(ANN)(I C O) BITDEGREE-REVOLUTIONIZING EDUCATION WITH BLOCKCHAIN

[Rottip]

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.ORG

OFFICIAL 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