Supporting the Community: The Filecoin Storage Provider Group
What is the Filecoin Storage Provider Working group?
Since its founding, the Filecoin Foundation has been committed to providing resources, community support, and guidance to everyone involved in building the Filecoin and Web3 ecosystems. We believe that Filecoin and Web3 can be part of a better future for storing humanity’s most important information. To fulfill this mission, the Filecoin Foundation is launching the Filecoin Storage Provider Working Group (SPWG), a voluntary, non-paid working group that allows Filecoin storage providers of all sizes to work collaboratively with other esteemed storage providers on the Filecoin network.
Through partnerships with local storage providers in North America, Europe, and Asia, the SPWG aims to improve the storage provisioning experience for all Filecoin storage providers while also providing resources and education to bridge gaps between Filecoin storage providers and Filecoin developers, storage providers, and the broader community worldwide.
The Mission and Values of the SPWG
At its core, the Storage Provider Working Group serves the Filecoin network by making a host of resources, services, events, funding, and programs available to storage providers and other participants in the Filecoin network. By fostering collaboration and expanding opportunities for storage providers to provide input and exercise leadership for the Filecoin community, the SPWG seeks to vastly improve the Filecoin network.
As a working group designed to benefit all Filecoin storage providers, the SPWG is committed to promoting a diversity of perspectives. In particular, the SPWG seeks to foster the following three values in its representation of storage providers:
- Diversity in Power Size: The SPWG will ensure that all voices and views are heard for storage providers of all power sizes. Large and small storage providers alike will have a say in the future of the Filecoin network.
- Diversity in Geography: The SPWG will make sure the working groups have an equal representation of storage providers across different geographies and time zones. No one geographic region should have an outsized influence over the SPWG.
- Access: The SPWG will work to make sure all resources provided are translated and distributed in a way that reaches every community. The Filecoin network is truly global in scope: education, resources, and opportunities must support the global character of the Filecoin community.
Additionally, all members of the Storage Provider Working Group pledge to follow the Filecoin Community Code of Conduct.
Responsibilities and Benefits
Members of the working group collaborate with fellow members of the Filecoin community to address their community’s needs and requirements. They serve as trusted advisors to the Filecoin Foundation team, providing input and feedback on RFPs for developer grants that will serve storage providers and clients, as well as receiving early previews and news on Filecoin storage provisioning updates.
SPWG members hold leadership roles in the Filecoin storage provisioning community and play a crucial role in spearheading the growth of the storage provider community and advocating for clients and storage providers. They also have the opportunity to participate in regular working group meetings and roundtables. Here they can discuss updates and provide feedback for the development and implementation of the Filecoin network.
In addition to serving as spokespeople for the Filecoin storage provider community, members of the working group also receive funding to host events, develop resources, and conduct gatherings that bring together their local storage provider community. And they are given the resources to participate in programs to help test protocol implementations on the Filecoin network.
As leaders in their communities, SPWG members are responsible for promoting equal access to helpful information and resources for storage providers. They arrange for storage providers to receive educational materials, and they can lead workshops that address technical aspects of Filecoin storage provisioning.
SPWG members work closely with storage providers and collaborate with the Filecoin Foundation’s Enterprise working group, testing client and retrieval deals and identifying potential clients that partner with Filecoin Plus. They have the opportunity to test new code while also contributing to the development of best practices for content policy challenges, Filecoin documentation, and other resources for storage providers.
Selection Process
The SPWG looks for storage providers who stand out in the community through their dedication to improving the Filecoin ecosystem. The SPWG is run by a full-time program manager who leads the working group and manages the representatives from each region. Members are nominated for consideration either through direct recommendations from participants in storage provisioning programs such as MinerX, or by the community. The Filecoin Foundation reviews all nominations.
The SPWG currently consists of two sub-working groups, one in North America/Europe and the other in Asia (including China, Japan, and Korea). The different regions work collaboratively but meet on a slightly different basis and function under slightly different criteria.
The North American and European regions began developing their own storage providers’ association before they became involved with the SPWG. The initial team nominated eight candidates from the North American region and the European region. These nominees participated in weekly storage provider video conferences and workshops and became regular contributors to the Filecoin community, while cultivating positive and productive relationships among their colleagues and peers.
Nomination criteria for the Asia region were similar to North America and Europe. But teams from Asia also sought to nominate storage providers who were involved in storage provider accelerators and programs such as Space Race, as well as storage providers who contributed to the Filecoin ecosystem through Filecoin Plus, tools, or notaries.
Expectations
SPWG storage providers in North America/Europe meet on a weekly basis to discuss issues and concerns and to share and discuss client opportunities. The teams then communicate more broadly with their respective communities through public slack channels like #fil-storage-providers-north-america and #fil-storage-providers-europe.
SPWG storage providers in Asia will be also meeting on a regular basis and will be communicating in the Filecoin #fil-storage-providers-asia slack channel.
Every month, the team is expected to post updates for their respective geographical communities on these channels and make themselves available to storage providers who want to reach out for additional help or information.
Members of the Asia regional group meet online with the North American/European teams on a quarterly basis. These meetings will be hosted by the Filecoin Foundation and serve as a space to share efforts that each region has made to support their community, along with providing feedback on lessons learned, issues encountered and new opportunities discovered.
Conclusion
The SPWG is a growing and important part of the Filecoin ecosystem. In the years to come, the SPWG will continue to serve the Filecoin network and advance its mission.
Working group participants serve a one-year term beginning annually in June. For more questions about the Storage Provider Working Group, please contact sealing@fil.org.
