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France to scrap Paris airport expansion: minister. Corporate Contact Us. DX Journal. DX Institute. The adoption of blockchain technology by the non-governmental sector was discussed in a Digital Journal article published in According to Michael Fauscette, without a government to back them up, refugees can lose their identities.
Without an identity, it becomes almost impossible to find meaningful work. Fauscette put forward the case that blockchain can help address these concerns. According to the new review, for blockchain to work it needs to be implemented with thought and purpose. Successful blockchain technology can help to tackle corruption. In the financial sector, banks have already formed consortiums and research labs centred on the blockchain and its potential.
This Think Brief explores blockchain technology and its potential application to the humanitarian sector. It provides a primer on blockchain technology, and it highlights applications in the humanitarian sector, potential use cases and recommendations for implementation. This is meant to serve as guidance for potential use within the humanitarian community, and it outlines future areas of research and exploration.
As demonstrated, Blockchain technology has potential applications within many domains beyond the financial sector. Furthermore, smart contracts will help improve supply chains for development and humanitarian projects. As we have indicated, some initiatives have already been implemented, and others are still in an early, ideational stage. However, the possibility of creating an immutable ID record may be both a promise as well as a curse, as contracts are automatically executed, this might initially lead to very rigid processes without the human margin of appreciation so often necessary in volatile emergency scenarios.
This is but one of many concerns and limitations concerning Blockchain technology, and we now turn to explore these in more detail. There are several concerns that are important to consider.
Firstly, Blockchain is a high energy-consuming technology. While attempts to reduce the energy costs already exist, Blockchain will always require servers and computers to process transactions. Therefore, in countries where the Internet is frequently shut down, where there is poor energy infrastructure, and where brownouts are common, DLT rapidly reaches its limits of scalability Purvis Internet or network access and electricity problems in field environments can be a potential caveat for humanitarian actors successfully implement Blockchain technology.
For these cases, workarounds might be possible and given that the ledger updates to a verified status upon accessing the network, Blockchain technology might even provide a desired solution. However, this will most likely depend on the use case scenarios for the technology. Moreover, Blockchain is often referred to as an open-structure by design.
Consequently, privacy and data protection remain a concern, particularly when it comes to identity registries and other Blockchain databases in which personally identifiable information is processed Baird et al. In these cases, a decentralized system might not be the desired format and a save cloud environment or virtual user interface environments, which allow remote access to a centralized server system, might be the preferable option.
There certainly are potential solutions to using decentralized systems without revealing critical data, such as zero-knowledge proofs. However, the extent to which they can be reasonably implemented within Blockchain technology remains an unanswered question for now. Beyond privacy concerns, there are also considerations regarding issues around the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union, regarding questions around data ownership, how to prevent the misuse of data, and how to implement the right to be forgotten Baird et al.
Since Blockchain provides an immutable, and decentralized ledger, these otherwise desired features may pose a problem if data needs to be permanently purged or changed or if data ownership questions are at stake.
In addressing the concerns above, it becomes evident that the development of Blockchain technology for a sector specific use is in part held back by the absence of a legislative framework.
A legal framework certainly appears to be necessary for Blockchain to reach its full potential in the fields of development and humanitarianism, or indeed within any other sector. For the humanitarian sector, this means that Blockchain technologies needs to comply with international humanitarian law and human rights law, for example, concerning issues around dual use technology, the principle of distinction and issues around non-discrimination. Furthermore, the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence are still among the core principles that should be observed with any technological solutions.
Work on big data and the humanitarian principles has shown that there are potential caveats when it comes to the implementation of Big Data solutions Qadir et al. Veracity of data and analyses as one of the methodological issues around the use of Big Data in the humanitarian field for example remains just as or even more important when dealing with immutable, distributed ledgers. In essence, this leads to four criteria that determine the suitability of Blockchain technology for use within the fields of development and humanitarian affairs:.
Is decentralization through distribution, and built-in trust through transparency, a necessary feature of the new technology? Do the features of the new technology comply with legal norms, humanitarian principles and professional codes of conduct? Blockchain is already being used to fight corruption, improve land tenure and property rights, create secure digital identities, tackle gender inequality, and more.
As such, these initiatives contribute to the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals in innovative ways. There is further huge potential in Blockchain technology, including possible applications within the humanitarian sector. One of the most exciting prospects is the application of smart contracts to automatize funding through forecast-based financing. Paired with Big Data analytics, such models could provide for more efficient and less political funding instruments.
We highlighted ethical considerations and requirements that underpin work within the humanitarian and development sectors. The important question remains whether this new technology complies with established humanitarian principles and professional codes of conduct. The issue of data privacy for example would need to be addressed before the technology could be used within complex, volatile contexts. The stakes are high.
While certain features of Blockchain technology are often considered to be absolute and intrinsic, we indicated that it is critical to realize that characteristics such as decentralization, transparency, and immutability should be understood as outcomes of intentional choices in developing these technological architectures. These features are by no means necessary or intrinsically good. The experts of the Blockchain4SDGs workshop further considered it critical that further monitoring and evaluation guidance will be developed for the early stages of exploration and experimentation with new technology trends, in order to improve knowledge sharing and development around the potential of new technology trends, such as Blockchain.
The participants concluded that it was critical to build a repository of ongoing initiatives focused on leveraging Blockchain for humanitarian applications and sustainable development. A reference framework such as this should support stakeholders in this sector to make more informed decisions based on best practices and needs for improvement.
When asked which criteria the Blockchain technology should be evaluated upon, workshop participants answered that their organizations and companies should have a specific purpose for using the technology.
Indeed, there is currently a hype around Blockchain technology, and it is sometimes used where it is in fact not necessarily needed. Rather than taking the technology in itself as the starting point, a discussion should start with addressing the central humanitarian and developmental challenges and include contextual considerations.
In short, Blockchain technology has great potential. However, it is still in such an early stage of development that its advantages and disadvantages are still not fully understood. Moving forward will require:. Only then can Blockchain move reasonably and reliably beyond its current hype and can become a standard of implementation for the future of humanitarian action and development aid as well as the Sustainable Development Goals in general.
Blockchain for Good. Accessed 25 July TEDxLyon, Lyon. Google Scholar. Average Number of Transactions per Block. Accessed 17 Nov Drescher D Blockchain basics: a non-technical introduction in 25 steps.
Apress, New York. Fair Food Living wage campaign. Accessed 15 Nov Gorey C Irish start-up aid:tech using Blockchain to distribute aid in refugee camps. European Parliament doc. Keane J Why Sweden is taking a chance on Blockchain Land Registry. Coin Desk. Kenny C How much aid is really lost to corruption? Center for Global Development. Strateg Chang 26 5 Third World Q 38 8. Marr B How Blockchain will transform the supply chain and logistics industry. The Economist.
Nakamoto S. Poorterman A Start Network in new partnership with Disberse to test revolutionary technology. Start Network. Purvis K.
Blockchain Podcast. October development, Groningen University. Download statistics No aid available. Published action 26 October The WFP issued a number of cryptographically unique coupons, with an equivalent value in local currency, and distributed humanitarian among two dozens of for in the and of the refugee camps through the Ethereum blockchain.
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On one hand the disruptive technology can present advantages, like connecting smart contracts with forecast-based financing. However, on the other hand the technology can present new risks, such as those centered around privacy. Latest News Top News. Vivica A. Tearful Kenin out but Barty just getting started at Australian Open. France to scrap 'obsolete' Paris airport expansion.
Shock as historic charges against Kenyan police dropped. Expectant father among India glacier missing as relatives pray for miracle. France to scrap Paris airport expansion: minister. Corporate Contact Us. DX Journal. DX Institute. The adoption of blockchain technology by the non-governmental sector was discussed in a Digital Journal article published in According to Michael Fauscette, without a government to back them up, refugees can lose their identities.
Without an identity, it becomes almost impossible to find meaningful work. Our intention is to build upon these tools and provide over time more information and analysis, host opinions and debates, and thus help the two communities of aid workers and techies to come together for the benefit of everyone. Every day, new use cases appear and we are still far from even imagining all the possibilities the future holds.
Think back at when you started using emails, many years ago. None of this was widely possible 25 years ago, but today through different combinations of mobile technology and internet, it is. The same applies to blockchain: we cannot imagine yet what blockchain alone and blockchain in combination with other technologies can and will do, but we can certainly expect some surprises, including in the aid world.
We have grouped them on four main categories, though new ones might arise in the future:. For the moment the most advanced use cases are those related to financial transactions. This is expected since blockchain was born as a technology supporting Bitcoin, arguably the first true cryptocurrency. In the case of aid, there are a number of applications: cash-based programming, social protection, remittances, individual and institutional funding from individual donors to charities and NGOs or to institutions, individual peer-to-peer funding, or loans and donations , fundraising platforms, funds and assets distribution monitoring, time and cost reduction of financial transactions, all kinds of payments including to suppliers , support to small scale international commerce, financial products for the unbanked, traceability to fight corruption, forecast-based financing, escrow and staged payments for impact investing, and financial reconciliation — just to name a few.
For example, the World Food Programme uses a blockchain-based system in its Building Blocks project in Jordan to distribute entitlements to Syrian refugees, while at the same time reducing the cost and time of accounts reconciliation; Oxfam is testing the use of blockchain to ensure transparency and fair trade payments of small-scale rice producers in Cambodia ; UNDP has launched a pilot project with the Serbian city of Nis , using a blockchain-based platform for remittances; Start Network members use blockchain technology to transfer funds among their offices.
Another major use case for blockchain is non-financial record tracking. This can be done for many different things: tracking of goods in supply chains, to reduce the length and cost of certifying provenance and ensure authenticity; tracking of pregnancy progress and associated maternal health entitlements like ante-natal care visits and medicines; tracking of school attendance, recording educational achievements and certificates; verifiable claims for any kind of service; public-record keeping.
In fact, record keeping is pertinent for all kinds of records both internally in humanitarian and development organizations, and externally.
And it facilitates audits. A third common use case for blockchain is solutions for identity management. Compared to the rest, identity management is a truly innovative application, especially in the case of self-sovereign identity, but it is also the most controversial and perhaps the most difficult to safely and ethically implement in the humanitarian and development sectors.
It is also strictly linked to other use cases, for example financial transactions, as these can only be completed through an established identity within the blockchain. Through blockchain, solutions can be imagined to provide digital identity for refugees, for IDPs, for children and adults lacking birth certificates or other essential documents; to prove affiliation to aid organizations without showing documents, through zero-knowledge proof.
At the same time, sensitive and personal data, stored on- or off-chain, must be protected and individuals must have agency over them, understand why they are collected, how they can be used, and all the implications of associating them with a blockchain, in the short and in the long term.
There is a risk that data could be managed incorrectly, that it could be obtained through malicious means, or sold, or given to hostile parties; these are unacceptable risks when it comes to the vulnerable communities humanitarian and development actors work with. Organizations collecting data have the responsibility to do so with the appropriate safeguards, and should lean on the conservative side when it comes to data management, since we do not know yet how this field will evolve.
The results could be dreadful if data is not handled correctly, in particular due to the immutable character of blockchain technology. Recording of personal data has substantial and wide implications, and extremely serious consideration should be given to the design of these platforms and their implementation, more than any other existing use case.
Some blockchains are public, and therefore personal data should not be stored in them; even if data is encrypted, all encryption has a shelf life, and there is no guarantee that any specific system will be maintained up-to-date in perpetuity, potentially exposing sensitive individual information in the future. Even more importantly, the long term implications of associating personal data with blockchain are not completely evident yet, including for experts.
They are even less clear for people who might not have sufficient technological literacy and knowledge to understand blockchain properly, and who therefore would not be able to give truly informed consent. Other use cases that are emerging are information and knowledge management, access to energy for off-grid communities, joint decision-making in emergencies, preservation of information and reports against censorship and for human rights protection.
Many more will arise over time. These initiatives show a healthy interest to frame blockchain solutions within the principles of the sector and to avoid potentially harmful or ineffective experiments, thus protecting populations, something deeply ingrained in humanitarian ethics.
Some trends have emerged while examining the current status of blockchain in the aid sector. We offer our preliminary reflections here, and welcome all your comments and views! Many of the major humanitarian and development actors are exploring blockchain. This means that there will be progress and there will be consequences, at the very least because of the sheer amount of initiatives being developed.
Other technological innovations in the past did not raise the same attention and curiosity, and while some of it is the result of the massive hype blockchain has provoked, underneath there is substance.
We will see things happen! Several initiatives by for-profit companies, even if they have a social dimension, ultimately have a for-profit purpose. This can become an issue as the business model of companies is — naturally and expectedly — radically different from the business model of humanitarian organizations, and these two opposed modes will eventually clash. For example, could data collected through humanitarian activities be sold even if only to finance these same activities?
If that happens, what is the limit to selling any other type of data?
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As such, many NGOs implement either voucher or unconditional cash transfer systems, so refugees can purchase goods from the local economy, rather than relying upon goods shipped across borders and delivered to them.
A sample process in Jordan is illustrated below:. Some of these issues are mitigated when adopting an unconditional cash transfer model, where refugees are given debit cards with monthly stipends, but others are exacerbated.
For example, shop compliance and personnel risk may decrease, but risk of theft and audit risk are greatly increased, when compared with a voucher system. Many countries have been able to bypass the traditional telecom infrastructure and have leap-frogged directly to mobile devices, opening new possibilities for innovation.
By digitizing and automating many of the steps in this process by implementing a blockchain network, we can address most of the concerns with the current system:.
In essence, we are creating a private economy between all involved parties with a private digital currency. In this process:. This document is simply one example how blockchain technology can be implemented to achieve dramatic process improvements in a cost effective manner.
People around the world are suffering today, and we should continue to develop new ideas around how emerging technologies can help humanitarian efforts.
I will continue to stay up-to-date on the state of blockchain, both in general and specifically in public sector, and you can expect future blog posts from me regarding new developments within this space, both from a technical and business perspective. Please reach out to me with any questions or new ideas! Rudy Subramanian.
Posted on March 15, 3 minute read. Blockchain for Humanitarian Aid. Blockchain cuts down third-party involvement, which in turn cuts down on fees and charges when moving money, which is why blockchain is currently mostly used for financial transactions.
It can speed up money transfers, reducing the risk of fraud and of being hacked. In humanitarian response, blockchain has the potential to be used for information management, coordination of aid delivery, management of crowdfunding, tracking supply chain, cash-transfer programming and boosting humanitarian financing.
The technology can provide solutions to existing challenges in humanitarian assistance such as transparency and accountability. Blockchain also can allow organisations to gather large quantities of data about vulnerable populations by using the distributed database component. To maintain data privacy of these populations, organisations can use private blockchain to allow only certain networks to gain access to the data.
Blockchain technology is relatively new and many humanitarian practitioners are unfamiliar or quite sceptical with this system and technology in the field, although this is beginning to change. Blockchain is currently being used in humanitarian response through cash-transfer programs, meaning money is delivered directly to recipients without involvement from a bank or other financial services. Their decision to use blockchain is driven by the need for complementary methods for financing, including direct distribution to recipients in the hope of reducing corruption.
They distribute electronic cash using blockchain that can be redeemed at participating markets. Disberse has already been successful in a development project with UK-based charity, Positive Women, which was able to reduce its transfer fees and trace the flow of funds to a project in Swaziland. The partnership is hoped to allow funding to become more efficient, effective and transparency which drives accountability to both taxpayers and those affected by crises. The means humanitarian response in the region requires large scale distribution of goods and cash-based programs in short periods of time.
As discussed at the recent Humanitarian Blockchain Summit, there is immense potential to use blockchain for executing smart contracts. Smart contracts can help to anticipate the numbers of people affected from potential disaster, how many people will be displaced, and calculate how many goods and services need to be delivered. Blockchain can be useful in the provision of humanitarian relief, connecting suppliers of clean drinking water with helicopter pilots and scheduling deliveries at specific locations within certain timeframes.
Through smart contracts, the organisation can determine which offer is the best one based on community needs, triggering acceptance of the offer and setting in motion the delivery. Moreover, the blockchain provides a way to share information and transfer digital assets in a fast, tracked and secure way. The blockchain is a type of distributed database hosted across a network of multiple participants. Originally created to enable the digital currency Bitcoin, blockchain technology has garnered attention by creating new opportunities beyond currency for organizations in all sectors, including the humanitarian sector.
The blockchain has the potential to transform the humanitarian sector by providing cost savings and traceability of information flows, and by reducing transaction times.
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White Paper, Provenance. We highlighted ethical considerations and requirements that underpin work within the humanitarian and development sectors. Other interesting stories. Modern technology and innovations constantly transform the world. Sandle T Interview: Blockchain is overhauling humanitarian aid.
National and local Governments, such as the United Kingdom, Estonia, Russia and Delaware in the United States, have been researching blockchain applications for public record-keeping, commercial vendors and voting systems. In the financial sector, banks have already formed consortiums and research labs centred on the blockchain and its potential. This Think Brief explores blockchain technology and its potential application to the humanitarian sector.
It provides a primer on blockchain technology, and it highlights applications in the humanitarian sector, potential use cases and recommendations for implementation.
Blockchain is much more than bitcoin, and enables possibilities that go far beyond the scope of the digital currency.
Among an ever-expanding range of applications, the use of blockchain technology in humanitarian efforts is gaining a stronger foothold, as evidenced during one of the debates that took during the recent Sharing Madrid event. Now, WFP is planning on expanding the initiative next August, multiplying by ten the number of beneficiaries. Speed, traceability, safety and disintermediation are the advantages that this solution offers over traditional humanitarian relief mechanisms.
But, how exactly does it work? The WFP issued a number of cryptographically unique coupons, with an equivalent value in local currency, and distributed them among two dozens of shops in the vicinity of the refugee camps through the Ethereum blockchain. Then, the merchants traded the tokens with refugees in exchange for basic products. Aid to Syrian refugees is, maybe one of the most revealing, but by no means the only example of how blockchain is helping streamline humanitarian efforts.
For these private institutions, blockchain offers significant advantages in situations of crises. One of them is speed. As Corredor explained, in less than 72 hours, the organizations taking part in the program have been able to decide the destination of the relief funds, when, in average, it takes about 17 days during emergency crises — over 80 under regular conditions.
Also, projects are granted access to the funds less than one week after they request them, a process that usually takes about two months. To overcome these, aid agencies and donors need to ensure sufficient investment and collaboration. The report is compiled from responses of 35 survey participants, representing stakeholders in the humanitarian sector, including NGO project implementers, consultants, blockchain developers, academics, and founders. A further 39 direct interviews took place over the course of the research between July and September Our research into blockchain for sustainability and financial inclusion explores social impact, capital markets, macroeconomics, alternative currencies and development economics, supporting NGOs, the financial sector and the United Nations.
In Denmark, over 34, volunteers are engaged in supporting the Red Cross vision. DRC is the Danish entry-point to the global Red Cross Network, and for several decades DRC has been a strong partner supporting other Red Cross National Societies in risk-prone countries through multi and bilateral support to short-term relief support when crises develop as well as long-term community-based projects.
Currently, DRC has long-term partnerships in approximately 30 countries. Mercy Corps is a global team of 5, humanitarians working together on the front lines of crisis, disaster, poverty and climate change in more than 40 countries to create a world where everyone can prosper.