ICO BitDegree - Revolutionizing education with blockchain
WWW.BITDEGREE.ORG
Revolutionizing education with blockchain
The world's first blockchain-powered online education platform with token scholarships & tech talent acquisition
The BitDegree platform will offer students the best online courses with a clear and transparent blockchain based reward system and achievement tracking. It is also a unique tool for businesses to recruit tech talent and shape global education to their needs. Think of it as Coursera and HackerRank merged together, powered by the decentralized blockchain technology.
BITDEGREE: IT IS ALL ABOUT EDUCATION
We are proposing a digital incentivized studying platform as a new tool to grow the global tech talent pool. Companies in need of tech talent will provide financial incentives to students willing to participate in training courses and to develop their skills. Companies seeking to get people familiar with newly introduced technology or services, will provide financial incentives to students willing to spend time to learn and to try the company’s offerings. By providing incentives, any company explicitly signals the demand for certain qualifications, or informs about knowledge and skills needed to effectively use newly introduced technology/products/services. People looking for new opportunities will learn new technologies, develop practical skills in demand, and get familiar with existing technological solutions provided by solution providers. Job seekers will enroll to subsidized courses to get more knowledge and to develop skills within selected technology topic. The course materials and learning process will be made interactive and in a highly engaging way by following field-proven gamification methods. Students will be able to communicate with other students and course mentors, to pose questions, and seek for more detailed explanations. All course material and progress assessment will be divided to small chunks in order to enable short-term effort in the reward cycle. In addition to subsidized course material, each student showing learning progress will be rewarded with platform Tokens. Companies providing incentives will be able to get in touch with students enrolled in subsidized courses, and possibly offer employment positions for good performers.
Introducing smart-incentives
Smart-incentive is an Ethereum blockchain based smart-contract ensuring exchange of value (tokens) between the incentive creator (sponsor) and the incentive taker (student). Incentive taker is committing to perform study effort in order to receive the incentive (tokens). The underwriter of this smart-incentive is the BitDegree platform, which will provide the proof of study effort verification . Any company (like a potential employer or a technology/service provider), government institution, (like a school, job centers or prisons) and even ordinary citizens can become an incentive creator.
Proof of study efforts.
The BitDegree platform will provide proof of study effort verification for all courses hosted on the platform. We will implement several familiar verification mechanisms like tests, problem solving, creative assignments and others.
Study effort enablers (Course authors and mentors).
We anticipate the case where 3rd parties will create part of study courses. In this case BitDegree will remain the Underwriter of smart-incentives.
Chaining smart incentives together.
Smart-incentives can be combined together to form a graph of mandatory and/or at least one in a predefined set of prerequisites, e.g., student enrolling to a frontend course should learn HTML and any of style setting alternatives (CSS/SASS/LESS/... as well as any of languages targeting EcmaScript/DOM UavaScript/TypeScript/Eim/..) to claim a final front-end capability reward.
Smart-incentives types.
We will work with gamification specialists to design various smart-incentives, i.e., rewards, incentive prizes, competitions, etc.
Gamification as a cornerstone of the platform design
According to Yu-kai Chou Core, Drives of people’s motivation are:
1. Epic Meaning & Calling.
If a person is engaged in a process and believes that it is the mission of great importance, he/she is ready to put a lot of effort, free time into pursuing this goal.
2. Development & Accomplishment.
People like to see the results of the performed activities, receive some bonuses or prizes for their accomplishments, and get to the leaders’ list.
3. Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback.
None of the awards matters to a person if the goal can be easily obtained. Only those rewards matter, for which a person overcomes difficulties.
4. Ownership & Possession.
When a person possesses something, he/she instinctively tries to multiply the possessions and/or improve them.
5. Social Influence & Relatedness.
The fifth factor incorporates all social elements motivating people: mentorship, social acceptance, companionship, competition, and envy. When we see a friend reach a high level in the game, we, as a rule, wish to catch up with and overtake him/her.
6. Scarcity & Impatience.
The sixth factor that motivates a person is the desire to possess something simply because of its scarcity.
7. Unpredictability & Curiosity.
Curiosity encourages people to continue progress, because they want to know what will be next.
8. Loss & Avoidance.
The majority of people prefer to act immediately because of fear of losing the possibility forever.
The intelligent use of such drivers within the BitDegree platform, will enable us to not only attract
new students, but will also to contribute towards sustaining the interest of existing users.
THE BITDEGREE PLATFORM
We love the idea of running BitDegree platform on decentralized blockchain fueled internet. We believe in decentralization and self-sustainable architectures, however, we see the need for centralization of certain aspects of the platform (at least in the beginning) in order to enable shorter development and deployment cycles and to ensure faster market adoption. After evaluating the current technology capabilities, such as blockstack.org we have decided to start with mature, conventional web technology. With time, we will aim to decentralize such things as course creation, course mentorship, verification of study, smart-incentives creation and others. At first, we want to make platform that is operational and we already have the basic implementations of some of the components in place up and running. Initially, the platform will provide minimal set of complete and functional services, essential to sustainability of the platform but we have a bold general plan for the futur
29 000 000 users - our starting point
We are establishing BitDegree on the solid ground of an existing user base of 29 million through Hostinger and OOOwebhost – a worlwide community that is loyal, web-passionate, eager to learn and open to innovation. “ Our vision at Hostinger is to enable millions of people around the globe to unlock the power of the Internet to provide them the means to learn, create, and grow independently, regardless of race, gender, social status, or geographical location.”
What problems does BitDegree solve?
Universities and higher education institutions are universally failing to fulfil their mission - to teach their students well.The gap between the needs of employers and student knowledge already exists and is widening. BitDegree innovation is a possibility for businesses to initiate and maintain dialogue with upcoming talent and reward themfor achievements through smart-incentives.
The market potential of BitDegree
It is easy for everyone to observe the rapid expansion of the remote education and e-learning markets. We believe that with the new incentivized learning model, BitDegree brings the next wave of e-learning adoption, which will spur the growth of the user base. We estimate the user base to double every two years..
The popularity of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) has been growing steadily since their first appearance. This resulted in more and more courses offered every year. The amount of MOOCs should continue to grow due to increasing demand.
By aligning the interests of potential employers and students using the education platform we enter the talent sourcing market as well. There is a growing demand for digital professionals, which in the EU alone is expected to reach 9 million by 2020, while globally this figure is expected to be 3-5 million higher. This huge demand and short supply is the reason why in the US, it costs on average 4000 USD to fill a vacancy.
In fact, we expect a severe shortfall in digital talent around the world by 2020, when according to a Gartner study, 30% of tech jobs will be unfilled, due to digital talent shortfalls.
We believe that these trends warrant and confirm BitDegree’s business model and that there is clear demand for our value proposition.
We've already developed a functional MVP
Start now & earn BitDegree tokens as a scholarship & reward.
Take the world's best courses online. Be hired by world-changing companies.
BitDegree Token economy
BitDegree will revolutionize education by creating a new token that can be exchanged among the users of the platform: Students, Sponsors, and third parties.
01. Companies as Sponsors are the main fuel for a sustainable BitDegree economy. The economic incentive for Sponsors to buy BitDegree tokens is recruiting tech talent, enhancing employer branding and advertising.
02. BitDegree tokens can be used for creating smart-incentives as payment for scholarships for students’ educational accomplishments, which can be used for getting various digital services offered by third parties on their platforms in exchange for tokens.
03. Sponsors as well as students will be able to exchange and redeem their tokens in a wide network of industry partners or swap them for digital goods and services. The potential of BitDegree Token demand is closely aligned with the gargantuan $200 billion recruitment industry. Limited supply of tokens ensures a growing demand for the BitDegree platform’s services in the foreseeable future.
TOKEN IS BACKED BY REAL COMPANY
Hostinger, the main BitDegree partner will accept BDG tokens in exchange of its services. The exchange rate is 100% fixed to crowdsale price for first year: 1 BDG = 0.04 USD — the rate you contributed during crowdsale. This is a guarantee that your tokens will be exchangeable in equivalent to Hostinger services to the fixed price.
Token Sale
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Fair crowdsale - the same rules & the same opportunities to everyone. All discounts are public, with no hidden bonuses or secret deals. Here, everyone is equal and natural contributors are the key players of a project future. See why it's vital for you
100% law compliant
BitDegree token is an utility token. BitDegree (LLC) is one of the few companies to receive official legal token sale approval from the national bank of its country of operation (Lithuania, EU), which is under control of the European Central Bank. 100% transparent & maximum secure. Read why it's important
Transparency
Smart Contract is open-source and available for everyone on Github. There are no hidden rules or conditions. The participants will receive their tokens instantly after payment. The token pools of the team, advisors and foundation will be locked for a period of time to build stronger trust.
Token Distribution
BitDegree will issue an ERC20 compatible token, which will be used to provide incentives to students and contributors of the platform. The sale of BitDegree tokens will be final and non-refundable. The BitDegree will not be responsible for any loss of BitDegree tokens or situations making it impossible to access BitDegree tokens, which may result from any actions or omissions of the user or nay person undertaking to acquire BitDegree tokens, as well as in case of hacker attacks.
We plan to offer anyone sharing our vision to contribute to the development of BitDegree by buying BitDegree tokens during the Initial Coin Offering event, which will be held on Q4, 2017.
BitDegree goal is to raise a minimum of 5 million USD and to stop accepting contributions when 25-30 million USD will be collected. Some of the numbers may change due to ETH/USD exchange rate volatility, but the following numbers are best estimates as of September, 2017.
• Maximum financing: 30,000 ETH - may change due to exchange rate changes;
• Minimum financing: 550 ETH - may change due to exchange rate changes;
• Exchange rate: 1 ETH = 10,000 Bitdegree Tokens - may change with ETH exchange rates;
• Token contract address: Will be published onlyon website bitdegree.org 48hrs before the crowdsale launch date;
• Launch date and time: Date to be announced soon. Block number will be published on website. Dates may be prone to change;
• Token launch time-frame: 30 days.
• Token launch completion: Token launch will end when either the maximum number of ETH is raised or 30 days have passed. If less than the minimum of ETHs are raised, ETH can be retrieved by holders of
BitDegree Token;
• Contributors sending ETH to BitDegree Smart Contract address will immediately receive
tokens.
BitDegree foundation:66 million (locked for 360 days);
Scholarships pool:165 million;
Tokens available to public at launch:336,6 million;
Team:66 million (locked for 720 days);
Advisors / Partners:13,2 million (locked for 160 days);
Bounties13,2 million;
Tokens in total:660 million.
Budget Allocation
• BitDegree Platform: 30% of budget.
The team consists of over 10 engineers [DS8] and MOOC experts fulfilling the key roles in the
company – sales, marketing, legal and others. This financing allows the rollout and operations of
the BitDegree platform;
• Courses development: 30% of budget.
These funds will be directed at third-party education professionals, offering online courses and
content production;;
• Marketing and business development: 25% of budget.
Marketing will focus on expanding awareness and adoption of the BitDegree platform and
the platform solution among users, publishers and advertisers. This also includes the growth
and maintenance of the world-wide community. Marketing, growth-hacking, PR, partnerships,
affiliate programs and more;;
• Operational: 8% of budget.
Consists of BitDegree legal, security, accounting and other associated administration costs;
• Security: 2% of budget.
This part of the budget is set-aside for auditing software.
• Reserve: 5% of budget.
This part of the budget is set-aside for unforeseen expenditure.
People behind BitDegree
The team is comprised of multi-skilled professionals that have worked with each other in various capacities and became friends. This joins the project that everyone in the team is highly passionate about. This is the time when everyone dreams big and goes big. Most of the team has already worked together scaling solutions that reached millions of users and stumbled upon the need to educate them, whereas some others have worked on the educational initiatives experience, which can be directly applied to BitDegree.
Andrius Putna, CEO, co-founder 11 years in software engineering. Blockchain advocate. Person behind the success of 000webhost - world’s first and biggest free cloud hosting platform designed for learning, testing and experimenting. Hostinger product architect.
Danielius Stasiulis, CBO, co-founder Head of Startup Division at Civitta (7 years) - the leading management consulting firm in Eastern Europe. Advised 300+ startups and worked with many startup programs, including Berkeley Skydeck in Silicon Valley. He focuses on ICO and blockchain-based business models.
Ervinas Rimdeika , CLO, co-founder Ervinas is a FinTech fan and has extensive practice in related fields of corporate, intellectual property and business transaction law questions as well. He worked not only at a few well-known law firms, but also at one of the largest company’s group in Lithuania and Baltic States.
Rio Asatiani , CMO, co-founder With more than 14 years of experience in effective customer acquisition, working with new brands and startup launches, Rio is a growth-hacking guru & Google Certified Partner who led 000webhost and Hostinger to an international success in more than 40 countries by attracting 29+ millions of new users. He joined the BitDegree project having a strong vision in innovative acquisition channels and solid experience in growth-hacking. Rio ensures the success of BitDegree on an international level.
Darius Rugevičius, Partner in Prime Block Capital Investment Fund Darius is experienced in building successful technology based businesses, having sold two of his previous start-ups in the past 4 years alone. Using his skills to implement effective marketing strategies, propel execution, and meet deadlines, he has assisted companies operating in the blockchain, fin- tech, robotics and biotech sectors. In the past year Darius has worked with numerous blockchain projects, helping them to develop successful strategies, networking, and outcomes.
Roadmap
29M+ user base - 2007-2016
Reached 29 million users on 000webhost - free web development learning platform, and Hostinger - web hosting services. Biggest part of users are young tech-savvy with deep will to learn, build and grow. Users love us as an online learning platform already.
Web fundamentals - 2017 Q1/Q2
Summary of 500+ articles about web coding fundamentals was prepared. Polishing of the business strategy. Approaching first business partners. Consulting with numerous universities and blockchain companies to develop first courses.
BitDegree Crowdsale - 2017 Q3/Q4 2018 Q1
Period of building Ethereum Smart Contract for upcoming BitDegree Token Sale. An ERC20 token, auditing SM code. Development of MOOC Educational expertise partnerships. Marketing. BitDegree Token Crowdsale & Distribution Event.
Best online IT Learning Courses
Launching the first Blockchain course material. Hire field experts to manage project expansion. Source the best tutors. Blockchain identity registry research and implementation. Onboard 3rd party providers. Course material repository and structure generalization.Launch first 100 courses with world’s best online learning experience.
Hype on Student sector - 2018 Q2/Q3
Continue Blockchain knowledge improvement. First token scholarship issued. First partners accept token in BitDegree ecosystem. Start full-stack marketing activities, oriented on student engagement with strong influencers community & Alumni partnerships. Achievement and gamification tracking for students. Tools enabling verification of study effort. Study area and student achievements viewer. Smart incentives contract implementation. Mobile platform development. Students as mentors. 3rd party content. 3rd party assessors.
Business Platform launch - 2018 Q4
Developed & launched platform for Sponsors. Business development towards strong sponsorships with emphasis development of courses with a focus on skills in-demand. Creating sourcing pool for talent. Course material index. Sponsorship area. Course chunks mapping and career paths building area.
Future - Future
3rd party integrations. Digital Service Provider SDK Development. Building SDK for a third party Digital Service Providers to integrate Bitdegree Tokens as a mean of value exchange into market cycle. At this point in time blockchain technologies are already widely adopted. Tools for token integration into 3rd parties is already present. BitDegree for Business. BitDegree Jobs. BitDegree Certification. BitDegree Decentralized Diploma. BitDegree education AI assistant. Decentralized diploma viewer. BitDegree training. BitDegree young talent aquisition. BitDegree Braille (blind education). BitDegree for Third World countries.
WWW.BITDEGREE.ORGOFFICIAL LINKS
WEBSITE:
https://www.bitdegree.org/- WHITEPAPER :https://www.bitdegree.org/white-paper.pdf
ANN Thread:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2214321.0 TELEGRAM:
https://t.me/bitdegree TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/bitdegree_org FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/bitdegree.org
Originally Posted By : Idrix1
Profile BTT :
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1328628 White paper:
https://www.bitdegree.org/white-paper.pdf