The first cohort of the CESS course, which ran from January 29 to March 18, 2024, marked a significant milestone in our exploration of decentralized data and Web3 technologies. It has been an extraordinary journey, filled with discoveries and deep dives into the evolving landscape of digital decentralization. We extend our sincerest gratitude to all participants who joined us on this educational odyssey, bringing forth their enthusiasm, curiosity, and dedication to fostering a collaborative environment rich with shared knowledge and insights. Your contributions have been invaluable in shaping this transformative learning experience, and we look forward to continuing this journey together as we unlock the potential of decentralized data value networks.

Course Overview

The CESS course was meticulously designed to demystify Web3 technologies, providing a structured and coherent learning pathway. Over seven weeks, participants dove deep into the CESS ecosystem, understanding its architecture, engaging as community members, and exploring dApp usage. The syllabus culminated in the development and deployment of smart contracts, with hands-on demos on building full-feature dApps that interact with both smart contracts and frontends.

In this course, we have organized the material on CESS in such a way that allows students to build up knowledge systematically from the ground up. This is a seven-week course. This is our syllabus:

Each week we have prepared a series of videos for students to digest. There are also weekly assignments to reinforce learning.

Empowering Global Learners

With over 50 registrations from diverse backgrounds and over 10 countries, including China, Nigeria, the USA, and Argentina, the course attracted dApp developers, node validators, blockchain community managers, and crypto enthusiasts. This global participation underscores the universal appeal and relevance of decentralized storage solutions.

Course Achievements and NFT Certifications

A significant 20% of the students successfully completed the course, demonstrating commitment and earning a course completion NFT as a testament to their achievement. This NFT not only symbolizes their hard work but also serves as a milestone in their Web3 journey.

Innovations and Projects

During the final stages of the course, students collaborated on team projects, applying their learnings to create innovative solutions on the CESS blockchain. These projects highlighted the practical applications of CESS in solving real-world challenges, from decentralized storage to enhancing data privacy and ownership.

Project Highlight

We received several outstanding projects, each showcasing the practical application of the knowledge gained by the students throughout the course. Below are some examples of these projects.

Patient Consent Protocol (PCP)

The Patient Consent Protocol (PCP) presented in the lite paper outlines an innovative approach to managing patient consent for the use of their health data. This protocol utilizes blockchain technology to give patients control over who can access their data, providing a mechanism for consent to be granted or revoked in real time.

Innovation and Relevance

• Blockchain Application: The use of blockchain for patient consent management is both innovative and relevant, addressing the growing concerns around data privacy and consent in the healthcare sector.

• Real-Time Consent Management: The ability for patients to instantly revoke or grant consent adds a dynamic layer of control not typically available in traditional healthcare data management systems.

Technical Feasibility

• On-Chain Registry: Implementing an on-chain registry for consent management is technically feasible and aligns with current trends in decentralized applications. However, the technical complexity and scalability of such a solution should be considered.

• Interoperability: The proposal suggests potential synergies within the Polkadot ecosystem, indicating a thoughtful consideration of interoperability, which is crucial for widespread adoption.

D-science-hub

The D-science-hub project demonstrates a good understanding of a relevant problem area, innovative solution thinking, and a plausible business model.

Academic Merit and Relevance:

• The project tackles significant issues in the academic and research field, such as high access costs to scientific papers and limited funding opportunities, which are highly relevant topics in the current academic landscape. The identification and understanding of these problems demonstrate good research skills and awareness of the field.

Innovation and Solution Feasibility:

• The proposed solutions, including easy paper sharing and access, along with open and transparent funding application and management, show innovative thinking. However, the feasibility of these solutions would be assessed based on the technical details provided, such as the use of blockchain for transparency and the application of AI for paper analysis or discovery. The lack of detailed technical and operational planning could be a point of improvement.

Student Feedback

Through this course, students acquire a thorough comprehension of the Web3 ecosystem, accompanied by practical involvement in the CESS platform. Upon completion, they are awarded a distinctive NFT certificate, affirming their proficiency. Furthermore, students enjoy project assistance and collaborative prospects, nurturing community interaction and collaboration within the Web3 sphere. Let’s explore their feedback on the course.

BZ

*I appreciate the hard work from Jimmy and Alex in preparing the course and answering our questions in Discord. As a backend engineer, I am particularly fascinated by the CESS technology, such Proof of Data Reduplication and Recovery (PoDR²), the data splitting and sharding, and the proxy re-encryption technologies. I have learned to run a storage node in CESS. In the coming future, I hope to contribute back and participate more in the CESS ecosystem.*

Dionisis

What I gained was more than learning about the technology, I also found a good friend Illy through the course. I cooperate with him during the course and we build a nice friendship. This is something priceless. I am not that technical, but the course has taught me how to set up a storage node properly so I could contribute to the network computing(storage) power. For the next step, I would like to become a CESS ambassador and promote in regions where CESS do not have good coverage. I would like to be the bridge between CESS and that region.

Kent

I have a good time. Thank you, Joseph, Jimmy, and Alex, and everybody supporting the course. I finished Polkadot Blockchain Academy at the beginning of Feb and went straight into CESS. Substrate was very difficult during the PBA, but CESS has shown me that Substrate is very extensible and we can be ambitious about it. What I like to do in the CESS ecosystem next, would like to train the trainers. Jimmy has trained me, and it is my job to train more people in CESS, so I look forward to building up more CESS developers and the ecosystem in Hong Kong. I enjoy the learning journey and my conversation with Alex/Jimmy. I have been asking all sorts of difficult questions to the instructors and TAs, but I have learned a lot from my questions and also learned that my comments and questions are helpful to them as well.

Forward Together

The CESS course is more than an educational program; it’s a step towards building a data-sovereign, decentralized future. Overall, we have a lot of fun running this cohort, and we hope the students enjoy the course as much as we are teaching it. In the coming future, we hope to develop more sample applications demonstrating to the community how they can adopt CESS API in their dApp development journey to leverage limitless storage in decentralized fashion.

Let’s continue to contribute on the Web3 movement. In the midst of the internet revolution and the growing demand for data ownership and value**,** we want to educate the community that CESS, a blockchain-powered decentralized storage and content delivery network (CDN) infrastructure for Web3, allows users and creators alike to use the platform for on-chain data sharing, whilst builders can develop and deploy dApps. Offering the most optimal Web3 solution for storing and retrieving high-frequency dynamic data, CESS reshapes the value distribution and circulation of data assets whilst ensuring data sovereignty and user privacy.

Next Cohort?

We’ve been asked about the start date of the next cohort. We hear you!

This time, we’ve received valuable feedback and we’re committed to enhancing the course material. In the meantime, the CESS testnet has undergone several iterations since we prepared the course material, with the most significant enhancement being the integration with Metamask, which will greatly impact user experience. Concurrently, the CESS core development team has been gearing up for the mainnet launch. Therefore, once we’ve updated and refined the course material, we plan to launch another cohort (soon) to better prepare the community for the mainnet launch.

So stay tuned for our next cohort announcement!

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