After reviewing this proposal, Juanrah’s detailed response, Entropy’s retrospective, and reflecting on the role of the OpCo, we’ve formed an opinion about the future of the ARDC.
To start, we want to acknowledge that we’ve personally found the reports produced by the ARDC to be valuable and appreciate the work that went into them. That said, we share the broader concern that research, while informative, must ultimately be actionable to serve the DAO effectively.
Research should enable smarter DAO decision-making. It should be retrospective to help the DAO reflect on what has and hasn’t worked and where iteration is needed, and forward-looking, providing a clear, evidence-backed narrative for what the DAO should do next. In both cases, actionable insights and concrete recommendations are critical.
A consistent challenge in DAO research is the feedback loop. As Entropy noted:
This points to a structural gap. Many service providers remain one or more steps removed from the day-to-day context of the DAO. Embedding research teams within each Arbitrum Aligned Entity (AAE) could address this by placing researchers closer to both the operational realities and the decision-makers. Unlike external service providers, in-house teams benefit from ongoing context, tighter feedback loops, and clearer lines of accountability—making it more likely their work will translate into action.
ARDC’s output has felt more educational than operational. That isn’t inherently negative, but it reinforces the need to revisit the model.
We agree that the ARDC needs to evolve. The proposed extension offers a natural transitional window. Over the next six months, we believe the Communications Lead and Supervisory Council should work alongside AAEs to capture institutional knowledge and co-design the next phase of DAO-aligned research. Ending the program abruptly would short-circuit this opportunity and unnecessarily (and unexpectedly) disrupt the current contributors. We support the extension as a way to responsibly wind down or transition the model.