I've just read a post by @blocktrades, announcing their part of work to the Steem Proposal System (also known as Steem DAO) will be completed on Monday, at which time they will turn over the code to Steemit, Inc.
If you don't know what SPS is, it is a system that will be embedded at the blockchain level that will be used to fund various projects (probably mainly development projects), based on steemians stake-weighted votes (much like how voting for witnesses works).
Initially, funding comes from donations only, Steemit assuring the funds to kick start the project, afterwards it is likely a new or additional source of income will be sought out. The solution for the new / additional funding will most likely be one of the first projects that will require a vote on SPS, from what I read in one of the past announcements, I believe.
Compared to the initial understanding between Blocktrades and Steemit, Blocktrades also created an interface for the SPS, that will be integrated into SteemitWallet.com. Most likely, other dApps will create their own interfaces, so SPS will be visible and manageable on their front ends as well.
Going forward, it is up to Steemit, Inc. when they will propose a hard fork for SPS to be integrated into the blockchain code, and it will be up to the consensus witnesses to approve it, which most likely will be a formality, since in its current form, SPS will not be affecting the economics of Steem in a hard-coded manner (like re-distributing inflation).
Blocktrades estimates, based on how things were handled in the past by Steemit, Inc. that it will pass about 5-8 weeks before Steem Proposal System will reach the mainnet:
Given that it is Steemit’s standard operating procedure to give node operators a 30 day grace period to update to the code, I expect that the Steem proposal system will likely be live on the mainnet in somewhere between 5-8 weeks from now, but the timing is outside of our control. In the meantime, we’ll continue to operate the testnet for anyone who wants to develop interfaces to the proposal system.