NDC ~ End of Year Update | 2022
From the Governance Working Group (GWG)
Happy New Year to you all! This update from the Governance Working Group (GWG) is an overview of what the NDC is all about and how V1 of Governance is evolving.
Many of you have been following the NDC closely, though for those who are new to the process, please know that this document is also trying to give you the historical context of the NDC to get you up to speed.
The GWG has been busy since it mobilized after NEARCON as a community-led initiative! In late 2022, the Governance Working Group developed a draft of a NEAR Constitution, a Legal Framework for governance structure, and a Code of Conduct.
Our goal is to propose and implement V1 of the NDC Governance Framework by March 2023!
(V1 of Governance is the Proof of Concept (PoC) for the governance of the community treasury focused on funding the Grassroots DAOS (Marketing DAO, Creatives DAO, Developer DAO). It is the first of multiple iterations of governance for the ecosystem.) Source: https://thewiki.io/ndc-history
So, let’s get started!
V1 Governance Framework (Image above)
The GWG is actively working to create Version 1 (V1) of the governance model.
V1 Governance will not be the fully decentralized state of governance but rather an initial model to begin to transition the ecosystem to fully decentralized governance as an interactive and pragmatic process over time.
V1 is the first step to a decentralized community treasury that enables transparent decision-making with guardrails to avoid system halts, wasteful utilization of resources, and deadlocks.
PROBLEMS BEING SOLVED BY V1 ~
Below are key areas the V1 Governance Model will address. We did workshops to identify problem areas in order to understand the functions required to achieve our goals:
- Transparent Funding Distribution
- Community-Led Decision-Making Processes
- Fairness + Accountability ~ balance of powers
- Flexibility ~ evolving the governance
- Feeling powerless → lack of informed participation
- Openness + Inclusivity ~ Engagement / Communications
- Coordination + Accountability ~ Compliance + Reporting
Solutions
- NEAR Constitution
- Governance Framework & Proposal Process
- Technical Governance Development Plan
- Legal Framework
- Community Engagement Guidelines
HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE NDC MOVEMENT
The NEAR Protocol was formed with a vision to create a world where all people have control of their data, money, and the power of governance. The philosophy of building together towards a more decentralized ecosystem remains core to the NEAR values. Transparent funding programs are key to success in terms of scalable impact on the community and ecosystem growth.
The NEAR Digital Collective (NDC) is a movement toward open, fair, transparent (on-chain) governance. Think of this as Community Programs for Ecosystem Treasury Management / Funding that we develop as we grow. The NDC is currently a process and not an entity – it is a movement towards self-governance, and if we achieve this, we will be making history.
As NEAR has exponentially grown, it has also become quite clear that human beings thrive with foundational structures to ensure connectivity, trust and resilience.
Why does this matter? Making better decisions together as a community.
The NDC is the first step towards the adoption of better governance systems for NEAR with the ultimate goal of creating a cohesive structure that allows NEAR ecosystem participants to collectively decide how NEAR should be run.
Why does decentralization matter?
NEAR was always designed to be run and owned by its community. The unique properties of a fully decentralized ecosystem make NEAR:
- Antifragile and resilient: having no single honeypot or single legal entity will make NEAR stronger against attacks and challenges.
- Censorship resistant: without central parties, no one party can control the network or take over the ecosystem.
- Adaptable: the system can learn and adapt quickly in different directions to find the right levers of growth.
- Inclusive: more voices are involved and heard.
About NDC
This is a historic movement on the blockchain that has wider implications for how people collaborate and are rewarded ~ towards self-actualization and sustainability that can be developed, supported, and shared in the modern world.
Pragmatically, the NDC will manage the community treasury for transparent fund distribution to empower the development, growth, and sustainability of the NEAR ecosystem.
This will support evolving on-chain governance systems led by the community.
What the GWG does
The Governance Working Group is a Community-Led initiative to define and technically implement evolving governance models that are proposed and adopted by the NDC to empower pragmatic decentralization over time.
The GWG has a limited scope to create and recommend evolving governance models and technical implementations that, with a passing vote, are adopted by the NDC.
The GWG does not direct, manage or operate the proposed governing bodies or the Community Treasury. This clear line of delineation creates a clear path to decentralization. It removes the GWG and allows for the full scope of the Community to be involved.
GWG Mission & Values:
The Governance Working Group is in 100% alignment with the NEAR Brand, Mission, and Values as outlined by the NEAR Foundation, NEAR Protocol, and the Ecosystem. This is necessary to ensure the pragmatic process of decentralization has a clear destination that does not change while establishing decentralized governance.
NEAR Ecosystem Values
- Ecosystem-First
- Openness/Transparency
- Pragmatism over Perfection
- Make it feel simple
- Grow constantly
HOW V1 IS ROLLING OUT
The V1 is our chance to develop on-chain governance through community elections that reflect our global values and to collaboratively find on-chain solutions that can further drive how blockchain is a model for new, transparent forms of self-governance and equity.
Launch Sequence
- Appoint Community Treasury Trustees through the Legal WG vetting process
- Activate Community Treasury with Seed Funds
- Assemble the Election Committee to review candidates
- Elect the Transparency Commission (TC) as the first House
- Elect the House of Merit (HoM) and the Council of Advisors (CoA)
—> V1 Target Launch by March 2023
- We will be sharing more in January about the candidacy process in January
- Elections planned to start in February
Currently, the governance working group is organizing events and workshops to finalize the proposal for V1 governance and we need your feedback! We’re also looking ahead and planning V2 and beyond.
Call to Action: How you can get involved
- Review V2 of the NEAR Constitution + Governing Bodies
- We want your feedback!
- Candidacy process
- Stay tuned for an update on NDC elections, which will start in February 2023
- Get more involved!
Once you’ve gone through the onboarding process, as mentioned in the link below, you can get in touch with leads of a working group you are interested in joining.
GWG Leads for contacts
Constitution
(Contact him for all NEAR constitution ideas and issues)
@Ozymandius1 (Michael)
Governance
(Contact them for all governance framework ideas and issues)
@jlwaugh (James) + @Cryptonaut (Sahil)
Tech Gov WG
(Contact them for all technical gov implementation ideas and issues)
@IamGalt (Igor)
@robert_zaremba (Robert)
Community Engagement - @mecsbecs (Rebecca) @israel_igboze (Iboze) + Albion1 (Shubam)
(Contact them for all community engagement, social media, polling and onboarding ideas and issues)
Communications - (Sarah)
(Contact her for all NDC/GWG press and media (on-chain and off) requests, global programming, and NDC Radio programming for 2023)
MarComm- @Pretfood (Matt)
(Contact him for all NDC/GWG storytelling, global brand, merch, and collateral needs)
Legal WG - @atrox1382 (William)
(Contact him for all NDC/GWG/V1 Legal Strategy and Implementation, Trust Instrument, and Trustee Vetting Process questions)
“Air Traffic Control” – Henry @Blaze
(Contact him for 360 degree understanding of where you/your team can contribute and he will support onboarding, context, introductions, and help frame deliverables)
