KOLIN, a novel platform for translation and information exchange
Interview performed by Slator to Kolin’s CEO. Part of the Slator 2018 Blockchain and Translation Report . Q&A open here to any media diffusion entity wanting to write about the Kolin platform.
For a fast explanation about the Kolin platform go to Question #5.
Question #1. Please describe your company/project in 2 sentences.
Kolin will be the first cryptocurrency mediated centre for translation and information exchange where people from all over the world will be able to request peer to peer translation services, not only between different languages but also knowledge fields.
Question #2. Why did you decide that blockchain should be the basis of your project?
In a globalized world where technology shows exponential growth and development, Blockchain has stood out as one of the strongest and more promising technologies developed during the last years. Due to the blockchain is a Trustless and Byzantine tolerant system, international payments can be performed in seconds without the need for specific intermediaries. There is neither a need for difficult paperwork since each transaction is immediately recorded within a chain and corroborated by peers multiple times, allowing diffusion of information on a faster, borderless, and more dynamic way.
Kolin’s principal aim is to become the first decentralized centre for translation and information exchange, allowing every person around the world to have access to translation services without the limitations that current procedures have. For instance, a person from India could ask a native German speaker for a translation or vice versa, using blockchain technology for handling the difficult part i.e. paying for the service. Additionally, blockchain allows automation of the process easing international interactions and protecting user’s transactions.
Question #3. Why did you launch the ICO? Was it the only option to collect the funds?
Although there are multiple ways to help entrepreneurs to raise funds, blockchain technology goes further than that by allowing common people around the globe to participate in the process. As Kolin is an inclusive project, our initial offering is completely aligned with our project ideal of shortening barriers between different languages and cultures.
Our initial offering method allowed early adopters to be benefited from their investment, being common people favoured with the initial low prices offered. We created a novel and innovative Initial Public Sale Offering method (IPSO) that is further explained in Question №6.
Question #4. Briefly describe your team. Why these people became the engine of your project?
Our team comprises people from different nationalities and diverse skill levels. The Kolin team currently is formed by people from North America (US/Mexico), South America (Chile), Europe (UK/Spain), Asia (India, Vietnam), and Oceania (Australia). We are also looking for new members from Africa in order to have representatives from different cultures and locations, being rightful to Kolin’s borderless vision. Volunteers and the entire community are also welcome to participate in the project, by sharing their knowledge, making diffusion or by developing the project further with innovative ideas.
Question #5. What are the main centerpiece and the highlight of your project? What will attract the investors’ attention?
Kolin born as an acronym from the Esperanto “Konscienco Lingvo” meaning “Conscious Language”. Kolin will be the first decentralised cryptocurrency mediated centre for translation and information exchange, shortening language and technical barriers within a user-friendly environment. The platform will be online and separated into two sections, social and private working in parallel.
The private section will work with specialized and certified translators offering their services and knowledge for translating private documents in a confidential manner. Private documents will be secured via encryption within the Blockchain adding an extra layer of security to the normal translation process. Prices on the private section will be regulated by complexity and word count, generating personalised quotations for work performed. Translators will be paid in Kolin for their work, including bonuses for speed and accuracy. The Kolin token can be later cashed out on an available exchange or used as a peer-to-peer payment method.
Kolin Social will work in a completely public format. A small proportion of the funds paid on the private section will be made available to a communal pool in Kolin Social. The community will be able to vote on allocating these funds towards requested topics and once the community agrees to a request, volunteers will work translating the agreed community petition. Translation will not only be performed into different languages but also from technical to non-technical language. Volunteers working in the Social section will be rewarded in Kolin by the clarity level achieved, accuracy and word count.
People working on either the Social or Private sections will be ranked regarding the number of works performed, the number of words translated, accuracy & clarity level achieved. Different user levels are included in the Kolin platform’s functionality, named as moderators, writers, reviewers, translators and members, all being rewarded at some point for the platform.
Question #6. What are your thoughts about ICO marketing? Can it be really effective due to all the restrictions and other phenomena?
As a team, we believe that mechanisms generally used for public distribution of tokens are broken and losing credibility. Here we proposed a novel and innovative standard procedure named, hereafter, Initial Public Sale Offering (IPSO). The proposal takes the best from an ICO process and mixes it with the standard procedures performed on Stocks exchange listing, also known as Initial Public Offering (IPO). These enter the market by listing their stock (or shares) on a public stock exchange, such as the New York Stock exchange (NYSE), the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations exchange (NASDAQ) or the London Stock exchange (LSE). As blockchain transactions can be tracked and tokens are immediately available after purchase, the IPSO format increases transparency empowers the cryptocurrency community and generates an accountable process, which is rightful to what in our understanding blockchain technology implies.
More information about IPSO
Question #7. Why is your project better than your competitors?
From the best of our knowledge, there is no other project using blockchain technology for creating a platform focused on translation and information exchange services. Kolin could become the first blockchain project joining people from different cultures and languages, in order to pursue the creation of an international but at the same time borderless platform. This yet unexplored niche could become the solution for international relationships, where instead of creating a new language, people’s knowledge is used for helping their peers in common challenges, as it is to decrease the language barrier.
As an example, although English is the agreed universal language, there are just 360 million-odd native English speakers. Chinese and Spanish, on the other hand, are the most spoken languages having 1.2 billion and 400 million native speakers respectively. This language barrier limits access to education and business opportunity to a huge proportion of the World population. Thus, Kolin pursues to solve that issue by working directly with an international and strong community and also with entities involved in the educational process, i.e. Universities or Foundations.
Question #8. What are the major ways of monetization for your project?
Two principal branches are considered within the Kolin project, a Private section will generate income by offering translation services to private entities and people in a totally confidential process. The first release of the platform considers this section as a priority for assuring the proper function of the second branch.
A Public branch, on the other hand, includes international volunteers in the process, which will offer translation services between different languages, and also “translation” of technical knowledge to a more inclusive and common language.
Solvency will be reached by the interaction of both sections. A percentage of the income obtained within the private section will be transferred to the public branch for paying volunteers with a bonus for the services performed. At the same time, the social branch will strengthen the Kolin community and will help the project’s diffusion.
Initially the project will be funded by the income obtained during the IPSO, but lately, the private section will be the principal source of funds, benefiting from the high demand for translation services.
Question #9. Which markets are the most attractive for you right now? Do you take in consideration the USA and other countries with the legal restrictions for the crypto crowdfundings?
Currently, we are focusing on markets were most non-native English speakers are, i.e. Chinese and Spanish speaking countries. In the future Kolin considers expansion to include Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, French, German and Japanese. Further languages will be considered by community demand.
Question #10. Describe your project in 3 years? Will it change something in the world?
For 2021 Kolin will become the first and standard decentralized centre for translation and information exchange. Gathering thousands of people within its network, helping each other for overcoming common issues like the ones implied by cultural and linguistical differences. Kolin private could become the standard centre where diverse enterprises or natural people come for translation services, i.e. for document translations, movie subtitle generations, scientific paper translations, among others. On the other hand, the public section could work directly with educational entities by producing public and open technical material in a more understandable format. Volunteers working on the public section could be from University students to specialists in their areas of knowledge. As a matter of example, Kolin could become in the new Wikipedia, where volunteers are rewarded for their work and information is always published in a common, understandable and multilingual format.
Further information about the Kolin project available in our Whitepaper
