of their influence in the organization's decisions.

In a system where all members have equal voting weight, decision-making may not accurately reflect the diverse attributes of users, such as their history of constructive participation or ownership of assets within the organization. A more nuanced approach is necessary.

SingularityNET is a prime example of a platform that requires a user-influenced decision-making process. Two main use cases in SingularityNET where reputation or engagement scores are pivotal are as follows:

1. Deep Funding: Users rate proposals on a scale from 1 to 10, and those accumulating enough points are eligible for funding. Funds are allocated based on aggregate grades until resources are exhausted. Here, voting power depends on users' AGIX holdings and activity on the SWAE portal.

2. Governance: Users vote on Deep Funding’s direction, choosing from predefined answers. Once again, AGIX holdings and SWAE portal activity influence the voting power.

SingularityNET uses Quadratic Voting, where the square root of a user's balance determines a vote's weight, in conjunction with an engagement score, which protects against wallet splitting and gives credit to active members of the community. The current process however poses many potential problems:

• Inefficiency: The manual analysis in spreadsheets becomes increasingly tedious and prone to mistakes as participation grows.

• Lack of Transparency: There is a susceptibility to human error and a lack of clear explanation for the community.

• Difficulty in Tracking: From an organizational standpoint, there is no tool that can seamlessly consolidate data from multiple platforms to calculate engagement scores based on various configurations.

• Opacity in Calculation: Users are unable to modify their actions to align with community values, as the calculations of voting power remain unclear.

Photrek collaborated with the Deep Funding team and the SingularityNet community during deep funding round 2 to create a transparent and dependable proof of concept for calculating user engagement scores, determining rewards, and voting weights in line with SingularityNET's values. This includes the implementation of network centrality algorithms for more complex future calculations, the definition of requirements for subsequent phases of the project, and research determining a set of principles and procedures for the SingularityNET community to establish a framework for engagement scores. 

The existing proof of concept however doesn’t encompass all that is needed for finalizing voting weights for community members. Photrek is now committed to developing a minimum viable product (MVP) that will seamlessly integrate the automated engagement scores with voting calculations, ultimately yielding a final voting weight.

In addressing these problems, we are aiming to create a system that is more responsive, scalable, and aligned with the needs and values of the community. By focusing on these aspects, we believe that our efforts will contribute positively to the evolution of user-driven decision-making within deep funding and the Singularity Net ecosystem.

Our solution

Photrek has successfully completed a proof of concept for deep funding 2. An open-source tool that processes JSON output generated by the current proposal platform Swae and calculates an engagement score for each participant, excluding those with minimal or no engagement.

POC Key Features

• Participant Ranking: The system classifies participants based on their scores.

• Algorithmic Rewards Distribution: Rather than using fixed tiers, the system employs an intelligent algorithm to determine both rewards and voting weights.

• Network Centrality Algorithms: Exploration of these algorithms allows for more nuanced calculations down the line, where scores may depend on both the feedback provided and the position of the individual offering it.

• Intermediate Reports: The system is capable of generating detailed reports, offering insights into the workings of the algorithm.

  See this intermediate report

  as an example output

The efforts also include the implementation of the definition of requirements for subsequent phases of the project, and research determining a set of principles and procedures for the SingularityNET community to establish a framework for engagement scores. 

For additional details, see the evolving

the

and the

produced by the team. Minimum Viable Product

As we transition into the next stage of development, the team's focus for this proposal will shift towards crafting the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

MVP Key Goals

Voting Weight:

• Consume voting results from the SingularityNET voting portal.

• Integrate unique user ID from the wallet linking tool to relate voting results and engagement scores.

• Consume and process wallet balances connected to SingularityNET’s Wallet linking tool.

• Calculate total and derived metrics from wallet balances, including the square root for 'quadratic voting'.

• Determine Voting Weight using an algorithm factoring in the percentage of voters with an engagement rating.

• Compute the total score for each project and define awarded proposals based on pool totals.

Engagement Awards:

• Calculate engagement awards based on the previous round's engagement score.

• Use a table that calculates the total available score considering the number of contributions and the Dollar value of AGIX at a specified time.

• Present calculations and results in a comprehensive dashboard for engagement awards.

• Generate a CSV file with wallet addresses and corresponding amounts for engagement reward payments.

The team will employ agile methodologies in the development of the MVP, ensuring that the requirements highlighted in the RFP, along with those

are cohesively aligned. This approach ensures proper development, supported by accurate documentation, testing and correct methodology.

Research and community engagement

Our commitment to excellence includes a dedication to ongoing research to ensure that the tool remains grounded in current academic literature and best practices. Specific areas of interest include:

• Non-Functional Requirements: Investigating future functionalities such as social metrics, knowledge graphs, and the potential impact of this tool on the centralization in decision-making as highlighted in the RFP.

• Evaluation of Integration: Investigating potential integrations with existing solutions such as

  TogetherCrew.

  TogetherCrew has a repository of open source code for measuring the health of decentralized communities. We are in discussions with the team regarding a collaboration. Their initial request is to use their platform; however, additional time is needed to determine how well their solutions match the SingularityNET requirements. 

• Community Collaboration: By actively engaging the SingularityNET Community, and employing Program Management to encourage group consent, we aim to create solutions collaboratively.

• Value Alignment: Ensuring that the developed engagement or reputation scores are both valid and valuable, and that they faithfully represent the core values of the SingularityNET community.

Program Management

Photrek is well known for its deep knowledge in AI and open source methodologies, coupled with a consistent history of successful projects within the SingularityNET ecosystem. Central to Photrek's ethos is its decentralized program management, anchored in sociocratic principles. These principles are threefold: a) establishment of governance circles, b) group consent-based decisions, and c) dual linking of circles through both a designated leader and an elected delegate. This approach will be bolstered by our close coordination with the SingularityNET Deep Funding leadership, with Jan Horlings and Rafael Presa.

The project's budget incorporates a 5% management reserve. True to sociocracy's principles, the entire team will share the project's profits. Each team member will receive a set compensation for their deliverables, while the reserve will act as a contingency for unforeseen challenges. Should any reserve funds remain, they will be proportionally distributed among team members based on their direct costs, with Photrek receiving a share in line with indirect costs.

Ensuring seamless communication both internally and with SingularityNET remains a top priority for Photrek. Beyond milestone updates, we'll hold consistent team meetings and actively engage in SingularityNET community dialogues.

Our project's milestone and cost breakdown

This is potentially a 6-8 month project, broken down into six milestones plus the contract signing. Each milestone is estimated to be one month with a one to two month buffer for unanticipated requirements. For each milestone, the Program Management will include team and community meetings conducted using the principles of Sociocracy as well as written reports of milestone accomplishments.

Milestone 0: Contract Signing & Management Reserve

• Funds held in reserve for unexpected requirements

• Bonus pool for team if deliveries are on-time and within budget

Milestone 1: Initial Setup and Community Alignment

• Conduct team and community meetings to establish objectives and align on the project vision.

• Set up necessary project management tools and procedures for effective execution.

• Early engagement with the SingularityNET community and integration partners for value alignment. 

• Deliverable: A well-established project environment and initial alignment with community values.

Milestone 2: Preliminary MVP Development

• Expand database to include new data sources

• Ability to import data exports from Voting Portal + wallet linking tool (wallet addresses, token balances, and voting results)

• Create a mapping between the voting portal data and the wallet linking tool export to associate UUIDs with the respective wallet addresses.

• Deliverable: Initial system functionalities that adhere to the foundational requirements.

Milestone 3: Advanced MVP Development and Knowledge Graph Research

• Start processes to consume wallet balances and prepare for quadratic voting calculations. 

• Research regarding the role of knowledge graphs in managing engagement score inputs and outputs.

• Implementation of Voting Weight calculations based on the engagement rating of participants. 

• Deliverable: Advanced MVP functionalities, including role of knowledge graphs.

Milestone 4: Awards Calculation, Project Scoring, and Documentation

• Implement algorithms to calculate engagement awards.

• Calculate the total score for each project, define awarded proposals, and design a dashboard for data presentation.

• Develop a CSV generator for engagement rewards payment and ensure functional and technical documentation is in place.

• Initiate and maintain a GitHub repository for open-source collaboration. 

• Deliverable: A feature-rich system ready for testing, complete with documentation.

Milestone 5: Investigation of Enhanced Features and Non-Functional Requirements

• Analyze "should have" and "nice to have" requirements, creating blueprints for potential implementations.

• Explore future functionalities like social metrics and knowledge graphs.

• Assess the tool's potential influence on decision-making centralization, emphasizing blockchain's decentralized nature. 

• Deliverable: A comprehensive report and plan on the next stages of enhancements and potential functionalities.

Milestone 6: Testing, Refinements, and Final Community Engagement

• Rigorous testing to ensure system robustness.
• Host Q&A sessions with the Deep Funding Team to gather feedback.
• Further value alignment by engaging the SingularityNET community and deep funding team for feedback and refinements. 
• Deliverable: A refined, tested, and community-aligned system ready for deployment

Risk & Mitigation

1. Risk: Workload and Timeline Mismatch - The initial estimation of the workload might be inaccurate, leading to timeline deviations. Requirements might be in flux due to continuous alignment with the community and multiple stakeholders. Mitigation: Implement an agile approach, organizing tasks into manageable sprints. Regularly reassess and adjust project requirements in collaboration with the customer and all involved stakeholders. 

2. Risk: Team Health Disruptions - There's a possibility of team members falling ill, which could impact the project's delivery timeline.

Mitigation: Incorporate extra time and budget reserves to accommodate unforeseen delays.

3. Risk: Scalability and Future-readiness - Ensuring the solution is adaptable and scalable for future requirements may be more challenging than initially predicted. Mitigation: Designed the Proof of Concept (PoC) with an architecture that prioritizes scalability and easy adjustments for future needs. Maintain thorough documentation of the architecture, design decisions, and codebase. This ensures that any future modifications or scaling efforts are built on a solid understanding of the existing system. Develop the solution using a modular approach. This ensures that individual components can be upgraded, replaced, or scaled without affecting the entire system.

4. Risk: Code Refactoring for MVP - The PoC code may require substantial modifications to fit the more comprehensive MVP, especially if Deep Funding transitions from SWAE to an independent WordPress solution. Mitigation: Allocate dedicated time for reviewing and refactoring the PoC code. Ensure flexibility in the development process to accommodate changes arising from platform transitions.

Our Team

Juana Attieh

Project Roles:

• Principal Investigator
• Co-founder and CPO at FLUUS, a solution unlocking Instant Settlements for MENA.
• Co-founded the Cardano MENA community.
• Co-Founded LALKUL, a mission-driven Cardano Stake pool dedicated to bringing blockchain to the MENA region.
• Passionate about decentralized societies, believes in the power of community-led infrastructures, governance, and culture
• Develops projects in decentralized communities.

www.linkedin.com/in/juanaattieh/

William Thistleton, Assoc Prof SUNY Poly

Principal Scientist, Photrek

Project Roles:

• Principal Developer
• Associate Professor of Mathematics, teaching classes in Analysis, Probability, Statistics, Design of Experiments, and Data Science.
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador.
• Research and Consulting in Machine Learning, Quantum Annealing, Data Science.
• Develops and delivers workshops for teachers, employees, and students.

www.linkedin.com/in/william-thistleton-874b8010

Kenric Nelson, President, Photrek

Project Roles:

• Program Manager
• Engagement Research
• Innovative leader in the research, development, and deployment of systems for complex decision making.
• Proven record of creative research, team building, and customer focused development.
• Work spans cyber security algorithms, multisensor systems, machine intelligence algorithms, and decentralized governance models.
• Served on Cardano Catalyst Circle, a problem sensing team guiding the development of one of the world's largest DAOs.
• Co-inventor of the Coupled Variational Autoencoder, designed to improve the learning of robust, accurate models.

www.linkedin.com/in/kenric-nelson-ph-d-7495b77

Francisco Alderete,

Project Roles:

• Lead Developer
• Full Stack Software Engineer with +3 years of experience

https://www.linkedin.com/in/software-engineer-francisco-alderete/

Related Links

Blog articles that present previous manual calculations and graph visualizations:

• Analysis of Deep Funding round 1
• Analysis of Governance round 1

• Photrek Deep Funding Round 2

  proposal and reports

  .

• POC example output:

  https://deepfunding.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/report.html

Community Governance Repository: