In the first interview in this series, Ontology speaks with DuMonT.
1. How did you hear about Ontology? What drew you to Ontology?
I first heard about Ontology back in early 2018 when ONT was listed on exchanges. I was looking for promising projects, so I discovered Ontology which I recognized as quite unique, in terms of its vision and consensus mechanism, as well as its focus on decentralized identity and data.
2. What made you become a supporter of Ontology and a champion of its brand?
As I was already impressed by the vision of Ontology, I wanted to engage more with the community so I joined its chat groups on Telegram where I discovered lots of amazing people. I was truly amazed by the quality of administrators who were very supportive. Therefore, I became an active member of those groups, and later, when I learned more, I was able to help the admins. I am convinced that when you believe in a project’s vision, you should support it in every way you can.
3. What do you see as the key role of a Harbinger? What is your favorite thing about being a Harbinger?
The key role of a Harbinger is definitely to help community members while also spreading the word in order to increase the awareness of the project. Helping others is also my favorite part of being a Harbinger, as it gives me a lot of satisfaction when I know I’ve helped someone.
4. Why is being part of the Ontology community important to you?
To reiterate what I said in answer to the second question, “I am convinced that when you believe in a project’s vision, you should support it in every way you can”. Being an active part of the Ontology community is for me the best way I can personally support the project and help it to achieve its goals.
5. How is Ontology’s community different from other blockchain communities? Is there anything that makes it stand out?
Along with its main English chats, the Ontology community covers 30+ different language groups, which is quite unique in the blockchain space. By overcoming the language barrier, many more people from all around the world have access to information about the project. The Ontology community is very supportive of new members as Harbingers also serve as role models for others.
6. What do you use as your key channels for engagement with the Ontology community and why? Would you like to see any others?
My key channel is definitely Telegram, as I am an active administrator of the English community, Trading group and local Czech & Slovak groups, while also helping out in groups like ONTO, Wing Finance and more. I also have active Twitter and Reddit accounts where I actively interact with Ontology. Ontology also has an active YouTube channel, where I see some room for improvement. I would like to see more step-by-step guides and explanatory videos.
7. Can you share a memorable experience or something you’ve learned from being a Harbinger? What advice would you give to someone looking to become a Harbinger?
I remember someone from the Ontology team gave me the nickname “The Ontology Wikipedia”, ha-ha, that was when I realized I became an important part of the Ontology community, because I was recognized as a person who always had answers. To future Harbingers, I would suggest being patient with members, proactive with interactions and always hungry for information, as only then can you really help the community thrive.
8. How would you describe the Ontology community in three words?
In only three? That’s tough I would say: dynamic, passionate and supportive.
9. How do you think Ontology could expand its community going forward? What would you like to see more or less of? What kinds of things do you see community members do that you think help our community grow?
Nothing is perfect, there’s always room for some improvement. To expand the community even more, I think it is important to stay in touch with community members. Especially to listen to their feedback and ideas. I would like to see more polls or votes about important things, which signals to people in the community that their voice matters. Community members can help the community grow by sharing Ontology articles, Twitter posts, commenting, etc. Also, actively using Ontology’s core products and recommending them to their own audience or friends to try out.
10. What do you see as the key milestones for Ontology and how can the community help with achieving these?
During previous years, Ontology already proved it is here to stay and it is ready as never before to disrupt the verification process with their unique DID protocols. What I think will be a great milestone is implementation and active usage of decentralized identity and data by other projects. This is already starting to happen with partners like ROCKI, the NFT music platform. This should signal to the wider crypto space that Ontology is ready to be implemented all over the crypto industry. I always like to bring in the analogy between Chainlink with oracles and Ontology with DID. As Ontology acquires its first pioneer projects who actively and successfully use its technology, I expect a similar exponential boom as happened with oracles. It is time for DID to become a trigger word and the community can help with that. The crypto space is huge, therefore community members can help to bring us under the radar of the projects who could benefit from Ontology’s tech, as well as to raise awareness among crypto influencers.
To learn more about Ontology’s Harbinger Program and how you can get involved, check out our updated GUIDE.
Tune in next week for the second interview in the Ontology Harbinger Interview Series.
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The Ontology TeamFollowJul 14 · 7 min readOntology has become a truly global community, covering 30 languages across multiple countries and continents. Ontology’s global reach is, in part, thanks to our Harbingers, the exceptional leaders that help Ontology continue to grow its community and ecosystem, making it a leading blockchain for management of decentralized identities and data. Currently, we have 10+ Harbingers helping manage our communities across several platforms including Telegram, Discord, Reddit, Line, and Kakao.
Let’s take a tour of Ontology’s ecosystem with our Harbingers.
On June 30, 2018, Ontology MainNet version 1.0 officially launched. It represented a new generation of high-performance public blockchain, including complete distributed ledgers and smart contract systems support, supporting public chain customization and chain network collaboration, and continues to provide common modules in various distributed applications. Thirty-three candidate Ontology Triones Nodes from six continents facilitated the launch, promoting the establishment of an open-source collaborative distributed trust ecosystem.
On June 30, 2019, Ontology’s sharding design was completed and we were the first to launch a cross-chainTestNet. We launched a grand “Klein Bottle” technology challenge for the global community, attracting the attention of many developers at home and abroad. At that time, we had begun to take a global view and participated in the formulation of a number of international standards including IEEE, ISO and ITU-T. Adhering to the principle of trust first, we established a trust collaboration platform supporting a wide range of business scenarios, and continued to expand our global community.
On June 30, 2020, Ontology MainNet 2.0launched, designed to support robust cross-chain collaboration and Layer 2 scalability whilst enabling developers to provide solutions for enterprises. ONTO Wallet version 3.0.0 also launched, integrating Ontology’s decentralized identity framework, ONT ID, with its mobile data client, enabling users to verify credentials and manage their identities, independently. Meanwhile, details regarding Add-on Store, SAGA and OpenKG were announced, one million NFTs were distributed to global communities, and new governance and staking economic models were introduced, all of which have brought more choice and greater benefits for node parties and staking users.
Ontology has matured a lot since I became a Harbinger. The development of Ontology’s tech has coincided with growth and enthusiasm within the global community that has blossomed in recent years.
——Dilip, Ontology Harbinger
Ontology recently celebrated the third anniversary of its MainNet (current version 2.2.0) launch. When the team discussed the theme for the third anniversary, two keywords stood out: DID and Data. Some people are still confused by these terms. In the following sections, our Harbingers outline Ontology’s mission from three facets: user, business and developer.
Part 1: User-oriented
Focusing on users’ needs and real data
Ontology centers around identity. As early as 2018, “identity” was still a relatively unpopular niche in the blockchain industry. Many people were confused by Ontology’s focus on identity: “Why do we need to pay attention to identity?”, “Don’t we have our own identities, already?” With the concept of decentralized identity becoming more and more popular, technology giants such as Microsoft have begun developing their own decentralized identity protocols. Decentralized identity solutions address the pain points in various industries by using on-chain identity solutions, whilst fostering trust and cooperation. Credit cards and credit scores have become an important part of social life. Good credit can bring many conveniences and even immeasurable value, and can effectively reduce the high cost of dealing with people. At this time, the public’s attention to identity is not limited to ID card, passport, driver’s license and other information, but more concerned about whether they have a universal, glittering and properly protected “pass” in the virtual world.
Personal data has become immensely valuable in the digital age. Centralized media platforms compete to gather as much user data as they can. The problem is that users are not always aware of how their data are being used (or the kinds of data that are being collected). Centralized storage of private data also invites security risks from bad actors. Ontology’s decentralized identity system, ONT ID, enables users to create a self-sovereign identity on the blockchain. ONT ID, based on the W3C decentralized identification specification, blockchain and cryptography, can quickly identify and connect people, financial assets, and objects. Most importantly, ONT ID is not subject to any centralized authority and gives users complete control over their identity and data.
A decentralized identity encompasses myriad forms of data. Every day, our activities on the Internet produce a digital footprint. Some data remain secure whereas others may be leaked. It is getting harder and harder to protect data from online attacks. Even the largest multinational corporations and social media platforms are not immune to data theft. At Ontology, we believe that everyone’s data is their most precious resource. Your data constitutes your identity and your portrait. In this context, our goal is to empower users by providing them tools to obtain self-sovereign control of their data. Ontology does not save users’ data like centralized technology companies. Instead, it offers users full control over if and when to share their data with third-parties.
Part 2: Business-oriented
Ontology’s roadmap and solutions for enterprises
In April 2018, we released our first roadmap, which described the principles of our “chain network system” and “trust ecosystem”.
At that time, we wrote: Ontology has two strategic lines: one is a new generation of high-performance public chain and chain network system, and the other is the distributed trust cooperation platform and ecosystem. Blockchain solves the problem of trust, but its underlying layer cannot satisfy the needs of all participating entities. In order to support business scenarios in the real world, it also needs a large number of common modules to provide various types of distributed trust services that can support real business scenarios, such as a decentralized identity framework (ONT ID), distributed data exchange protocol (DDXF), and distributed credit evaluation system (OScore). Only when these two components are integrated together can we have a distributed collaboration platform that can support real businesses.
We remain committed to this core vision to provide effective solutions in combination with various real business scenarios. At present, we offer solutions in several sectors including mobile travel, inventory and logistics, job market, enterprise data certification, digital content, music copyright, and KYC & identity.
Commenting on Ontology’s breadth of service offerings, our Ontology Harbinger Dumont said:
Ontology has become a global leader in decentralized identity and data management solutions. It has remained committed to its overarching vision and continues to advance its roadmap. I expect the Ontologyecosystem to continue expanding, incorporating more use-cases and partners, whilst remaining attentive to its online communities.
Part 3: Developer-oriented
Ontology infrastructure and technology
We are committed to building an underlying infrastructure platform to provide developers with efficient and easy-to-use practical technology.
Ontology 2.0, released last year, has the leading advantage of enabling developers to provide complete solutions for enterprises. Wasm-JIT, Multi-VM and Layer 2 technologies are deeply integrated in this version as well as ONT ID 2.0. Based on these cutting-edge technologies, the problems of capacity expansion, performance, compatibility and personal data privacy can be solved easily. The Add-on Store for developers is provided in this version, which enables developers without previous experience in blockchain to start building easily.
In this year’s MainNet version, after several months of EVM (Ethereum virtual machine) research, design and development, our technology team has introduced an Ontology virtual machine compatible with the Ethereum ecosystem. It features an account system, virtual machine and Web 3 API. Users can use applications and wallets all-in-one place, based on Ethereum, and developers can use contract development tools such as Truffle and Remix to realize seamless connection and ecosystem expansion of the chain. So far, our Multi-VM supports four kinds of smart contracts (NeoVM, Native, Wasm, EVM), an industry-first. Developers can enjoy Ethereum ecosystem on Ontology chain, with lower gas fees and faster block production.
In the past three years, we have published technical articles through our social media channels, and continue to educate, helping more community partners understand blockchain technology.
It has been a pleasure to help Ontology grow over the years. We have cultivated an open and encouraging community that is welcoming of new members and happy to provide support to those with questions about recent developments. I’m excited to see where Ontology goes in the second half of 2021 and beyond.
——Emilio, Ontology Harbinger
Facing users, enterprises and developers, we believe that technology and ideas can enhance all aspects of life. We remain committed to this belief and continue to move forward on the road toward mass adoptions of blockchain and decentralized identity and data management solutions.
We are very grateful to the Ontology Harbingers for their dedication and enthusiasm towards fostering an open and welcoming global community. We are always looking for passionate people to join us in spreading Ontology’s vision. Recently, we detailed our Harbinger Program v2 to further expand and grow Ontology’s community and ecosystem around the world.
Learn what it takes to become the next Ontology Harbinger with our updated guide and become part of our global community, today!
]]>The Ontology Harbinger team was first introduced in March, 2020. This program has been successful in helping us build a stronger global community presence.
To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of our MainNet launch, we are excited to launch our Harbinger Program v2 to further expand and grow Ontology’s community and ecosystem around the world.
What is an Ontology Harbinger?
Harbingers are exceptional leaders that help Ontology continue to grow its community and ecosystem, making it an ever-stronger blockchain, and decentralized identity and data leader.
How to become a Harbinger?
We aim to choose members who have proven themselves to be invaluable to Ontology and our community. Harbingers are ambassadors of Ontology’s vision, constantly responding to community questions and advocating for Ontology on social media and beyond.
Harbingers need to be passionate about blockchain, crypto, decentralized identity and data, and of course, should already be a supporter of Ontology and care about its development.
If you are already an active, loyal, and supporting Ontology Tier 1 admin:
Congratulations! You are automatically recognized as an Ontology Harbinger for your wonderful support in our past three years’ journey. You will be a role model for our new Harbingers. Please keep up momentum!
If you are a community member who wants to contribute and add more value:
Easy! Simply complete the tasks below and gain 200 points to be qualified to become a Harbinger. Once you’ve reached a Harbinger Score of 200, fill in the form to let us know!Project/Product/Social Channel involvement (including but not limited to Ontology, ONTO, Wing, SAGA, DeID Summit, Li Jun)
What are the Privileges of Ontology Harbingers?
- Recognized as part of the Ontology team, with exposure on our official website
- A limited Ontology Harbinger NFT and other limited edition gifts
- Get invited to all Ontology’s offline and online events as an organizer or guest
- Direct and special access to the Ontology team (workshops and founder talks)
- Be invited to the Monthly Harbinger Call as a speaker, promoted across all Ontology social media channels
- Quarterly rewards in ONT/ONG
How to be a qualified Ontology Harbinger?
- Treat the community with respect. Be compassionate to everyone who joins Ontology social channels.
- Have a good understanding of the Ontology ecosystem. Prove your knowledge by teaching others.
- Don’t be satisfied with sending community members to find answers on a blog or video. Personally respond to them and ensure they have a basic understanding. Only then should you send them to find additional resources. Invite them to return with any questions they encounter along the way.
- Find unique and memorable ways to teach community members about ecosystem developments (ONT ID, OScore, ONTO, WING, SAGA).
- Ensure that people walk away thrilled with their experience on Telegram, Discord, etc., and are eager to use the Ontology’s products.
- Challenge people to use at least one ONT ecosystem feature (e.g. create/backup their ONTO wallet, verify their identity, stake ONT, swap ONT for ONG on ONTO, borrow/lend on WING).
- Challenge people to interact with the content that Ontology publishes (e.g. like/comment/retweet Twitter posts, join discussions on Reddit, join community calls on Discord, join conversations on Clubhouse/Spaces).
Primarily active channels
How are Ontology Harbingers rewarded?
Ontology’s Harbingers will be evaluated on a quarterly basis, with a base pay and bonus scheme.
Harbinger Progression System
All monthly/quarterly KPIs and payments will be discussed and agreed, individually.
Each level up automatically includes previous level responsibilities, but are more focused on the higher level responsibilities.
You can be 1+2, 1+3, 1+4, 1+2+3, 1+2+4, 1+3+4, 1+2+3+4; depending on the roles you play, you can earn a maximum of x amount of Base Pay per quarter based on performance.
Evaluation Metrics: Based on Frequency + Impact
– Frequency: Online days, number of community members you’ve helped, number of AMAs hosted, number of tweets, articles, blogs, videos, tutorials, etc.
– Impact: Impressions, Engagements, New Opportunities generated, etc.
Total Pay = Base Pay + Bonus Pay (Up to 50% depending on performance)
Max Base Pay = Sum of the bonus for different roles
*If a Harbinger is not active for one month, he or she may be disqualified as an Ontology Harbinger.
Harbinger Tiers
MVP = Most Valuable Player of the Ontology Community
You may be levelled up more quickly with outstanding performance or significant contributions to Ontology.
Note: The Ontology team reserves the final rights of interpretation for the Harbinger program.
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