Grant/Project Name:
VESS (ex C-Voxel)
Proposer’s contact info (please provide a reliable point of contact for the project):
Kantaro ( kantaro@vess.id )
Grant Category: [Apps, Tooling/Analytics, Community/Education]
Apps
ELI5 Project Summary:
VESS, in short, is the Web3 version of LinkedIn+Upwork, and with VESS, everyone can own their work identity as collections of verifiable data and carry them everywhere through VESS’s SDK.
It enables users to present their work identities and helps to find new jobs easily in social media and other digital platforms without lying.
Project Description:
VESS is a product built on top of Ceramic to build and visualize an individual’s work identity.
Users can own credentials about their background, learning history, organization, job title, work performance, Event Attendance Credentials, reputation and so on. The collection of these credentials represents a user’s work identity.
There are 3 different formats for VESS credential data with different levels of reliability.
1.Verifiable Credential(VC): Credentials issued by web3 projects, DAOs, other companies, or public organizations.
2.Bottom-up Credential: VESS’s original credential format that ensure trustworthiness of the credential for P2P works for which no official issuer exists, by including evidence data.
3.Self-claimed: Self-reported data with no evidence
With those credential formats, users can visualize their work identities with graduated levels of trust.
Currently, Users can issue the following types of credentials
- Membership Credential (VC)
- Event Attendance Credential (VC)
- Work Credential (VC / Bottom up Credential / Self-claimed)
- Learning Credential (VC)
We will also be adding the following types of credentials
- Peer to Peer Reputation Credential (Bottom up Credential)
These credentials will allow anyone in the world to easily represent their work identity digitally.
And through the VESS SDK, any HR Tech service (recruiting platforms, talent management tools, etc.) will be able to use the credentials stored in Ceramic easily.
We are also working on a web3 talent-focused job marketplace ( SYNAPSS ) as an initial use case for VESS.
VESS will bring innovation to the current HR industry based on self-reported resumes, and create a global work Identity data network on Ceramic.
<VESS current ecosystem’s product>
- VESS web app: a web3 version LinkedIn app that allows users to visualize their own work identity.
- VESS for Org : Verifiable credential issuing/management app for organizations. The app will be released by the end of this year.
- SYNAPSS: a job marketplace focused on web3 talent, which is an early use case for VESS. Pre-registration will open in December, and a closed beta version will be released in February 2023.
- VESS SDK: SDK to make it easy to integrate work identity data. It is scheduled to be released by the end of this year.
The following projects have already decided to adopt the SDK, and we will actively support their implementation.
Web3-focused online education service
Task management tool for DAO
Hackathon Organizing Platform
Global DID game launchpad service
< Technology stack >
- Frontend: Next.js / web3Auth / ethers.js / Vercel / Lit protocol
- Data Store: Ceramic / web3.Storage( as storage of static evidence data)
- Ceramic / IPFS Node: AWS
- Backend: Node.js / GCP / ComposeDB ( Currently running server for search queries in Node.js / GCP but we planning to migrate to ComposeDB ASAP)
- Social / Chat: Orbis.club
For more detailed product information: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k6IWzxkB_JTOBEaVM3JNTK5rw8jZqsUz/view?usp=sharing
Relevant links:
- Website: https://vess.id/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/vess_id
- Github: GitHub - cvoxelprotocol/cvoxel
- Previous projects the team has meaningfully contributed to:
IPFS/Filecoin pool prize at ETH Newyork (Contx | ETHGlobal ) - Comparable projects or peers:
LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/ ) / upwork (https://www.upwork.com/) / CryptoJobsList(https://cryptojobslist.com/ )
Ceramic Ecosystem Value Proposition:
- What is the problem statement this proposal hopes to solve for the Ceramic ecosystem?
We are very empathetic to the DataVerse concept. On the other hand, DataVerse is a new concept, and its benefits have not yet spread throughout society. Our goal is to create use cases for DataVerse with VESS, to further popularize Ceramic, and to make it an infrastructure for society.
- How does your proposal offer a value proposition solving the above problem?
In today’s world, the data that builds a user’s work identity (education, background, experience, achievements, and other activity history) is siloed in various services like recruiting platforms and talent management tools. This results in a lot of unnecessary costs associated with data handling in the HR domain. Also, web2 resume/CV services often suffer from background fraud.
Even In web3, although there are many services that distribute NFT/SBTs to prove the completion of small tasks, services that use DID/VC to certify a very small portion of digital identities, and web2-like recruitment platforms with a web3 skin, they do not solve the essential issues. This will become a more serious problem as DAOs and web3 become more prominent and global talent liquidity increases.
VESS offers a solution to this global HR challenge: the work identity built on top of Ceramic. If everyone can leverage Ceramic and decentralized identities to carry their work identity anywhere in a verifiable format, this will be one of the use cases for DataVerse that will be widely welcomed by society.
- Why will this solution be a source of growth for the Ceramic ecosystem?
We believe that Dataverse and the HR domain are a great fit, and as VESS demonstrates the use cases for Dataverse in the HR domain, not only the Web3 industry, but society as a whole will recognize the potential of Dataverse.
Also, as VESS spreads, the number of Ceramic transactions (the number of credentials) will increase significantly. We expect 1,000 users and 30 companies to participate in the initial marketplace, generating a total of over 50,000 credentials by summer 2023. We also aim to create 300,000 work identities by 2024, creating more than 3 million credentials.
Funding requested (DAI/USDC): [$21,800]
Milestones:
-
Milestone #1: Development of VESS for Org (56h) - [$2,800]
Development and release of a VC issuing application for organizations, allowing web3 projects and DAOs to issue VCs for memberships, event attendance credentials, job performance, etc. It’ll be released by the end of this year.- [Develop web app(UI/frontend)] - [40 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Update Ceramic Data Model] - [8 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Test and deploy ] - [8 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
-
Milestone #2: Development of SYNAPSS (the talent marketplace) (188h) - [$9,400]
Development and release of a job marketplace focused on web3 talent. Talent CVs, employer/talent chats, and work credentials generated in the marketplace are all stored on Ceramic through VESS. It’ll be released on Feb 2023( before ETHDenver ).- [Develop web app(UI/frontend)] - [80 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Develop backend(matching system, DM chat, account management)] - [80 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Update Ceramic Data Model] - [20 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Test and deploy] - [8 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
-
Milestone #3: ComposeDB migration (48h) - [$2,400]
Development to migrate IDX currently used mainly in VESS to ComposeDB- [Design migration] - [20 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Update Ceramic Node on testnet] - [10 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Migrate on testnet] - [10 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Update Ceramic Node on mainnet] - [4 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [Migrate on mainnet] - [4 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
-
Milestone #4: Sales and Marketing of SYNAPSS /VESS for org (144h) - [$7,200]
This is a sales activity for SYNAPSS /VESS for Org. The primary target are web3 projects/DAOs in Asia and the US from seed to series A phase. The next target are web3 departments within web2 companies. We aim to have 20 pre-registrations before the release of SYNAPSS , and 10 registration by the end of February. We have one BD member based in SF and one based in Japan.- [20 pre-registrations for SYNAPSS and VESS for Org before SYNAPSS launch] - [96 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
- [10 registrations for SYNAPSS and VESS for Org after SYNAPSS launch] - [48 Hours @ $50/ Hr]
I accept the 3Box Labs Grants terms and conditions: Yes
I understand that I will be required to provide additional KYC information to the 3Box Labs to receive this grant: Yes