We are happy to propose a strategic partnership with Politecnico di Milano’s Blockchain & Web3 Observatory for 2025 to lead blockchain research, institutional engagement, and strategic growth across Europe in 2025.

The intended audience is Web3 companies and institutional stakeholders — not students.

According to the prestigious QS 2025 ranking, the Politecnico di Milano is the 1st University of Italy and the 21st in the world for Engineering and Technology (Politecnico's figures).

Its Blockchain & Web3 Observatory was established in 2017, and has become a pivotal force in the European Web3 landscape. Hosted within Politecnico di Milano, it plays a leading role in promoting blockchain adoption, advancing research, and facilitating collaboration between academia, institutions, and industry.

As blockchain technology matures, institutional involvement and structured research are essential to enable widespread and sustainable adoption.

The Blockchain & Web3 Observatory is a leading European hub for:

• Enterprise and institutional engagement across multiple sectors
• Academic research on blockchain adoption, governance, and regulation
• Workshops, conferences, and policy advisory at national and international levels
• Experimentation and innovation, through its Web3 Innovation Hub, fostering collaboration between academia, startups, and enterprises

Read full proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18tZb10CiWGuQ349h7eOWdcc0x35HK1WVtiyMdRfRgsQ/edit?usp=sharing

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Target Audience of the Proposal

This strategic partnership is designed exclusively for institutional and professional stakeholders, including:

• Regulators and public institutions (e.g., central banks, EU agencies, ministries)
• Private enterprises and Web3 startups working in DeFi, tokenization, supply chain, gaming, and more
• Venture capital firms and investment funds exploring high-potential blockchain projects
• Developers and Web3 builders, such as DAO contributors and open-source infrastructure teams

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Tangible exposure this partnership brings

The Blockchain & Web3 Observatory at Politecnico di Milano has a proven track record of generating meaningful exposure across both mainstream and specialized channels. Since its inception, it has published:

• +400 articles in prominent outlets such as Il Sole 24 ORE, La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, CoinDesk, and Cointelegraph.
• Active digital presence with +2 million views on LinkedIn through research updates and event announcements.
• Access to the contact database, enabling us to carry out targeted activities filtered by sector (such as banking, corporate, and software companies).
• Research findings and case studies are presented at high-profile events including conferences at the:
  • European Parliament,
  • OECD in Paris, and
  • UCL in London.

These activities collectively contribute to significant visibility within the Web3 ecosystem, as well as among institutions, enterprises, and regulators

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Success stories that highlight the Observatory’s role and impact

• Collaborated with institutions such as the Bank of Italy, CONSOB, EU Commission, OECD, and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development
• Contributed to the ECB’s Digital Euro Visionary Call by promoting programmable payment use cases
• Participated in Milan Hub projects on DAO-based fund management and multi-actor stablecoins under the MiCAR framework
• Delivered expert testimony to the Italian Parliament on topics including the national blockchain strategy and the 2024 budget law
• Organized international events in London, Paris, and Brussels
• Taken part in EU-level working groups such as INATBA and the EU Blockchain Forum
• Achieved recognition by CoinDesk as one of the world’s top blockchain universities (1st in the EU)

These examples demonstrate the Observatory’s relevance in both shaping public discourse and influencing institutional adoption across Europe.

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Key Benefits for Polkadot

Institutional Positioning in Europe

• Direct access to regulators and policymakers via Observatory channels
• Active participation in high-impact research and whitepapers on governance, interoperability, and digital asset regulationEnterprise Adoption & Exposure
• Visibility for Polkadot-based solutions through case studies and event presentations
• Engagement with leading enterprises looking for scalable and compliant blockchain technology

Developer and Ecosystem Growth

• Technical workshops on parachains, governance models, smart contracts, and rollups
• Integration into Web3 Innovation Hub programs for startups and entrepreneursStrategic Branding & Visibility
• Featured presence in Observatory reports, events, and academic publications
• Media exposure through leading blockchain and fintech outlets

Academic Collaboration & Credibility

• Co-authorship of at least 10 academic papers and 3 strategic policy reports
• Engagement with a network of 50+ experts, including academics, regulators, and architects shaping the Web3 landscape

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Events, Workshops and cost breakdowns

Workshops organized by the Observatory are:

• closed-door workshops,
• public conferences, and
• institutional roundtables

reserved for partners and sponsors. Each session typically includes:

• Research presentations by Observatory staff
• Roundtables on current market and regulatory topics
• Guest speakers from industry, academia, and institutions

These serve as a platform for early access to research findings, knowledge sharing, foster collaboration, provide market insights, and strengthen ties between Web3 stakeholders in a pre-competitive and professionally moderated setting.

Each event will cover different Web3 topics, offering a valuable chance to connect and invite various Polkadot initiatives and projects to participate to this events.

For this reason, to ensure the highest level of budget transparency and operational flexibility, all costs related to the events participation—including travel, accommodation, contributor compensation, and on-site management—will be handled separately through event-specific bounty proposals.
This modular approach allows precise budgeting and gives us and the community the ability to optimize costs and the effectiveness of the partnership. We would like to involve as many Polkadot initiative and projects as possible. on a case-by-case basis. It also ensures that funds are allocated only when activities are confirmed and clearly scoped.

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Budget

The Politecnico is a public institution and requires a legally recognized entity to handle the payment of the sponsorship fee. For this reason, we will utilize the Polkadot Community Foundation (PCF) to execute this payment. We did use the exchange rate 1€ = ~$1,171 on June 26th.

The PCF's funding proposal does not cover:

• The operational management of individual initiatives
• Banking transfer fees and financial handling
• Documentation review and due diligence for each project
• Any legal expenses specific to this partnership or similar activities

In our case, PCF will formalize its agreement with the Blockchain & Web3 Observatory of Politecnico di Milano by signing a contract and process the sponsorship fee as a single payment for the amount specified in the contract.
Cost #2 will cover any additional fees like legal expenses, compliance fees, and administration costs associated with PCF's involvement. Any unspent funds from the PCF will be returned to the Polkadot treasury directly by the PCF, in accordance with our commitment to transparency and accountability.

An one time coordination fee of 16,000€ gross (it includes +26% Italian taxes) has been included for the Polkadot Italia team, which will serve as the liaison between the Observatory, W3F, the Polkadot ecosystem, and any institutional or private partners for the whole initiative (8 months, till last conference in Q1 2026).
This amount was calculated by estimating the time required for planning calls, follow-ups, documentation, and ongoing information exchange. The total reflects the anticipated workload needed to manage the relationship effectively and ensure the smooth delivery of all project components.
This budget does not cover event participation or travel costs those are handled through separate bounties, as noted earlier. Each will cover different Web3 topics, offering a valuable chance to connect and invite various Polkadot initiatives and projects to participate to this events.

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Who We Are

Polkadot Italia is a team of four members—Michele (TheWhiteRabbit), Remo (Anamix), Patrizia (PatriziaM4W), Damiano (Yamne). 

We are Polkadot enthusiasts, ambassadors, and validators dedicated to growing the Polkadot ecosystem in Italy since the begging of 2025. We are trying to achieve this through a long-term strategy focused on creating an Italian Hub which will represent a coordinated environment in providing essential updates, news and other content and assisting the Italian community through community management, consulting, support and moderation (on our social media channels, X, Telegram and YouTube), creating and sharing useful content, providing awareness of the governance process and OpenGov proposals, fostering discussion and active participation, organizing local events and participations, and initiating collaborations with educational institutions and within the ecosystem.

Our social media channels:

X (https://x.com/PolkadotItalia)

Telegram (https://t.me/polkadot_italia_community)

YouTube (https://youtube.com/@Polkadot_Italia)