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## Towards an OpenData Science Community
#### *A plan for a plan*
version:  0.1
date:  Septemer 26, 2022
initial author:  epowell101

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### Introduction:

As Gitcoin transitions from being a provider of public goods funding via the centralized management of quadratic voting based rounds to becoming a provider of protocols used to manage the funding of public goods, the data-centric workstream FDD is also shifting toward enabling solutions from a broader community as opposed to being the provider of all the answers itself.

This shift towards being more of an enabler by FDD includes:
- an open data science hackathon kicking off in October:
    - https://gitcoin.co/hackathon/datascience/onboard
- incremental additions of more transparent methods of grant review
- a substantial ongoing effort to publish about Sybil resistance and approaches to addressing Sybil attacks including recent Forums posts:
    - https://gov.gitcoin.co/t/closing-the-gap-between-fdd-and-gitcoin-passport-sybil-defenses/11218

Another example that ties many of these efforts together is the possible instigation of an OpenData Science community.  

### Initial list of tactics for consideration:
There are a number of related tactics Gitcoin and FDD could undertake to summons the open data science community:
- Create a whitepaper in collaboration with others that helps to define the space
    - this should include a landscape drawing
- A categorization of projects based on level of maturity and adoption
    - This may be tabled initially, however as the landscape is built the authors will naturally have informed opinions and caveats they would like to share
- A basic governance structure
    - Can start with a weekly series of stand-ups
- A home for the community
    - Brand
    - Discord
    - Github
    - Twitter
    - Other? - legal foundation?
- A collectively agreed upon plan for the growth of the community
    - this document once it is reviewed and improved by Gitcoin can be shared for broader feedback as a start
    - the first 5-6 community members are extremely important and should include diverse perspectives and capabilities; we should not only select based on data science capabilities, though they are important
    - if the community looks likely to evolve into a viable DAO and community, then seeking funding from a variety of sources would be possible
- A lab or sandbox 
    - used by the community for landscape validation
    - possibly used for POCs by the community itself
    
- If the scope of the community includes the sharing of data and data transformations, then technologies for the validation of these resources could also be provided, possibly in collaboration with one or more promising organizations already enabling the sharing of data or transformations 
    - An analogy is the Cloud Native Computing Foundation hosting testing for accepted projects

### Immediate steps
The immediate steps are for this or a similar high-level document to be discussed within Gitcoin and potentially expanded upon into a governance post fto request initial funding.

The initial steps are likely:
- Polish this draft plan outline somewhat, incorporating initial feedback, and prepare for external review
- Share the plan with external to Gitcoin stakeholders for their feedback and to kick off collaboration 
    - For example Protocol Labs, BitDAO, the Ethereum Foundation, Optimism, Nansen and others with resources and data scientists that may become participants can be approached for feedback
- Launch basics of community home
    - i.e. discord, github, and similar
- Publish initial proof of concept work
    - likely based on work that FDD is already planing to do
- Establish cadence of weekly calls

### Conclusion
This document grew out of some conversations within the FDD channels in Gitcoin's discord as well as multiple in-person and remote jam sessions about the subject.

This is a living document, intended to catalyze initial questions and comments as work begins to craft it into a proposal for Gitcoin funding and as side conversations with potential community members begin as a result of the OpenData Science hackathon. Please provide your feedback in the document or, if you prefer, drop into the FDD data empowerment channels of Gitcoin if you are already in Gitcoin and have thoughts and guidance to share.  

The notion of an OpenData Science community predates the emergence of web3. web3 - and in particular the ability to work with trusted data sources (and possibly transformations) thanks to blockchain based validation - could mean that **now** is finally the time for an Open Data Science Community to arise and flourish.     

