Blockchain for Humanitarian Causes
Posted on December 1, 2017
It seems as if lately I can’t stop thinking about Blockchain. I believe that the power and benefits of using this technology comes in various forms. As a young designer and entrepreneur, I have been questioning some ideas to leverage this technology for a greater good.
Blockchain definition
“A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Constantly growing as ‘completed’ blocks (the most recent transactions) are recorded and added to it in chronological order, it allows market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central record keeping. Each node (a computer connected to the network) gets a copy of the blockchain, which is downloaded automatically.”[1]
In a sense it’s a decentralized system with distributed ledgers in which every computer using the system has a copy of the files but it as a whole it doesn’t have a database. It’s a system where you don’t have to trust anyone to get what you need to get done, done. It almost makes it seem as if trust is a “commodity” that’s decentralized among people. However, it’s definitely a system that can be trusted. It is also considered to be a bottom up system where you don’t need the approval of governments or companies, you just need users to use it. With the use of Smart Contracts, tokens can be created that can be used for many purposes including stable value transfers, governance, identity, cause/project fundraising.
In my opinion, it’s a shame that the Blockchain technology got popularized by Bitcoin which is a financial system with many rules and regulations to itself that misguided the potential of Blockchain as a platform not related to money or financial institutions. My main interest is to utilize this technology specifically in terms of aiding humanitarian causes. The following are a few examples I find inspiring.
Giveth
Charitable giving platform powered by Blockchain. Ensures accountability, transparency and verification allowing people worldwide to make donations. For example in a humanitarian crises as a hurricane disaster, people worldwide could donate through the Giveth platform which entitles more trust to the people who donate. They can trust that they are really giving their money to people who need it more instead of falling to the hands of 3rd parties who might corruptly use it for their benefit. At the same time everyone who wants to receive monetary donations through the platform needs to say how they’ll achieve the goal making it even more reliable. [2]World Identity Network
Project by Mariana Dahan and the United Nations to be implemented in the European country of Moldova. The Moldova Government is the first one in the World to work with Mariana Dahan and the UN. This is a project in which by using the Blockchain technology they are giving identity to those who don’t have it with the aims of stopping child trafficking. Having each child have an identity would mean that trafficking would become traceable and therefore easier to be controlled. [3]Usizo
Use of Blockchain technology to convert cryptocurrency donated by people that goes directly to a Smart Electricity Meter that generates electricity for schools in South Africa. [4]
All these examples serve as inspiration as I question some of the ideas I have around using Blockchain for humanitarian endeavors. The current state of Blockchain has been referred to as the 1995’s Internet era filled up with opportunities which inspires me to want to jump into this “revolution”. It seems as if the people who are investing in it now are considered pioneers in this field. Yet, the technology is still vulnerable because of being so new. I am sure that many things will change and get improved through the years. However, as a young designer and entrepreneur I think that there are plenty opportunities in this field and that great things can be accomplished with the use of this technology. It’s about informing myself and learning more about the technology to be able to leverage it and use it to tackle complex issues and aid humanitarian causes.