On Islands, Avenues and the next frontier
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;”
The prolific author John Donne wrote these two verses in his timeless piece, Meditation XVII (1624) as a poetic call for consciousness. From that time to 2018, the paradigm has changed, and the world has become globalized, the people better connected and distances shortened.
We are now witnesses and facilitators of a new era, a new technological beginning which we are building through our projects. And within the vast diversity of our projects, this quote by Donne resonates and comes back to life.
Frequently we talk about the “Blockchain Ecosystem” yet we are too focused on starting production, taking care of our own, and we forget that we are a tiny part of a larger network. We are a community of technologists, entrepreneurs, communicators, marketers, and most importantly, visionaries. We must unite and build bridges to connect better. Create avenues to facilitate the integration of new technologies. Set foundations and robust infrastructure to promote the mass adoption of the technologies that inspire us to work and think.
So, without further ado: introducing Ethereum Community Fund.
A number of ventures in the blockchain ecosystem understood Donne’s premise, and conversations kicked off for a new kind of endeavor: a project driven by social impact.
We are driven by the need for change and the willingness to work as a globalized tech community, towards many goals for the greater good. The next frontier — at least in regards of our ecosystem — has landed.
We aim to provide a permanent financial endowment to aid and fund projects building open-source infrastructure, support research initiatives, and help shape the strategic direction of the ecosystem. The ECF is looking to accelerate critical infrastructure development and grow the blockchain knowledge base, to drive global mass adoption.
Quoting our initial press release:
“The ECF’s goal is to create an environment where teams and ideas can thrive, grow, and collaborate to become essential and functioning pieces of the broader Ethereum ecosystem. The ECF will reach this goal by fostering the creation and strengthening of the connective tissue between projects and companies looking to adopt blockchain technologies.
The ECF will lead the way toward greater coordination among existing projects in the space who share a common interest in building out base infrastructure and supporting a more robust ecosystem of emerging projects. We anticipate ECF members and others will follow with their category-specific onramps and support networks which can provide a continued pathway for new entrants into the Ethereum community.”
On March 29th, 2018, some of the most prominent minds in the Ethereum ecosystem will meet in Tokyo to present the first grantees, to elaborate on the fund’s objectives, discuss the state of the blockchain ecosystem today, and the ECF’s plans to plant the seeds for the future. The event will feature presentations and talks by Aya Miyaguchi (Ethereum Foundation’s Executive Director) and Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Founder), an intro to the grant program by Wendell Davis and the presentation of the grantees through a panel discussion. Finally, the closing will feature a new panel discussion led by Casper researcher Karl Floersch featuring Jae Kwon, Julian Zawistowski, and Jun Hasegawa.
This event marks the formal beginning of ECF. We would like to open our initiative to a broader community. Get in touch, let’s discuss and think about how we can improve, thrive, and collectively contribute to a movement much more significant than any individual project. Let’s all unite, and work together towards a better, brighter future.
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