DAO Improvement Requests — The Way Forward for The DAO

As most of you must have already seen we are recommending that The DAO should upgrade to Framework version 1.1. The scope of v.1.1 is detailed here and the process with which the upgrade will happen is explained in this blogpost.

But what about the subsequent versions? What if you as a DAO Token Holder want to request a feature? How is The DAO supposed to define the path for its future upgrades?

Heavily inspired by the Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs), Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) and the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs), we would like to present to the community the DAO Improvement Requests (DIRs).

This is an open call to all community members to join the discussion of the existing DIRs. Additionally if any of you have an idea you believe will improve the DAO Framework then you are strongly encouraged to create a DIR draft as described in this wiki to start a formal discussion with the rest of the community about your idea.

If your DIR has community support, the draft will be tagged “In-Progress” and work on its implementation can be started by anyone in the community.

DAO Improvement Requests Examples

You can always check the current DIRs by checking the issues tab on the DAO Framework’s GitHub repository. You can filter either for all DIRs using this query or search for DIRs at a specific stage of their life by performing a query for the corresponding label such as label:DAOImprovementRequest_Draft to get all DIRs that are still at the Draft stage.

As a good example of DIRs which provide solutions to some of the problems that we had faced with DAO v1.0 you can consider the following:

1. DIR-1: Remove extra balance

2. DIR-3: Yes-bias and disincentive to vote No

4. DIR-4: Protection from the Ambush Attack

5. DIR-5: Ability to withdraw from The DAO

6. DIR-6: Ability to transfer tokens to a new DAO during an upgrade

What this Means for the Average DAO Token Holder

The DAO Token Holders are no longer stuck on the sidelines when all decisions are made by others regarding their DAO. Each and every single DAO Token Holder is now empowered and can contribute to the decision making process by expressing their opinions on currently open DIRs or even by creating their own DAO Improvement Request.

Conclusion

I for one can’t wait to see what ideas you all come up with and how you will contribute to this world-changing organization that is The DAO. Go ahead and create a GitHub account if you don’t have one and join us in making The DAO the truly decentralized organization that it is meant to be.