Summary
The idea behind this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to gather the insights of a range of academics, analysts, and governance experts from within and outside the blockchain industry to summarise the current discourse on OpenGov, formalise a theoretical framework around OpenGov, and propose practical initiatives to optimise the impact of OpenGov.
What is the main goal?
The main use-case for this RFP is to invite and fund people to do research on OpenGov and share recommendations that can be picked up by Polkadot stakeholders (voters, devs, Fellows, etc.) to propose changes to existing procedures/mechanisms.
The main goal is to have research that is actionable (i.e Action research); beyond a compilation of thoughts/theories or a comparison with other governance technologies. Over time, teams with proven track records of contributing to OpenGov’s improvements could form a core of researchers for R&D on OpenGov, but that is out of the scope of this RFP.
Who can get involved?
Ideally, anybody (whether familiar with Polkadot or not) should be able to contribute to this RFP. This is why a list of sample objectives and outcomes has been included. This list provides some starting points for teams/individuals who are new to the Polkadot ecosystem. It is anticipated that established analysts and research groups will orient their research based on their own observations and methodologies.
What are the next steps?
If you are interested in contributing, you can:
- submit a W3F grant application through this template and reference the RFP Action Research for OpenGov.
OR - submit a Treasury proposal with this template and indicate the category “Research: RFP Action Research for OpenGov”.
For any questions or queries about this RFP, you can reach out to the W3F grants team on Matrix/Element.