Blockchain Zoo and the first phase of decentralization solution development
This is the third of a series of five parts. Read the first part here: https://capodieci.medium.com/the-roots-of-blockchain-and-decentralization-f5fb049f8681 and see at the bottom of the article the links to all the other parts.
Blockchain Zoo started in 2017. From 2017 to the end of 2018, we provided consultancy services for various business clients on how to implement their specific use cases and business models on the blockchain. Throughout the two years, we were customizing open-source platforms and modified them according to each of our clients’ specific needs.
Then, in 2019, owing to our experiences dealing with our different clients and their use cases that spanned from loyalty point systems to racehorses ownership management, eventually we gained insight into what kind of platform we would have needed to solve all the pain points we did meet at each solution implementation. This led to our awareness on the importance of having our own platform to support decentralization. We started architecting the platform we needed to be able to serve our clients better.
Thus started our two years journey of developing the ZooBC platform. The platform’s development marks the first phase of a long journey toward decentralization.
It is important to note that we financed the platform’s development using the money we had earned from our various consultancy projects done throughout 2017 and 2018. We did not want to raise our funds for the project by asking the public to partake in an initial coin offering (ICO) that was very popular at that time. We didn’t do it as we find them ethically questionable, are illegal in many countries, and are more a financial game than real fundraising.
The first phase of my journey toward decentralization has been an especially arduous one. Anyone familiar with the process of translating abstract concepts into concrete outputs in any field can relate to this. In translating my abstract concept of an ideal platform into a real, workable one, I had to work collaboratively with a very strong team comprising people who knew exactly what they were doing.
Then, developing the solution required us to embark on very intensive and extensive teamwork, which saw us going through lots of meetings and discussions, through which we constantly test our prototype and get feedback on the coding process to refine it and refine it.
To complicate the matter further, our team was further divided into many small teams who were coding small parts of the application, all at the same time. Assembling these different pieces into a single application that works smoothly is its own challenge.
Despite the challenges, it is essential for the whole team to remain meticulous and thorough throughout the development. Why? Because ZooBC is only the first phase of a long journey, involving five phases. ZooBC, the first phase, sets a strong foundation on which the next four phases lay upon. It is no different from how a five-story house requires very strong foundations to make sure it can sustain the five stories above it.
Well, within the two-year period, the team had accomplished this mission of laying down a solid ground floor for the entire roadmap to decentralization and they had done it well. In order to turn my blueprint of an ideal blockchain platform, I needed to recruit an in-house team who could work closely with me.
As the two years of hard work by this excellent team have come to a conclusion, while I’m embarking further on the road of the decentralization process, I am really grateful to the team members that are now walking their separate ways, upon finishing the work they have done impressively throughout 2019 and 2020 to build ZooBC: the first, and most important phase of this long journey toward decentralization.
Now starts the second phase of this journey toward decentralization. Our team members, involving different fields of expertise and personalities started in a zoo of sorts, hence ZooBC, by being “sequestered” in an office, to work hard to create something tangible out of a conceptual blueprint. Now is time to start decentralizing the development and architecture process for the evolution of this technology.
With the conclusion of the first phase, the project management looks less like a zoo, which implies lots of individuals working together closely in an isolated setting. Now, with the kickoff of the second phase, the project has become a decentralization blockchain: DecBC, which looks more like a global village. How so?
Phase two, the DecBC, will see remote freelancers and the open-source community working together by collecting bounties, as well as offering feedback and suggestions. New functionalities to be implemented will be voted by the public, as it will be the steering committee.
This is an easier phase, compared to phase one, as now it has become tangible what we are working on. It is easy to see and understand. Easy to relate to. With phase one we have put a seed in the ground and watered it and now, that the sprout can be seen, we just need to make sure that it grows strong and healthy.
Kickstarting DecBC, the second phase of the project, to which everyone can contribute, will mark the start of a very interesting process. If you want a sneak peek at what the process will look like, I will describe some of it in the upcoming third part of this article.
This is the third part of a series of five parts. Here the links to the other parts.
Part 1: https://capodieci.medium.com/the-roots-of-blockchain-and-decentralization-f5fb049f8681
Part 2: https://capodieci.medium.com/how-cryptocurrencies-have-increased-blockchains-public-visibility-157cd1fd52a3
Part 3: is the article on this page
Part 4: https://capodieci.medium.com/decentralization-will-make-our-lives-much-better-57b6f544b1de
Part 5: https://capodieci.medium.com/join-our-ino-support-the-decentralization-journey-f851549247e8
