Synthesist Program: A Unique Opportunity for Associate-Level Tech Professionals

[ChristopherA]

Overview

Blockchain Commons is excited to announce the launch of a unique professional development opportunity, designed especially for associate-level tech professionals with a few years experience in the field. This program offers both Socratic learning and hands-on work with the aim of cultivating a new generation of security & cryptography experts that have been trained in multi-displinary synthesis of diverse fields of knowledge.

Some aspects of this program are similar to our Blockchain Commons' Apprenticeship Discussion, but this program is for slightly more experienced professionals, and the multi-disciplinary synthesis approach is more developed.

Program Details

Objective: The program is not just about honing technical skills in internet security, cryptography, and blockchain. It emphasizes the art of being a synthesist: combining multiple domains, thinking broadly, and acknowledging the limits of one’s knowledge. We seek individuals who are eager to blend knowledge across various domains and possess a broad-minded approach to problem-solving.

Duration & Structure: This program will occur over a year, with the option of an extension to a second year, allowing participants to immerse themselves fully in a variety of learning experiences. It is structured into both educational activities and 20% time (a day a week) spent on hands-on project work.

Mentorship: Participants will have the unique opportunity to learn under the guidance of Christopher Allen, the co-author of the TLS and DID standards, and a long-time expert in the security and identity fields. He has also worked as Associate Faculty at BGI at Pinchot University and Instructional Designer and Faculty at Blockchain University.

Educational Work: Though the Blockchain Commons program is not accredited, and not for a degree, it's intended to offer participants a survey of the blockchain, digital identity, and cryptography space that is likely to be much more current and relevant than anything taught in a traditional classroom. Participants will regularly meet with Christopher to discuss topics of interest to the participants in a Socratic manner. They will then engage in educational work that betters their own understanding of that topic while also improving it, such as contributing to an open-source project or a Wikipedia entry.

Learning Goals:

• Deepen understanding of complex tech areas like cryptography and blockchain.
• Develop the ability to integrate various knowledge domains.
• Cultivate skills in critical thinking and broad-based problem-solving.

Project Work: Each participant will also undertake a significant 20%-time project (a day a week) that showcases their comprehensive understanding of technology and how becoming a synthesist has also helped them to become a master of their discipline. This is beyond any educational work (above). Potential projects follow, but we expect specific project designs to be guided by the interest of the participant:

• Developing new methodologies for dealing with issues in accessing digital assets for couples, partnerships, or other groups, as well as addressing issues with inheritance.
• Melding new technologies such as FROST and MuSig2 with non-technological or social approaches to asset holding.
• Researching & developing proof-of-concepts for alternative architectures to improve the security & privacy of platforms requiring hot wallets like Lightning & Ethereum, based on lessons from Gordian approaches that have proven to work for Bitcoin.
• Expanding our Gordian system, which uses torgaps & airgaps to create an architecture for Bitcoin usage that supports independence, privacy, resilience, and openness, putting users in control of their digital assets.

Time Requirements

Beyond classroom & other educational work, we also require 34 hours of professional effort (1/5 full-time equivalent, ~8 hours a week) towards Blockchain Commons projects for each month of participation in the program. This would mean 400 hours over the course of a year. This effort is over and above educational opportunities, study time, mentorship, and mutual collaboration with other team members, etc., which likely take substantial time. Expect your time commitment to be similar to that of a part-time master's degree program over the course of the year.

Support and Funding

This is not an offer of employment. We guarantee our time and mentorship to help you improve as a tech professional, but not renumeration for project work.

However, we will seek funding of the 20% project time for any accepted applicants via grants and patronage. This is a top priority, because we want the program to be accessible to a diverse range of participants.

Any funding that we receive for this project will initially be converted into stipends with the goal of granting at least $544 and at most $1632 for each month of participation.

For Organizations: Externship/Secondment Opportunities

In addition to individual participation, we offer Externship and Secondment opportunities for organizations. This initiative is designed to enhance the skills of your team in open-source secure development practices, offering a collaborative and enriching experience for your staff.

Application Process

Email Christopher Allen ([email protected]) with your CV, along with a cover letter that highlights some of the things you like to work on with Blockchain Commons, and what you’d like to get out of a partnership with us. Please include what hardware platform, smart phone, and development environments you are most comfortable with, or what other expertises you have.

We are also open to applicants with diverse professional skills such as law, UX design, entrepreneurship, or writing, but any applicants should plan to collaborate with technology professionals.

The deadline for consideration for work start in the summer is March 15, 2024. We'll have another deadline in mid-October 2024 for work starting next winter. Our initial goal is to have two participants in the program.