A Process for Setting Cartesi's Technical Evolution In The Mainnet Era

Metagovernance & Policies
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The mainnet launch of Honeypot dApp was not simply a technological feat. It was a triumph in human coordination. The realization of years of collective effort, by the many independent units, companies, and individuals that make up Cartesi’s decentralized ecosystem.

With Cartesi Rollups now mainnet-capable, Cartesi is ready for its next phase of digital evolution.

In that spirit, a group of core contributors in the Cartesi ecosystem are adopting an initial process for setting Cartesi’s technical direction in the mainnet era for Cartesi Rollups.

The process is composed of three distinct components: (i) the Technical Vision Forum; (ii) the Technical Vision Council; and (iii) the Technical Evolution Plan.

Technical Vision Forum

The Technical Vision Forum is Cartesi’s open canvas for proposing, exploring, and deliberating technical features that community members would like to see incorporated into the ecosystem’s Technical Evolution Plan.

Any contributor or community member who wants a technical feature recognized in the Technical Evolution Plan should start a new thread on the Technical Vision Forum to invite public comment and deliberation.

While there is no prescribed format for proposing technical features, detailed specifications are not encouraged at this stage of the process. Instead, the Technical Vision Forum should be a place for high-level ideation, discussion, and deliberation – the initial step toward fostering collective prioritization for technical features.

Technical Vision Council

The Technical Vision Council is the governing body responsible for deciding which proposals from the Technical Vision Forum should be included in the Technical Evolution Plan.

The council aims to be a representative cross section of both technical and non-technical core contributors in the ecosystem. The initial members of the council will introduce themselves to the community in the coming weeks.

The Technical Vision Council should set its own transparent processes for reviewing proposals and deciding which ones to add to the Technical Evolution Plan, always allowing robust and unhurried public comment and deliberation to take its course on the Technical Vision Forum before taking action.

All of the council’s decisions should be publicly documented.

Technical Evolution Plan

The Technical Evolution Plan will be a living, breathing document that expresses Cartesi’s collective technical vision in a way that can be actionably implemented by the ecosystem’s technical contributors.

There are many vital interdependencies amongst the numerous independent units, companies, and individuals whose contributions combine to form the Cartesi technology. One of those contributors – the Technical Coordination Unit – plays a key role in helping various technical stakeholders prioritize their contributions within the holistic context of the broader project.

The Technical Coordination Unit will be responsible for memorializing and updating the Technical Evolution Plan, transforming the decisions of the Technical Vision Council into a tangible framework that is capable of specification and implementation.

The Cartesi Foundation will recognize the Technical Evolution Plan as the Cartesi ecosystem’s collective technical vision for the project, and will encourage the Cartesi community to do the same.

TEP Flowchart
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The following Cartesi core contributors have volunteered to act as initial proposed members of the Technical Vision Council (listed in alphabetical order by first name):

  1. Augusto Teixeira (Research Unit)
  2. Bruno Maia (Ecosystem Growth Unit)
  3. Carlo Fragni (Prototyping Unit)
  4. Carsten Munk (Cartesi Foundation)
  5. Cynthia Gliga (Marketing)
  6. Diego Nehab (Research Unit)
  7. Erick de Moura (Cartesi Foundation)
  8. Felipe Argento (Cartesi Foundation)
  9. Gabriel Coutinho (Rollups Unit)
  10. Milton Jonathan (Technical Coordination Unit)
  11. Payal Patel (Developer Advocacy Unit)
  12. Pedro Argento (Rollups Unit)

With that, I’d like to kick off the thread by inviting the proposed council members and broader community to weigh in on the inaugural Technical Vision Council!

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In order to help facilitate the administrative process and ease the burden on council members, I’d like to offer to be of service as a non-voting Vision Council Secretary.

Given that the Vision Council will need to implement and abide by some sort of administrative process, record meeting minutes, and make periodic meeting summary reports to the community, I’d be happy to take those tasks off the council’s plate to allow everyone else to focus on the meat and potatoes.

I leave this decision up to the Vision Council’s ultimate discretion – just let me know!

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Regarding my participation in the Technical Vision Council:

I’ve decided that my preference is to step aside and pave the way for a greater diversity of voices on the council. This change in role stems from deep reflection on the council’s current composition and our collective goals.

I believe the foundation is already well-represented on the council, both in terms of numbers and expertise. Moreover, the council’s current diversity of perspectives and expertise aligns closely with my own views on technical and strategic matters. As a result, I believe my own vision for the project is well-represented by the council.

However, I want to publicly commit to continuing my contribution to our shared vision in ways that go beyond the council’s formal structure. My involvement will shift to active participation in the forum and observation as a deeply interested community constituent. I plan to frequently share my thoughts and expertise, ensuring my voice and opinions are regularly expressed in public forums.

This change in my role is in line with our commitment to a shared, collaborative vision, where every active contributor has an equal opportunity to shape our direction. Although I will not be a voting member, I am confident that my contributions to discussions and decision-making processes will remain significant and impactful.

An added bonus is that the council will now have an odd number of members, which should simplify the voting process. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’m thrilled to be a part of this incredible group that not only shares a profound understanding of Cartesi but also brings diverse perspectives to the table. I believe our collective knowledge and backgrounds will make our discussions both exciting and thought-provoking. Looking forward to learning from each of you and contributing to the enriching conversations ahead!

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Given Felipe’s reply, the updated list of initial members of the Technical Vision Council (listed in alphabetical order by first name):

  1. Augusto Teixeira (Research Unit)
  2. Bruno Maia (Ecosystem Growth Unit)
  3. Carlo Fragni (Prototyping Unit)
  4. Carsten Munk (Cartesi Foundation)
  5. Cynthia Gliga (Marketing)
  6. Diego Nehab (Research Unit)
  7. Erick de Moura (Cartesi Foundation)
  8. Gabriel Coutinho (Rollups Unit)
  9. Milton Jonathan (Technical Coordination Unit)
  10. Payal Patel (Developer Advocacy Unit)
  11. Pedro Argento (Rollups Unit)
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Im humbled and happy with the opportunity to participate on the technical vision council. Also I very excited and looking forward to see the process coming into live. There are several pressing points that must be addressed and move ahead as fast as possible. Our industry doesnt show mercy to protocols that can´t adapt and deliver in a timely manner so we should continue on top of the game delivering our vision!
@Brandon is there any place defined for the forum? What are the next steps here?

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Regarding the appropriate forum for the community to post proposals for the vision council to consider, several options have been under discussion, including maintaining the forum here on Discourse, migrating to Charmverse (where the CGP intends to migrate), migrating to Github, or exploring options for Discord.

Based on discussions thus far, it has become apparent that there are several important considerations for forum selection, including transparency for the broader community, ease of contribution for vision council participants, ease of contribution for core developers, ease of contribution for the broader ecosystem, avoiding fragmentation of communication channels, and avoiding fragmentation of ecosystem governance processes, among others.

In the interest of keeping momentum, I’d like to propose as an option for this first iteration that we create a Technical Vision Forum here on the governance.cartesi.io Discourse page, where the community has grown accustomed to seeing governance discussions.

This proposal is not meant to be a permanent solution, but rather a means to get the ball rolling in a way that will allow the Vision Council to begin its work while we explore potential alternative forums that can appropriately fulfill the considerations mentioned above.

With that, I invite others to share their thoughts!

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I share the same opinion.
Choosing the right tool is definitely important for the long term success of this initiative, but I don’t see it as an impediment to start the process.

This Discourse forum is already being used, it already hosts the CGP. I see no problem in running the first iteration here and then migrating if we decide a new tool fits better in the future.

The tooling discussion can also happen there, in a “META” thread about the process itself.

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I agree. So the idea is to create a new category “Technical evolution proposals” and invite all stakeholders to start adding their inputs, right?

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Yeah! Perhaps we create a new Discourse category which would be the “Technical Vision Forum” itself, and each “+ New Topic” in that forum would be a new proposal which could be commented on in thread by all interested stakeholders?

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Looks good enough to me :rocket:

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Awesome!

The Technical Vision Forum has been created and is ready for proposals as per the process laid out above.

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Hello all! Happy to see this process kicking off, and to be a part of the council. See you in the forum!

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