Proponent: Web3 Group

Date: Main Hackathon and conference in Mexico City: 16th, 17th and 18th June 2023

Smaller events:

• June 1-2 - 1st Hackathon, UACAM University - Campeche
• June 5-6 - 2nd Hackathon, UDG University - Guadalajara
• June 7-8 - 3rd Hackathon, Cetys University - Ensenada
• June 10-11 - 4th Hackathon, Tec University - Monterrey
• Road to hackathon 1-30 of May, education bootcamp.

Request: 4.701 KSM (140,000 USD) based on EMA7 subscan

Short Description: Second Hackathon in Mexico focused on education about the Substrate ecosystem, Rust and Gear Protocol with training to developers before the event, opened to the whole DotSama ecosystem.

1.- Introduction

THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Web3Group is a Mexican company dedicated to organizing educational events, mainly focused on hackathons, and has worked with different universities such as IPN, UNAM, and UAM to achieve this. More information about Web3group can be found on its official website.

In 2022, Web3 Group and Gear joined forces to create the first Web3 University Hackathon in Mexico, with a focus on teaching and training future engineers about the stack that Gear shares with Polkadot. The event concluded with a successful hackathon where many dapps were created using the Gear Protocol. This hackathon was combined with a conference to which the general public was invited to listen to well-known speakers in Mexico. The event had 100 students coding and about 300 visitors.

If you want to see the pictures of the previous event please check this proposal

Cointelegraph served as our media sponsor and covered the event in their press release, published in both English and Spanish.

After our successful first event with the top universities in Mexico, we received positive feedback confirming that there is a lot of talent but a lack of education about the blockchain ecosystem, especially regarding the cutting-edge Polkadot technology.

We are thrilled to announce that our upcoming event will be bigger and better than ever before. We will welcome 300 students and open up the conference events to 600 visitors. Additionally, we would like to invite more parachains to join our exciting hackathon. We are delighted to have the support of the Gear Foundation for this event and would like to extend an invitation to partner with us to spread the word about DotSama and its potential to the next generation of developers and students. Let's work together to create a vibrant ecosystem that will continue to evolve and innovate.

2.- Problem statement

According to a Chainalysis study. LATAM is the market with the biggest growth in the world on the blockchain ecosystem and the second one with more transactions in 2022.

Despite the significant adoption of blockchain in LATAM, Polkadot/Kusama and its parachains are not yet positioned at the forefront, and there is still room for the development of new decentralized applications within the ecosystem. The adoption of technologies that facilitate an easy transition from web2 to web3 development presents a vast potential for new developers. WASM is a key feature of this adoption, and both Kusama/Polkadot and Gear Protocol share this pillar, utilizing programming languages like Rust to create real potential for growth. However, education is necessary to achieve this goal.

3.- The proposed solution

Web3group and Gear Foundation have joined forces to create educational events, including bootcamps, aimed at teaching the tools required to create decentralized applications using Rust compiled to WASM. The culmination of this educational effort will be a Mega Bootcamp, held in conjunction with some of the best computer science universities in Mexico. The event will span the entire country, with more than 30 universities in 5 different locations spreading the word about the Polkadot ecosystem, Substrate, and parachains. The event will culminate in a Mega Hackathon to be held in Mexico City.

3.1 - How does this proposal help the Dotsama ecosystem?

Goals

• Enhance awareness and comprehension of the DotSama Ecosystem and its Parachains.
• Build a community of skilled developers capable of building cutting-edge technology for the Polkadot ecosystem.
• Create new minimum viable products (MVPs) for all participating Parachains using decentralized applications.

Metrics

• Reach the whole country by doing face-to-face events in 5 main cities.
• Join the best 30+ universities in Mexico to educate about the technology behind Polkadot/Kusama, parachains and Gear Protocol.
• Touching 1000+ future engineers to prepare them to use technologies related to the Polkadot/Kusama ecosystem.

The proposed initiative aims to benefit the DotSama ecosystem and its parachains, with a focus not only on the community but also on the generation of new future developers. Additionally, a follow-up with continuous educational events is planned to ensure sustained growth and development.

Duration and schedule:

Event start online : April 28

Event end face-to-face : June 18

Total duration: 1 Month 3 weeks

This event will be executed in different stages:

**Virtual **

Due to Gear's experience in various hackathons, we agreed to hold a bootcamp before the main hackathon, with a focus on providing workshops and educational talks. Each participating parachain will have the opportunity to conduct several workshops and Q&A sessions with the participants to get them excited and prepared to build on their platforms. We have created a schedule of possible time slots that can be occupied by the different parachains for their educational sessions.

• April 28 - Zoom: Talk on-boarding web3 - official start pre boothckathon web3
• May 2 - Zoom : Workshop Polkadot as the solution to interoperability blockchains. Workshop on Gear and first contract for Vara,- link for the academy, link for rust and link for javascript, html5, react.
• May 5th - Zoom: First training and follow-up
• May 12 - Zoom : Second training and follow-up
• May 19 - Zoom : Third training and follow-up
• May 26 - Zoom : Fourth training and follow-up
• May 29 to June 14 - Team building and specialization by Hackathon track in Discord

A more detailed schedule with talking themes will be presented later on, once all the participants have been confirmed

Face-to-Face

We were also invited to host smaller hackathons in other regions of the country, so we decided to bring them together. There will be four regional hackathons held at major universities, with over 150 students participating in each one, working on solutions. The top three teams from each hackathon will be awarded free trips to the Mexico city Hackathon, with their costs covered as part of the bounty they receive. During these regional hackathons, parachain teams have the option to support participants both online and offline. We are working to ensure the events are held in close proximity to one another, making it easy for people to move between locations and collaborate with the students.

1. UACAM University - Campeche: June 1-2 - 1st Hackathon
2. UDG University - Guadalajara: June 5-6 - 2nd Hackathon
3. Cetys University - Ensenada: June 7-8 - 3rd Hackathon
4. Tec University - Monterrey: June 10-11 - 4th Hackathon

Mega face-to-face hackathon

In addition to the hackathon, we have decided to use the space at ITAM University in Mexico City to also host a conference. With a lot of knowledgeable people from both the DotSama and Mexican blockchain ecosystems present, we will have the opportunity to bring together top-notch speakers such as Pimpo (organizer of Talentland), Mad Crypto, Lorena Ortiz, Zona3, among others, to give speeches and participate in panel discussions aimed at spreading the word about the blockchain and Polkadot ecosystems to the community. We expect around 300-400 participants to attend this exciting event, with an additional 1000+ viewers tuning in online via the live stream.

Here is the schedule for the event:

• June 16: Start of the hackathon with additional guidance and a focus on coding.
• June 17: Full day of coding. Start of the conference with basic talks.
• June 18: Early morning end of coding with judging to follow. Panel section and discussion, followed by a closing and awards ceremony.

Location:

1. Campeche (Side hackathon) - UACAM - https://www.uacam.mx/
2. Guadalajara (Side hackathon) - UDG – https://www.udg.mx/
3. Ensenada (Side hackathon) - CETYS - https://www.cetys.mx/
4. Monterrey (Side hackathon) – TEC - https://tec.mx/
5. CDMX (Main hackathon) - ITAM - https://www.itam.mx/

Budget and execution:

The bootckathon it's divided into 2 different events:

Side Hackathons will be held in four different cities, each with 150 developers participating, for a total of 600 participants. The hackathons will take place over a period of two days and will provide a budget to the universities for the following purposes:

• swag
• event preparation
• travel for the winning teams to the main hackathon

The budget for each location is set at 38,000 USD.

Main Hackathon (300 developers)

This hackathon will be run within 3 days in 1 main city. The conference will take place 2 days so there will be space for booths, speakers and community. Ths are the main items of the budget:

• Food And Beverage
• Swag
• Security
• Event Preparation

Budget main location: 92,000 USD

Web3group Event Organization

Web3group will take charge of organizing the face-to-face hackathons with each university, coordinating with its suppliers and providing a team of eight individuals to handle various aspects such as design, construction, assembly, disassembly, and event organization.

Budget: 10,000 USD

Total Budget: 140,000 USD

This budget covers the expenses for this proposal, but not the entire cost of the event. The Gear Foundation will also cover pre-event expenses, including visits to universities, coordination of smaller hackathons, and basic expenses such as security and infrastructure costs for universities. Additionally, the Foundation will cover translation services, exclusive giveaways, and the closing party. The total amount contributed by the Gear Foundation will be $40,000 USD. This is excluding the personal that will fly and work to support the education and realization of this hackathons.

This event is the culmination of two years of hard work, and we are excited to share our experience with the entire Polkadot ecosystem. By bringing together the best and brightest talent, we aim to spread the word about the potential of Substrate and Rust technologies to drive blockchain adoption across the country. We are confident that our event will provide a platform for developers to learn and collaborate, and we look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that emerge from this gathering.