## 3 System Design Overview
### Token-Based Incentives
#### 3.5.2 Reputation Scores and Reputation Tokens  
A clear distinction that has to be made within the system is between reputation scores and reputation tokens:  
* **Reputation score:** This is an average of all ratings received by a user (on a scale from 1 to 10). For example, if an expert consistently receives high ratings, their reputation score reflects their overall performance and reliability.
* **Reputation tokens:** These are derived from the reputation score received after each interaction with an innovator and are directly tied to monetary incentives. For instance, for each collaboration with an innovator, up to five reputation tokens can be earned. A score of 10 yields five reputation tokens, while lower scores yield proportionally fewer tokens. Accumulated tokens contribute to a pool that can later be converted into reward tokens. These tokens are specifically designed for experts.  
The reputation scheme within the SPARK-IT platform is designed to incentivize high-quality contributions from both experts and innovators while maintaining a transparent and reliable system for evaluating interactions and expertise. The purpose of enforcing this mechanism is to create a culture of accountability, reward useful contributions, and improve trust.  
Reputation scores are used in the matchmaking phase to ensure that experts with higher reputation scores are prioritized in the process. Therefore, these tokens directly influence the visibility of users on the platform, with higher scores increasing their prominence in search results and recommendations.  
The platform incentivizes users through a structured process:  
* **Innovators' Perspective:*
* Innovators receive ratings from mentors, which reflect the quality of their proposals and collaborative interactions. These ratings contribute to their innovation reputation score, which can attract future mentors and potential investors.
* The platform can serve as a gateway for innovators to showcase projects to potential investors, using their reputation scores as an indicator of trustworthiness and project viability.
* **Experts' Perspective:*
* Experts contribute to innovative projects, contributing to their professional growth and helping others.
* Experts are rated by innovators on criteria such as relevance, depth of feedback, and overall helpfulness. These ratings translate into reputation tokens, which build a mentoring reputation score visible on their profile.
* Experts can earn additional SparkCoins by maintaining high standards of quality when working with innovators, achieving strong reputation scores and then exchanging reputation tokens for reward tokens  
At predefined intervals, reputation tokens can be exchanged for reward tokens at a fixed exchange rate. This ensures stability and predictability in the platform's ecosystem, increasing user trust and encouraging sustained engagement. To cover exchange expenses, a fixed fee policy is implemented, applying a small percentage to all transactions between innovators and experts.  
The initial implementation allows both innovators and experts to award scores ranging from 1 to 10 based on the quality of their interactions. To ensure unbiased evaluations, these scores are not visible to the counterpart until both parties have completed their assessments.