UNBLOCK — ICON PREP Updated Proposal
Vote for us to increase and nurture ICON Network`s growth and international expansion through boots on the ground marketing
--
UNBLOCK HQ: TOKYO
UNBLOCK [GROWTH INCUBATOR] is an international and multilingual team of dedicated and passionate blockchain engineers, developers and A.I. experts. We are located in Tokyo, Japan, benefiting from the most liberal and progressive cryptocurrency regulations in the world.
We have been early believers in ICON since the beginning, and we are excited by the progress made so far and the future possibilities. We firmly believe in ICON’s future potential and we want to become an active part of the project. As a P-Rep, we want to enable true decentralization by running a stable and secure node and helping to bring ICON to the next level.
Proposal
DECENTRALIZATION AND RUNNING A NODE FOR THE ICON NETWORK
Decentralization is one of the most important aspects of a blockchain. It prevents decision making and control of the network by just one entity. It leads to more efficient processes, intensifies and improves development, and ensures the active involvement of the community in the creation of a more efficient, trustworthy and progressive network.
We understand, that running a node on the same AWS cloud servers as other P-Reps doesn’t truly serve the purpose of keeping the Icon Network decentralized and secure.
To guarantee real decentralization, we have decided to run our node on a dedicated server with high specifications located in a long-established and secure data center in Germany. Doing so, we guarantee uncompromised stability and zero downtime of our high-end node.
GROWING AND EXPANDING THE ICON NETWORK
We feel that we can do much more for ICON than just running a node. As a P-Rep, we want to foster the growth and expansion of the ICON Network. Bringing ICON from Korea to the rest of the world is the biggest challenge and a huge chance at the same time. We see it as the biggest opportunity and are excited to take part in the international expansion and decentralization of the ICON network.
We see it as our mission to promote the use of the ICON network by organizing conferences and events, and proactively approaching companies and enterprises. We plan to hire freelancers for on the ground marketing in target countries to utilize local knowledge. This strategy is effective and offers the best returns regarding a wider use of the ICON blockchain. We want to foster the adoption of ICON in mobile apps as well. We see a bright future for ICON there, as cost-effective transactions make it a great choice for uses like micro-transactions.
We have already started actively promoting the adoption of ICON to various Japanese companies utilizing cold-calling with great success. We have had and we still have ongoing meetings with interested parties — advising them about the possibilities and advantages of using ICON for their needs and internal/external processes. We believe that this is the best way to expand the use of ICON, grow the network, and unlock a higher value.
Being able to get support as a P-Rep would enable us to increase our marketing efforts from cold-calling and advising to organizing conferences for a wider audience and expanding our marketing efforts to other countries beyond Japan (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam — all growing economies full of startups with plenty of use cases). Contacting international and local enterprises and analyze how blockchain could be utilized for their benefits and advantages is an effective way to foster organic growth and to expand the ICON network, which in the long term unlocks a higher value for the network.
EXPECTED TIMELINE
What we have achieved so far:
September 2019 — Registering our UNBLOCK team as a PREP on the Main Net
September 2019 — Creating a web presence at http://unblock.casa
September 2019 — Running a Node for ICON Network on an AWS cloud server
September 2019 — Creating dedicated accounts for our UNBLOCK team on Twitter, Reddit, Medium, Telegram and Facebook and engaging with other users
September 2019 — Cold-calling businesses in Tokyo to arrange meetings with decision-makers to advise them about the advantages of using the ICON Network for their needs
September 2019 — Visiting various businesses and institutions for meetings and information sessions
October 2019 — Our profile as a PREP being featured on the Iconist
October 2019 — Migrating our Node to a dedicated server in a secure data center in Germany
October 2019 — Running a Node for ICON Network on our dedicated server in Germany
October 2019 — Updating of our proposal to reflect our current strategy
Currently:
Ongoing meetings with companies and institutions advising them about the advantages of decentralization for identification purposes, authentication/validation, storage of certifications, using it for micro-transactions and other purposes. We have received very positive responses and interest so far, so that we continue with our strategy for now.
Future timeline:
December 2019 — Contacting media outlets to promote ICON
December 2019 — Organizing meetups and conferences in Japan to promote ICON
(Beginning) 2020 — Contacting enterprises outside of Japan and advising them about ICON
(Beginning) 2020 — Organizing meetups and conferences abroad
(Beginning) 2020 — Creating DApps and mobile apps
Network Information
Our own dedicated server located in a secure data center in Falkenstein, Germany
2 x Intel® Xeon® SP Gold 16-Core @ 2.10GHz incl. Hyper-Threading Technology, RAM: 768 GB DDR4 ECC RAM, DISK: 3.84 TB NVMe SSD Datacenter Edition, Network: 1 Gbps
Team Members
Ian M. - Team Member
Ian has worked at Google in the US before. and is running an A.I. startup company in Tokyo now. He is a big crypto enthusiast.
Haruto K. - Team Member
Haruto is a Japanese developer for mobile apps and an expert in UX optimization.
Brian M.- Team Member
Brian is a social media expert, running his own social media agency.
Cheung H. - Team Member
Cheung is an engineer and programmer. Before he came to Japan, he worked on the development of ASIC miners in China.
Rafael B.- Team Member
Rafael is an expert in languages. He can speak 9 languages fluently and is an expert in social media.
You can find out more about us at:
TELEGRAM @UNBLOCK_PREP
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/UNBLOCK99072354
REDDIT: https://www.reddit.com/user/UNBLOCK_P-REP
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/unblockprep/
