Milestone Payment Schedule

Overview

The ADA 58,000 core budget is released across five milestones tied to verified deliverable submission and CPC acknowledgement of completion. No milestone payment is conditional on the research producing favourable or predetermined findings — the verification criteria are procedural and evidence-based, not outcome-based. The contingency allocation (ADA 5,000) sits within Milestone 3 and Milestone 4.

Funding release follows a front-light, back-weighted structure. The first two milestones together represent approximately 27% of total budget, covering design and screening work that must be completed before significant fieldwork spend is incurred. The largest single release — Milestone 3 — covers the primary research phase, where travel, hub coordination, and facilitation costs are concentrated. Milestones 4 and 5 cover synthesis and delivery, where team time is the primary cost.

Milestone Payment Table

Milestone	Name	Timing	Work Completed	Deliverables Submitted to CPC	Verification Criteria	ADA Released
M1	Project Inception and Research Design	Kickoff payment (upon contract signature / project start)	Kickoff-meeting; decision gate alignment with CPC; candidate region list constructed; RARF scoring criteria finalised; ALJ design for primary research phase confirmed; interview guides drafted and approved; bias control protocols documented; stakeholder recruitment plan submitted; ethics brief prepared	Kickoff-Report; Research Design Document (including RARF criteria, candidate region list, use-case hypotheses, interview guide, bias controls, ethics brief); Stakeholder Recruitment Plan	CPC confirms receipt and approval of Research Design Document and ethics brief; kickoff meeting completed; candidate region list mutually agreed	7,000 ADA
M2	Regional Screening and Desk Research Complete	End of Week 6	RARF applied to minimum eight candidate regional clusters using desk-research evidence; preliminary confidence levels assigned per dimension; use-case viability hypotheses constructed per candidate cluster; counterparty landscape desk-mapped; preliminary regulatory scan conducted for top-scoring clusters; priority deep-dive regions identified and confirmed with CPC	Preliminary Market Prioritisation Matrix (RARF scores for all candidate clusters, with evidence source and confidence level per dimension); Preliminary Use-Case Hypothesis Register; Regional Screening Review presentation to CPC; confirmed priority deep-dive region list	CPC screening review meeting completed; priority deep-dive regions confirmed in writing; Preliminary Market Prioritisation Matrix accepted as basis for Phase 3	9,000 ADA
M3	Primary Research Substantially Complete	End of Week 12	Minimum 30 primary research interactions completed across documented respondent categories; ALJ facilitation completed in at least one hub location; regulatory expert calls conducted for minimum two priority regions; counterparty mapping advanced from desk-identified to interview-confirmed or warm-access status for at least three counterparty archetypes per priority region; infrastructure prerequisite assessment data collected; interim findings reviewed with CPC	Stakeholder Access Register (all interactions documented with respondent category, access basis, and date); Interim Findings Review memo (summarising hypothesis status — confirmed, revised, or rejected — per priority region and use case); Regulatory and Infrastructure Interim Review memo; updated RARF scores with primary-evidence revisions tracked	CPC Interim Findings Review meeting completed; minimum 30 interactions confirmed in Stakeholder Access Register; CPC acknowledges interim findings memo; any required methodology adjustments agreed	22,000 ADA
M4	Full Draft Deliverables Submitted	End of Week 16	Cross-evidence synthesis complete; RARF scores finalised with all primary evidence incorporated; CASS classifications applied to all identified adoption signals; all core decision outputs drafted; CPC draft review completed; revision brief received; revised drafts incorporating CPC feedback prepared	Full draft of all ten core decision outputs (Market Prioritisation Matrix; Regional Entry Playbooks — minimum three; Use-Case Viability Assessment; Regulatory Landscape Summaries; Counterparty and Partner Access Map; Infrastructure Prerequisite Assessment; CASS Framework document and classification table; Research-to-Action Roadmap; Executive Decision Memo; Cross-RFP Handoff Memo); Confidence and Limitations Register draft	CPC draft review meeting completed; CPC provides written revision brief; PRISMA confirms receipt of revision brief and timeline for final delivery	12,000 ADA
M5	Final Delivery and Public Summary	End of Week 18	All revisions from CPC review incorporated; final versions of all core deliverables produced; public summary written, reviewed, and cleared for publication; cross-RFP handoff memo finalised; final presentation to CPC delivered; evidence register finalised and archived	Final versions of all ten core decision outputs; Confidence and Limitations Register (final); Evidence Register and Data-Source Inventory; Risk Register; RARF and CASS frameworks as standalone reusable documents; Public Summary (non-confidential); Final presentation delivered to CPC	CPC confirms receipt of all final deliverables; final presentation completed; CPC issues written confirmation of project completion; public summary cleared for publication	8,000 ADA
					TOTAL	58,000 ADA

Milestone Payment Summary

Milestone	% of Total	ADA	Primary Trigger
M1 — Inception and Design	12.1%	7,000	CPC approves Research Design Document and ethics brief
M2 — Screening Complete	15.5%	9,000	CPC confirms priority deep-dive regions from Preliminary Matrix
M3 — Primary Research Substantially Complete	37.9%	22,000	CPC completes Interim Findings Review; 30+ interactions confirmed
M4 — Full Draft Submitted	20.7%	12,000	CPC provides written revision brief following draft review
M5 — Final Delivery	13.8%	8,000	CPC issues written project completion confirmation
TOTAL	100%	58,000 ADA