[Grant proposal] Arab Web3 Train

Moloch Rises
#1

Description :

The Arab web3 train is an international tour of educational sessions that aim to provide educational sessions in the university campuses to onboard university students to the blockchain domain.

Manifesto/Vision:

Educate 77500 blockchain-zero-knowledge students in multiple countries about blockchain in one year and connect them with local and global communities

Problem

While blockchain mass adoption is a key to blockchain’s success, blockchain university adoption is slow and weak & blockchain level of awareness is variant from one place to another; while UAE is a leading blockchain country and one of the early adopters, Blockchain technology in many other MENA countries is in its early stages and blockchain adoption ( government, academic, etc) is slow. Many students didn’t even hear about blockchain technology and among those who heard about it, the majority of them could be divided into two main categories :

  • Students were exposed to incomplete/incorrect information e.g blockchain is bitcoin and bitcoin is blockchain.
  • Students - most of those CS students - are " blockchain enthusiasts " who see potential but they face lots of challenges when doing blockchain research projects or developing their graduation projects using blockchain technology because of lacking the know-how and blockchain community support in their universities.

As a community builder, we are waiting in our virtual bubbles for those blockchain enthusiasts to LOOK FOR us and ASK for help!

Statistics

Solution

Don’t wait for them, go and knock on their doors!

Arb web3 Train: An educational train at university campuses.

Series of educational sessions to introduce blockchain-related topics in Arabic, English, and local languages at university campus’ that are broadcast virtually to expand access by allowing any person to join from anywhere.

  • Session language is in Arabic/English / local languages (with prioritizing trainers with the same dialects if available)
  • Pros and cons about the topics introduced should be addressed to give the attendees the full picture.

Product Features :

The arab web3 train consist of multiple iterations :

x-blockchain 101

Technical introduction to blockchain & a predefined blockchain network .

By the end of this iteration , students with zero knowledge about blockchain should have a solid understanding about blockchain fundamentals, run local network of selected blockchain network and develop “ Hello World” Dapp.

Blockchain regulation intro

This iteration is for nontech students with legal backgrounds or interested in understanding the legal aspects of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

By the end the course, attendees should have a high-level overview of what is blockchain & its applications e.g cryptocurrencies and how it works, and the regulatory policies in multiple countries including the host country .

The impact of Web3 on art and rituals

This iteration is for nontech students interested in nft and art.

By the end of the course, attendees should have a high-level overview of what is blockchain, NFT, metaverse, and the philosophy behind it. attendees should be able to know how to mint NFTs, how to evaluate NFTs, and how to enter this market.

Blockchain Business opportunities

This iteration is for nontech students interested in understanding the business value of blockchain and its applications.

  1. By the end the course, attendees should have a high-level overview of what is blockchain & its applications and how it works, and different blockchain usecases .

Process :

  1. Before

    1. Iteration announcement with some details about the stations and prerequisites .
    2. Registration application is open per iteration station
    3. Accepted applicants got onboarded to discord channel and nay prerequisites resources are shared with them.

  2. During

    1. Attendees receive all needed resources
    2. Attendees get connected with local and global communities to join

  3. After

  4. Certificate of attendance is released for the attendees

  5. Keep them in the loop by inviting them to participate in more advanced iterations and sharing partners’ opportunities.

We care about students wellness !

Before and after the session, We provide Yoga and meditation Enhancing productivity sessions with daily Self-care practices for stress relieving and work-life skills for the balance of financial, physical, emotional, and nutritional health

Validation :

We already got a confirmation from 8 universities:

Train stops by country

  1. Egypt
  2. UAE
  3. Tunisia
  4. Palestine
  5. Saudi Arabia
  6. Oman
  7. Bahrain
  8. Lebanon

Progress:

The first iteration is schedule to start by the en of Spetmeber to introduce ethereum for absolute beginner in 10 countries . We got a confirmation from 8 countries out of 10 countries “ our scope for the first iteration” .

Differentiation (from other projects)

  • IBM blockchain training “ In Egypt”:
    • Pros
      • In Person training
      • With collaboration with universities
      • Expert trainers
      • No language barriers
    • Cons
      • Students have to go to company HQ in smart village
      • Focused only on IBM solution and consolidate the blockchain technology in Fabric
      • Focused on technical side
      • Only in Egypt or maybe other countries “ no much data”
      • They don’t moderate any local community to engage the students with
  • Eat the block / Dapp university
    • Pros
      • Expert trainers
      • Blockchain agnostic
      • Variety of topics
    • Cons
      • Online
      • In English
      • Focused on technical side

Value proposition :

  • Blockchain agnostic
  • we are providing a variety of topics ( e.g. DEFI, NFT, legalization, etc )
  • we are targeting tech and nontech students.
  • No language barrier ( in some countries the same dialect )
  • In-person experience with online access option.
  • Focused on Arab university students
  • Support many countries
  • Connect students in different countries
  • Engage the students with the local community

Why you should care about it?

  • The project will open new emerging markets.
  • It will increase access to: Resources, Job Opportunities &University adoption
  • The project will fill the skill gap by onboarding many university students from different domains.
  • The project will improve the quality of the education provided in the university and will help in eliminating the blockchain adoption challenges in universities .
  • This serves as a foundation layer for organizing events, hackathons , incubation programs focused in blockchain .
  • Creating a pool of skilled resources and match-make them with different opportunities (locally and globally )
  • The project will help blockchain enthusiasts students to stay up-to date by introducing different topics over the next iteration

Scalability

Based on the expected result gained from the first iteration that will serve 10 countries;one university per each and provide a technical introduction about blockchain and how to build their fist dapp, we are expecting to have the following in the next 3 iterations :

  • The educational train will serve new countries : Iraq , Alegeria, Qatar, Sudan, Somalia & Syria.
  • The educatinal train will have many stops in the same country in differtn universities ( we are expecting 2 stops average in the next iteration for the technical introduction sessions )
  • Introducing different blockchain projects and tools
  • Introducing non-tech related topics for students e.g. blockchain business opportunities and legal information

Team

The team behind this project is the partners backing it and help in executing it in their local communities. Below are the current partners backing this project :

About Arabs in blockchain

Arabs in Blockchain is a hub that gathers all the Arab in the blockchain domain. Our main goal is to build a strong supportive community and explain blockchain for Arabs in their own language ( Arabic) to facilitate the know-how transfer and eliminate the language barrier. We aim to connect the global and the local community in Blockchain.

Open UAE

The OpenUAE Research & Development Group affiliated with the University of Sharjah which provides the necessary training, develop ICT solutions.The group initiative is aligned with the mission of the University of Sharjah as well as the economic vision of the UAE 2021.

AUC Computer Science and Engineering association

Student association in computer science and engineering program at AUC.

Dar Blockchain

Dar Blockchain is a technological hub based in Tunisia that assists organizations in their digital transformation, innovation, and technical development in favor of decentralization.

IPark

iPark helps organizations solve their technology-related challenges by linking them to innovative solvers from all around the world.

Bitcoin Blockchain Beirut Lab

The first Bitcoin & Blockchain hub in Lebanon with the mission of education, sharing value, and helping in selling or buying Crypto.

NoonDAO

A community established to empower Arab women in blockchain technology.

Albrza

“AlBrza” is an Emirati platform that brings together future initiatives to in line with the UAE vision & the directives of the rational government in to see the UAE Government Centennial Plan (2071)

Taxir

Taxir is a communication and research initiative that works towards facilitating BLOCKCHAIN adoption in MENA

Glorythink

GloryThink Group is acclaimed as the fastest growing Vendor worldwide in supporting the Future Emerging Technologies.

Neuveristy

Niuversity is a skill-oriented learning platform based in Berlin focusing on creating courses in Arabic and English to teach state-of-the-art skills that provide Arab youth with a pathway to working on exciting projects and at innovative companies in the region.

BLK@

BLK@ is one part of an industry-wide initiative to address equity in Web3. It is a conference partnership series, they work directly with conference organizers to provide support with regard to speakers and event promotion to historically underrepresented communities. Their goal is to partner with those who are deeply committed and understand equity over D&I (diversity and inclusion) as a critical industry challenge and those who are actively working towards effective solutions to equity in Web3.

Wizara

Wizara is the first blockchain-based ecosystem built by artists for artists. We harness the social life of art, preserving wealth within artistic communities. We are a team of digital artists, musicians, and performers that are building technical and creative tools to advance culture across borders. We create, collaborate, curate, commission and consult. We believe in empowering artists to flourish within the future of digital expression, over the blockchains and the metaverse.

Zefi

ZeFi is on a mission to bring about change and education for the masses. We believe in a world where everyone has the right to access, share knowledge, and utilize the blockchain space as a way to tell their own story, gain more control over their resources, and improve their everyday interactions with other people.

YogaDAO

YogaDAO is the first to reward Self-Care by merging gamification with meditation with a measurable user engagement and response API incentive-driven Wellness Metaverse platform. It focuses on eliminating elitist access to Yoga and meditation with inclusive and accessible supportive community spaces, collaborative events and global brand partnerships .

Grant Request $:

75500$ to execute the first iteration until we can secure funding from sponsorships to execute the rest of the iteration.

What the Funds Are For:

Given that, the physical host to deliver the session should be given by universities as part of the agreement model. The fund should be directed to the following :

  • Trainers payouts
  • Curriculum development
  • Marketing
  • Catering
  • Travel fees & accommodation “ optional”

Proposed Grant Expenses & Breakdown

Program Description Expenses (Per iteration )
Curriculum Development of blockchain curriculum. $2,000.00

Cost per station ( each station is 3 days )

Program Description Expenses (Per station )
Logistic costs Renting physical rooms to deliver the sessions Provided by universities
Yoga cost 250$ per iteration
Training fees Trainers will dedicate a lot of time and they need to get paid . the average rate is 100$/h 100$/h* 16 = 1600$ each
Travel Expenses & Accommodations [optional ] Trainer 100$ visa - if needed

1000 $ max - tickets

200$ max per night * 4 nighs = 800$|
|Marketing|Marketing materials

sessions announcement through all social media. Record and publish live stream sessions from the workshops & sessions as well.|$1,500.00|
|Coordination cost|Local partner to coordinate

Trainer assistant|500$|
|Discord community manager||200|
|Administrative costs|Since it’s full day training , it’s better to provide some food|$3,000.00|
|Total cost per station|Including optional fields|7350$|
|Total cost|For 10 stations ( Including optional fields)|75500$|
|Total cost per station|without optional fields|5450|
|Total cost|For 10 stations (without optional fields )|56500|

Help Requested:

  • Fundraising
  • Partnerships

Additional Resources, Links, Portfolio

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanherawy/

https://www.arabsinblockchain.com/