Modification: Filecoin Enterprise (Fil-E) Pilot

[MegTei]

Issue Description

Potential verticals/use cases and clients have useful (non-public) data which could be stored on Filecoin however with enterprise data (non-public) they currently don’t qualify for Fil+. There are Web3 aware clients with interest in testing /running POCs on Filecoin’s new system (proof of concepts being a pathway to decision making) and these early adopters trade off risk/ stage of development with incentives to switch from fully featured Web2 systems to new technologies. Active requests for enterprise clients are onboarding now, attempting to operate within the bounds of the current Fil+ public data program which requires high SP and governance effort creating friction and isn’t scalable

Impact

The launch of an enterprise proposition to reach 80% of the worlds (private) data will enable the Filecoin ecosystem to scale significantly, increasing both opportunities for SPs and expanding the network.

The enterprise program objectives include:

1. Spur adoption enabling SPs access to opportunities to onboard more organisations and more use cases
2. Prove Filecoin’s value as a data storage network (real and useful data)
3. Grow awareness of Filecoin

Proposed Solution

Fil-E is a program that supports clients with private (non-public) data that is still aligned with the Filecoin purpose, goals and principles. It will make use of Fil+ DataCap as a sales tool to incentivise deal making with clients. SPs will also be able to access the same QAP incentive.

Some of the key differences to the existing Fil+ program are:

• The role of a ‘Lead SP’ is introduced. The lead will coordinate other SPs and provide transparency about their onboarding and distribution plans.
• Notary due diligence process for enterprise is different. Checking data will not be possible as it would be a violation of trust and privacy – due diligence is at the organisation level.
• Contracts & service level agreements are introduced.
• Data types - sensitivity classification together with regulation and compliance will need to be covered.
• Client responsibilities are different.

How will the enterprise application process work?
SP enablement

1. Pilot. Phase 1 - MVP A limited number of clients & SPs participate (# and criteria TBC)
2. For enterprise data, the data classification, distribution/ handling + rights will be established upfront by the client.
3. Deal making is a ‘problem-solution fit’ approach. SP BD are involved in qualifying clients data storage solution, acting as proxies. A web interface (prototype) captures key data for solution design, contract, with API into GitHub
4. Proposal: The "Lead SP" will source other SPs that have comparable ops, service levels + infrastructure. Lead SPs are eligible to:

• Earn 10x power for verified deals (as is today)
• And entitled to a “lead origination bonus” store 2x copies

5. Service level agreements + contracts. The service the client requires to support redundancy, distribution, retrieval, data security & sustainability are defined as part of deal making.
   Client is bound contractually up front including clarity of consequences of system abuse.
6. Lead SP submits distribution plans:

• All SP geographies
• Client data transfer plan e.g. network/ offline
• Distribution timeframes

Enterprise governance
7. Proposal: Due Diligence - Trust is established on client/ organisation. KYC (know-your-customer) scope (TBC in governance working group):

• Not a sanctioned co.
• Real company
• Real employee at that company
• A genuine social acc e.g. LinkedIn
• Email verification

8. Proposal: Notary service and process changes for enterprise

• Notaries will be self directed with service level expectations with weekly targets
• Follow best practice/ playbook
• A global KYC system(s) is used – automation, consistency & audit trail

9. Request: A subset of dedicated notaries assigned to support the MVP
   Seeking 8-10 notaries who will be offered incentives to participate in supporting the enterprise MVP (Incentives to be confirmed by FF)
10. Proposal: DataCap is client centric - aligned with client's onboarding plan. 3-4 milestones manage the release of DataCap:

• PoC
• Post PoC
• Within first 12 months
• 4th tranche - uplift in volume

11. Risk management and abuse detection
    Upfront client KYC, clearer consequences together with contracts in place work to reduce risk of bad actors. And adequate monitoring and management is in place to ensure no reputational risk

How will this proof of concept be run?
Applying a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) agile approach, a minimum level of design, a product/ proposition/ program can be launched in beta mode to a limited audience/ client base. MVP acknowledges that not all is known upfront about the product/ proposition and that all stakeholders will benefit from a learning cycle that is iterative with each iteration continuously improving outcomes.

Timeline

Approval of this MVP phase: 2-Jul-22
This means, FF & PL Governance and SP stakeholders endorse a pilot and there is support from the community and no showstoppers surfaced.
Proposal: the program can commence on the Western regions while an Eastern co-lead is being sourced.

Planning Phase (2-3 months) July-Oct 22
This includes opening up expressions of interests from clients and SPs and confirming the numbers required.

Proof of concept (MVP) (6-8 months) Oct 22 – Apr 2023
Managed by milestones and go/ no-go checkpoints throughout.

Requirements

Project leads
It is mandatory to ensure representation of Western and Eastern regions.

• 1 Western (English speaking) project lead for representation, comms and artefacts.
• 1 Eastern (Chinese speaking) co-project lead for representation, comms and artefacts.
  Proposal: Scope of work and incentive for each lead is agreed with FF & PL

Clients: A limited number of clients 20-50 (TBC) who have a tolerance for a beta phase and open to participating in a feedback loop.

SPs: A limited number of SPs 20-50 (TBC) who are open to participating in a feedback loop

Legal support: provided by PL

Governance: A dedicated set of notaries 8-10 (TBC) are assigned to support the pilot - required to provide 2 hours per week to discussions & tasks.
Proposal: Notary participants will be eligible for an incentive for hours invested (TBC FF)

PL & FF: Support will be required from Protocol Labs and The Foundation around setup/ fund/ market/ operate the new program.

Technical dependencies

Some of the expected technical changes are as follows (but not limited to, TBD in planning phase):

• DataCap Tranche milestones – initial feedback indicates a FIP is not needed (TBC)
• Tooling, monitoring and reporting
• UX design and APIs into GitHub
• KYC system

Measures of success

1. Adoption: clients progress from PoC to a longer term contract/ store more data
2. It is a positive CX for clients, SPs & Notaries
3. The MVP provides learning ground to safely test assumptions and hypotheses and generate valuable learnings
4. The program is adequately funded and supported by PL and FF

Risks and mitigations

Achieving balance between privacy, verifiability and transparency is complex and designing an enterprise program will need to ensure profiteering from the incentive structure is not possible. The measures proposed to manage risk include:

1. Due diligence on client/ organisation and sponsor using a universal system and the same due diligence dimensions
2. Notary playbook for consistent due diligence outcomes
3. Contracts and service levels between clients & SPs. Consequences of abuse are clear.
4. Transparency of the Lead SP distribution plan
5. Additional monitoring reporting (not known yet)
6. Start small and focussed – in Western region as phase 1

Related Issues

Discussion #527 issue

How to contribute support/ feedback/ endorsement.
Before responding, please consider the following:

1. Not all is known about how the program/ processes will work. The 2-3 month planning phase will work through the important detail.
2. Contribution requires commitment, only offer support if able to provide 2-4 hours consistently per week in the planning phase.
3. If offering critique, please be sure to include alternatives/ ideas (no venting without action!)

Next steps

1. Community: Provide feedback before 2-Jul. There will be sessions at both Notary and SP working groups during this time.
2. PL & Foundation: confirm happy to commence the project with one project lead (western)
3. PL & Foundation: Your endorsement and support (1 member from PL Governance and one from SP enablement) is required to support/ contribute.
4. PL & Foundation: Confirm how to fund the pilot (grants/ incentives/ etc) before the planning phase commences.
   (Following these steps outlined here, SP/ client EoI and Notary teams can then assemble)

[flyworker]

It looks great for the ecosystem, I am wondering we should have some technology/tools support for the system. e.g.

• sample of the data for group of auditing team
• multi part check
• data validation with content is real

How to make the data valid keep privacy is challenging.

[Fatman13]

Form f+ program scope...

the dataset should be public, open, and mission aligned with Filecoin and Filecoin Plus. This also means that the data should be accessible to anyone in the network, without requiring any special permissions or access requirement

I suggest that not to disrupt the original scope of f+ program by limiting the total amount of fil-E datacap, which means for every 1TiB of Fil-E datacap approved there should be 100TiB of Fil+ datacap approved.

[MegTei]

It looks great for the ecosystem, I am wondering we should have some technology/tools support for the system. e.g.

• sample of the data for group of auditing team
• multi part check
• data validation with content is real

How to make the data valid keep privacy is challenging.

Yes @flyworker verifiability and privacy are in conflict. It will be one of the hypotheses to work through in the planning phase

[flyworker]

Form f+ program scope...

the dataset should be public, open, and mission aligned with Filecoin and Filecoin Plus. This also means that the data should be accessible to anyone in the network, without requiring any special permissions or access requirement

I suggest that not to disrupt the original scope of f+ program by limiting the total amount of fil-E datacap, which means for every 1TiB of Fil-E datacap approved there should be 100TiB of Fil+ datacap approved.

from my understanding fil-E is not part of Fil+ anymore, since the data is not public

[Fatman13]

from my understanding fil-E is not part of Fil+ anymore, since the data is not public

I think as long as fil+E uses datacap it will be bounded by rules defined in FIP003, which in turn is bounded by rules set in fil+ program.

Or this fil+E could be another separate FIP that is independent of FIP003.

[galen-mcandrew]

Based on my reading of the proposal above, there are not technical protocol level changes, and this proof of concept variation still falls under FIP 003. That said, if the broader community felt an informational FIP was necessary at this stage, someone could draft that. I feel that this proposal (and the various additional documentation the working group has generated) are sufficient sources of documentation, and an informational FIP is not necessary.

It may make more sense to draft that informational FIP later, once this initial proposal has been completed and the community is ready to ratify a long-term enterprise pathway.

[Kakkouii]

Can anyone specify the rule of KYC in Fil-E? I see a genuine social account like Linkedin is required. But for most Chinese domestic companies, we use Weibo and WeChat as official social account, let alone Linkedin is not available in Mainland China due to government regulation.

[BobbyChoii]

As I know that SP is the main beneficiary of the LDN. Why do you want to let lead SP coordinate other SPs?
And how can you ensure independence among SPs?

[Neal-fil]

I suggest pilot phase to be conducted separately and synchronously in the East and West, rather than in sequence. We are all well aware of the huge differences between the East and the West in terms of both national policies and social environment, lessons from the Western trial that the project expected are unlikely to have much significance for the Fil-E launch in the East.

Further, the standards of KYC for enterprises should take full account of regional differences. For example, the usage rate of LinkedIn in Asia is very low which cannot reach the expected effect of verifying enterprises. Policies should be considered differently in different countries or regions, it would be more efficient to let local notaries take the lead in enforcing localization based on the official baseline.

[MegTei]

Thanks for sharing perspectives and considerations @Neal-fil @Bobby423 @EGGRICE02. This is a proposal at this stage, PL/ FF are working to mobilise a team which will work through all of these important details. The planning phase will explore and design the program, key decision points will be open for discussion and consensus so please stay tuned!

[Destore2023]

I agree with Fil-E's vision. It offers great flexibility to companies with data storage needs and is definitely beneficial for the development of the ecosystem. However, as a representative of the East (in the community), there are a few points that I think could have been improved.

1. As joint participants in the community, East and West should have the opportunity to carry out the project at the same time, so that we can better verify the differences and refine the optimization phase after the project is landed.

I believe this is very important based on the spirit of web 3.0, and the project is still in the preparation stage, there is sufficient time available for deciding on the co-leader of the East.

Web 3.0 serves as a bridge to decentralization, the community is shared and the biggest result we obtain is trust. It is necessary to reach complete impartiality between East and West in order for the community to run efficiently.

2. The awareness of Linkedin is poor in China, and it is inaccurate to conduct KYC in a single way. We recommend that the verification of the company be divided into two parts.

1) Verification of the company's credentials should be done through Tianyancha, which is a corporate credit agency under the China SME Development Sub-Fund
2) Verification of the company representative who makes the application should be done through local Chinese recruitment applications such as MaiMai, BossZhiPin, ZhiLianZhaoPin, etc.

This is more consistent with the practical environment of Greater China, where the community can only operate efficiently if the geographical environment is fully considered.

 3. Furthermore data regulations vary from country to country and compliance with the local laws and regulations is the highest priority. PL&FF should recognize and support the different rules in all regions of the world.

I suggest that the Fil+E project in the Eastern region needs to have appropriate KYC standards defined by the Eastern SPs and notaries. For example, SP should publish the method of data processing, tools, transmission, and encapsulation plan, without publishing the content of the data to ensure the privacy of the customers.

[Kakkouii]

Here's some facts&reports about Linkedin and Chinese homegrown counterpart.https://napoleoncat.com/stats/linkedin-users-in-china/2021/01/
https://www.adchina.io/chinese-linkedin-maimai/

[MRJAVAZHAO]

As We said in #527.

We are willing to join this program and to be an active notary.
We think where are three core factors, client, data, storage providers.

[PluskitOfficial]

We want to express our interest in the project again. And as a new notary, we'd like to participate in the project.
--The verification of the enterprise itself is very important.
--We agree with the practice of contract signing.
--We recommend the introduction of data security tools.
As a Fil+ ecolsystem data tool platform, Pluskit is willing to cooperate with the project and provide data and related functions at any time.

[MegTei]

Hi Everyone, great news, the enterprise pilot is kicking off. Kevin Zakorchemny from PL who brings strong product and program management is now heading up the project.
I'll remain in the working group, along with many of you who are keen to contribute to commercialising an enterprise offer. @kevzak is shaping up the plan, stay tuned for updates in the next couple weeks.

[MatrixStorage]

大家好，好消息，企业试点开始了。来自 PL 的 Kevin Zakorchemny 带来了强大的产品和项目管理，现在正在领导该项目。 我将与许多热衷于为企业产品商业化做出贡献的人一起留在工作组中。@kevzak正在制定计划，请继续关注未来几周的更新。

@MegTei Congratulations on the achievement of this project, as we mentioned before, both as notary and our previous service experience with KYC process, Data Checking, SPs customers. If there is an opportunity, we are willing to join and jointly promote the development of the project.

[BlockMakeronline]

As a new notary, BlockMaker want to join this program as an active notary. We will pay more attention to this issue. Hope to get more updates.

[kevzak]

Hello all - I'd like to confirm Notary involvement in the upcoming E-Fil+ Pilot.

In previous comments and discussion over the past few months, 12 Notaries have expressed interest in participating in the Working Group:
@MegTei
@flyworker (Charles Cao)
@MRJAVAZHAO
Danny O'Brien @dannyob
James Hoang @jameshoang
Wijnand @cryptowhizzard
Zhehao Chen @Fenbushi-Filecoin
@PluskitOfficial (can you confirm your name?)
@MatrixStorage (can you confirm your name?)
@davidthoms (Coffee Cloud)
@bmcnabb25 (Tinfra)
@BlockMakeronline (can you confirm your name?)

I have opened a discussion topic for further review and confirmation of Notary participation in the Pilot, please confirm participation here: #579

[Destore2023]

Hi Kevin,

Count me in, please

[kevzak]

Hello all - I just posted a new discussion topic regarding:

• The planning phase details of the E-Fil+project
• Storage Provider (SP) Eligibility and Expression of Interest Details

See here: #580

[kevzak]

Hello - Proposals related to this E-Fil issue were posted for further discussion by the community:

• E-Fil+ Proposal: Data distribution rules established upfront by client #584
• E-Fil+ Proposal: Enterprise Client DataCap allocation enhancements #583
• E-Fil+ Proposal: Designating a "Lead SP" #582

[kevzak]

Hello - see slides from a Enterprise (E-Fil+) Pilot Planning Phase Overview presentation on today's governance call: LINK

[kevzak]

Hello - we will begin holding weekly/bi-weekly E-Fil+ Pilot Notary WG Check-in calls.

See calendar with links:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/[email protected]&ctz=America/Bahia

The first are:
Time: Aug 2, 2022 10:30 AM Eastern Time
OR
Time: Aug 3, 2022 9:00 PM Eastern Time

Please join either one if you can:
@derricktan23
@liyunzhi-666
@newwebgroup
@BlockMakeronline
@PluskitOfficial
@MatrixStorage
@MegTei
@davidthoms
@bmcnabb25
@cryptowhizzard
@xingjitansuo
@swatchliu
@jamerduhgamer
@kernelogic
@flyworker
@neogeweb3
@MRJAVAZHAO

[cryptowhizzard]

I don't have permissions to view that calender.

[kevzak]

sorry about that, you should now @cryptowhizzard

[PluskitOfficial]

@kevzak Pls share the meeting link~

[kevzak]

@NDLabs I just added you to the WG slack thread. Thank you.

[kevzak]

Hello Notary WG - we will hold E-Fil+ WG call next week, Aug 16 and 17th.

See calendar with links:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/[email protected]&ctz=America/Bahia

Can you please complete this survey to review on the next call, by August 16th? https://forms.gle/idrhvBtcKgAY4YyV6

@derricktan23
@liyunzhi-666
@newwebgroup
@BlockMakeronline
@PluskitOfficial
@MatrixStorage
@MegTei
@davidthoms
@bmcnabb25
@cryptowhizzard
@xingjitansuo
@swatchliu
@jamerduhgamer
@kernelogic
@flyworker
@neogeweb3
@MRJAVAZHAO
@NDLabs

[cryptowhizzard]

@kevzak

I was in the notary call of yesterday August 9 , 16.30 PM but there was no-one around except 2 people.

Do i get it right that the next call is by august 16 => 16.30 Amsterdam time?

[kevzak]

@cryptowhizzard apologies - I've now set it up for every other week. The next is 16h at 16.30 Amsterdam time, yes

[dkkapur]

Closing this one out - lets continue the conversation in #611