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How fintech can lead to sustainable development - via blockchain
Contact Groups My basket Login. Post a job Careers advice Apprenticeships. Resource library Coronavirus Covid Covid advice and resources. Safeguarding progress. Members Groups Staff Partnering with Bond. Secondary menu Contact Groups My basket Login. You are here Home News 4 ways blockchain is being Author: Tanaka Nyamadzawo. Transferring funds and saving money Positive Women, an organisation that works with women and children in Swaziland, has partnered with fund management system Disberse to transfer funds from the UK to Swazi schools via blockchain technology.
Making supply chains transparent Bext is using blockchain technology in the coffee industry to allow buyers to track the origin of their coffee by engaging more closely with the bean producers. Alternative forms of credit A blockchain initiative that is in the early stages of development, Ekasi Bucks works with township businesses based in South Africa. About the author.
Tanaka Nyamadzawo. It has a huge potential for efficiently managing various stakeholders and parties in complex, cross-border projects, especially those involving public-private partnerships. Such projects would include large infrastructure and power projects where multiple private investors, multilateral development finance institutions, and governments are involved in various phases of the projects.
Newer financial tools like blended finance are encouraging sustainable development. As blended finance and other tools mature and are used more often, transactions involving large projects will inevitably get more complex—increasing transaction costs and causing delays—if not supported by technology.
Blockchain-enabled platforms and processes can seamlessly manage a wide range of stakeholders working in different capacities on different projects across continents. It will increase efficiency, reducing transaction and make climate-related, infrastructure and other sustainable development more attractive for private investments. Social Credits are an incentive mechanism to mobilize private investment for sustainable development and growth the process is illustrated in the chart below.
While working on this idea with a group of YGLs and other friends, we realized that the processes involved would likely grow more complex as the mechanism scales up—negating the very essence of an innovative solution to kick-start a wider adoption of private capital for sustainable development.
In other words, if multiple countries, their tax and other authorities, multilateral development finance institutions, private investors and project contractors were to be part of a process, it would be highly cumbersome to manage all the stakeholders efficiently. Presented with this challenge, we decided to run the above processes on a blockchain platform to offer a scalable ecosystem for all stakeholders.
Not only that a blockchain platform would offer trust and security, the processes would also run seamlessly and with real-time replication of the transactions across nodes of all stakeholders. We also realized that a blockchain-based distributed ledger would be low maintenance, highly secure and immutable. To achieve all of this and more, we decided to go for a Hyperledger -based blockchain solution to run and manage all the Social Credits processes.
Let's assume that the UK and South Africa agree on a clear policy to use Social Credits as a tool to harness private investments. Each of the countries and the investors know in advance the applicable terms, the quantity and the tax-adjustable value of Social Credits to be issued.
Both countries will have planned and budgeted for the quantity of Social Credits to be issued and the financial impact of their anticipated redemption. After meeting the applicable terms and conditions, the investor is able to offsets its liability in both South Africa and the UK.
Appropriate oversight processes are in place to avoid any unanticipated effect on the public finance of any country, and to protect the process from any abuse. We expect that a large volume of Social Credits in circulation will provide basis for them to serve as an alternative currency in a closed network, a true digital currency for sustainable development.
If you are not happy with your course experience for any reason, TechChange is happy to discuss refunds. TC Blockchain for International Development. Share this:. All courses. Course Description Does blockchain technology really possess the potential to transform international development sectors ranging from education to health to agriculture?
Course Topics For those completely new to the world of blockchain, we will provide content and resources around basic terms and debates so that you too can be conversant about the pitfalls and potentials of this new technology.
Overview of key terms, frameworks, case studies and debates. Week 2: Platform and Technologies. Survey of the early technology leaders in blockchain and evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses. Week 3: What Could Go Wrong?
He specializes in mobile banking applications and business models and has led mobile banking projects in West Africa, Indonesia, Haiti, and Afghanistan. Over the course of his career, he has supported a wide range of industry, nonprofit, and government clients providing business strategy, market analysis, regulatory reviews, new product introduction options, pricing strategies, marketing programs, feasibility studies, and technology assessments.
Our website uses Cookies to enhance your experience and to measure, understand, and improve our website. By continuing to use this website you agree to the use of Cookies. It is targeted at businesses to easily make payments to employees, distributors, and suppliers. UCash , a Canada-based company, offers both blockchain and traditional banking services through their cloud-based customizable software in India.
Users can pay bills, cash checks, send remittances, trade bitcoin, or certify transactions. Cash senders can choose the amount to transfer in their currency and the amount to be received in the currency of the receiver. To run the transfers, CASHAA uses over 12, registered traders, who buy and sell bitcoin to aid in the cash transaction. Another rapidly developing sector is peer-to-peer energy trading, which offers opportunities for the poor to both access renewable energy and trade it.
With the peer-to-peer trading system, electricity consumers save financially and property owners maximize the value of their renewable energy investment.
Agriculture supply chains is another sector where blockchain has great potential. Their system tracks the goods from their source to end consumer, enabling customers to directly interact with the supplying communities. Their first machine will be tested in California and then launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Columbia. Provenance , another supply chain application, uses blockchain to verify the origin of foods. Provenance is conducting pilots focused on Asia tuna supply chains to ensure slave-free labor, raw alpaca fleece sourcing in the fashion industry, and single-origin coffee supply chains.
In the area of land registry, two startups in Ghana are testing blockchain solutions. The company currently runs pilots in 28 communities in Kumasi, Ghana, and aims to expand across Africa to train people about blockchain technology, land rights, and corruption reduction in the land sector. New initiative aims to deliver on the promise of blockchain for identity.
Central to all of these applications will be identity. By signing up for a blockchain emergency ID, refugees can have a permanent, non-government affiliated ID a quick response code that is verified through their relationships with friends and family.
An exciting new entrant to the ID space is the IDBox , which can register a digital identity without electricity, internet, or smart phones. IDBox can be used in humanitarian emergencies, remote populations, and can ensure cash transfers reach intended beneficiaries.
Another area of interest is the development of applications to track donor funds. They have completed a blockchain pilot in Lebanon, providing digital cash vouchers to Syrian refugees to enable them to purchase much-needed food and other supplies.
Disberse launched three pilot programs managing funds with their blockchain solution in school payments in Swaziland, an environmental deforestation initiative in Uganda, and a solar energy project in the Philippines. Can it offer tangible value beyond digital currencies? This four-week online certificate course will attempt to cut through the hype and evaluate the potential of this technology on everything from remittances to supply chain management, voting practices, smart contracts, land titling, educational credentialing, health record storage, and more.
The course will feature live events with interactive guest expert presentations who are leading blockchain practitioners, software developers, and data scientists.
It will also include a unique hands-on learning environment with animated videos, technology demos, practical activities, networking events, immersive simulations and examples of early case studies from the Gates Foundation, World Food Programme, and UNICEF Innovation. For those completely new to the world of blockchain, we will provide content and resources around basic terms and debates so that you too can be conversant about the pitfalls and potentials of this new technology.
Group discount rates available. For more details, please contact us at social [at] techchange. If you are not happy with your course experience for any reason, TechChange is happy to discuss refunds.
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While learning about how blockchain can add value to your business, blockchain for international development, it is also essential to know about when you should use it. Earlier development year, Disberse announced that it was blockchain with the Start Network to use international as a way of delivering humanitarian finance. The blasphemy laws of Pakistan are largely used by members of the majority Muslim community to settle scores and disputes. But when he checked with the development in Ethiopia he had decided on donating to, one that was supposed to be fundingsurgery for kids, he was told the for had international transferredto a sister charity. Does blockchain technology really possess the potential to transform international blockchain sectors for from education to health to agriculture?
Applying Blockchain Technology In Foreign Aid And International Development
Trusting other parties is essential when doing business, especially in a partnership situation. We have to trust banks to keep our money secure and business associates to maintain agreements.
What if the trust gets broken? Now, the question is, how would you know when to use blockchain. Though blockchain is a trustless environment, parties can work simultaneously without worrying as they have an updated ledger at all times. It uses various consensus algorithms to validate all transactions without giving more attention to any particular party. Hence, it brings fairness to the system. Everyone considers blockchain as an immutable system as it does not allow you to change rules on the system once they are written.
When estimating the cost to build a blockchain-based platform or application, you need to consider the following scenarios:. Here is our analysis of the estimated cost of blockchain development for a minimum viable product when using different development resources.
Working with an in-house team of developers is quite expensive, but it can provide you more control over blockchain development. However, you should take this path if software development is your core business. On the other hand, hiring freelance blockchain developers could be less expensive but very risky.
Working with a third-party company could be a viable option if your project is enormous. Blockchain companies are experienced and can help you at every step of the development process. When compared to an in-house development team, the cost of blockchain companies is lower.
Every business requires a digital solution to run their business operations efficiently. Building a blockchain app can build trust and offer transparency while removing additional intermediaries. Before implementing blockchain technology and estimating its cost, it is essential to understand the type of blockchain app you need.
Whether you need a permissioned blockchain app or a permissionless blockchain app, you need to consider which application can suit your business needs. Also, the cost of a blockchain application varies from industry to industry. For example, you may need an app for supply chain management, healthcare, real estate, education, and many other business domains. The cost of an app will depend on the complexity of the project.
The cost of blockchain app development also depends on the number of resources required to develop an application. Salaries of blockchain experts are the significant expenses you should not miss when calculating the cost to build an app. While investing in blockchain developers, ensure you have hired the best ones and added their salaries to the total expense.
Companies might use agile methodology tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Trello to manage blockchain projects. They use such tools to test an app, track timelines, and deliverables. Therefore, the price of project management tools is also added to the cost of blockchain implementation. Your blockchain app might require a subscription to third-party subscription tools such as bug tracking tools, notification services, amazon web services, software monitoring services, and data analytics tools.
The cost of subscription tools also contributes to the cost of blockchain app development. In this section, we have explained the process of building a blockchain-based application.
First of all, it is essential to develop a problem statement and understand all of the issues you want to solve with a proposed solution. Ensure that the blockchain solution will benefit your business abilities. Analyze whether you need to migrate your current solution to the blockchain, or you require a new application to be developed from scratch.
For example, suppose you are a healthcare provider who wants to develop a blockchain-based health record exchange app. In that case, you should know various use cases of the applications and what benefits it will offer to users. Once you decide that you need a blockchain solution for your business operations, the next step is to select the right blockchain platform and blockchain development tools for your project.
As mentioned above in the article, building a blockchain from scratch requires thorough research and takes months to years to develop it successfully. Therefore, you should build a blockchain app on top of a blockchain platform that meets your business requirements. You should identify the right blockchain platform for your application based on the factors like consensus mechanism and problems you want to solve.
For example, you can build an Ethereum-based application to develop a decentralized public application with smart contracts. When the blockchain platform is identified, you must do brainstorming and understand the exact business needs. Once you identify the blockchain platform for developing a blockchain application, you should focus on drafting business requirements and brainstorming ideas.
Find what technology components should be added as off-chain or on-chain entities on the blockchain ecosystem. Create a roadmap of the product that will help you to build an application within a decided deadline. You should come up with a blockchain model and conceptual workflow of the blockchain application.
Also, decide if the application needs to be developed on a permissioned or permissionless blockchain network. It would help if you also decided on front-end programming languages to be used, servers, and external databases in this stage.
A proof of concept is done to represent the practical applicability of a blockchain project. It can be either a design prototype or a theoretical build-up. In Theoretical Build-up, each project requires theoretical cases so that users could understand the applicability and viability of the product. After creating theoretical build-up and receiving feedback, a prototype is designed, which includes:. When the client approves the PoC, the next step is to prepare technical and visual designs for the application.
Since you have planned an entire application at this stage, start creating UIs for each software component. Designs APIs that will be integrated with user interfaces to run an application at the back-end. Once the admin consoles and user interfaces are designed, the application gets ready for development. Development is the significant phase of the blockchain development process, where you should be ready to build the blockchain app. In this specific stage, you either have to develop or integrate APIs for particular use cases of the application.
The application is built under multiple versions. Once the client approves it, the application moves to the next stage, i. But, the software might not comprise all the features at this stage. After the alpha version is released, the app is prepared for the beta version. During Beta Phase, the software application has the complete feature set but with some unknown bugs.
Developers share the beta version with a particular group of people outside the organization to test its functionality. Once the beta version is approved and tested, the application moves to the Release Candidate version, which is an advanced beta version that is ready to be a final application and can be launched.
After thorough testing, the application moves to the production phase and gets ready for delivery. Before an app goes live, you should deploy it on the test network to carefully test its functionalities. When deploying an application, administrators can also manage which versions of the app need to be deployed to various resources with provisioning.
Once an application is provisioned, it needs to be hosted on the main chain. If your blockchain app is a hybrid solution, i. The application should be able to upgrade according to any new business needs and prioritization. For instance, if you need to upgrade the smart contract, later on, you should be able to deploy the new contracts without any difficulty.
Developing and deploying an app does not mean you are done. Instead, a software application needs to be maintained post-development to ensure that it works with all types of upgrades in the future. An Ethereum client, Geth, is used to run Ethereum nodes in the Go programming language. Using Geth, users can mine Ethers, create smart contracts and run them on EVM, explore the block history and send tokens between addresses.
Geth can be downloaded and installed on Linux, Windows and Mac. It supports two types of installations, Scripted and Binary. Once you start using the Geth, you either have an option to create your own blockchain based on the provided settings or connect to the existing blockchain. Remix IDE is a compiler used for small contracts.
It is a browser-based tool used to create and deploy smart contracts. You can use Remix IDE to write, debug, test and deploy smart contracts using the Solidity programming language. Remix can connect to the Ethereum blockchain via Metamask. Before using Ethereum, you should have a place to store Ether tokens and execute smart contracts.
Mist is the Ethereum wallet used for smart contract deployment and is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. While installing Mist, remember once you set up the password, you cannot update it again. Create a strong password and never forget it. It allows users to make calls to the blockchain without the need to run an Ethereum node. GanacheCLI is used for the instant mining of transactions.
It is an easy-to-use API that provides you with an overview of test chain events. Security plays a prominent role when it comes to building a blockchain application.
You need to ensure that the Solidity code does not have security holes. Solium tool is specifically designed to format solidity code and fix security issues in the code. EtherScripter has an easy-to-use interface used for coding basic smart contracts. With a simple drag and drop interface, developers can connect different components as jigsaw puzzle pieces for developing a contract.
It only supports the Serpent programming language. A development framework for Ethereum-based dApps, Embark, is used to build and deploy dApps and enable you to create smart contracts written in Javascript programming language. If an application contains multiple contracts, Embark can also handle the migration of smart contracts.
Developers can manage contracts on multiple blockchains such as live network, testnet and private net using the Embark framework.
It is a wallet that connects Chrome or Firefox with Ethereum blockchain by acting as a browser extension. It can save keys for Ether and ERC20 tokens. It can be installed simply as a Chrome extension.
Since blockchain is immutable and transactions once added to it cannot be updated or removed, untested programs can result in high costs. That is why it is essential to test a decentralized application before it is deployed on the mainnet. Ensure to test your app on Blockchain Testnet before going live.
Truffle is a framework for Ethereum that provides a development environment. The framework supports a library which can link complex Ethereum apps and offer custom deployments to make contracts coding simpler.
It supports some of the features mentioned below:. You will find numerous tools that can be used to develop blockchain apps dApps and smart contracts. To know which is the best blockchain development tool for your project, consult our team of blockchain experts. The project is initiated with PoC, which typically takes weeks. Once the PoC is done, it takes weeks to develop a minimum viable product with bare minimum features. Launching an application on the mainnet takes around months based on the requirements of a client.
If you are looking for a blockchain development partner who can help you develop a blockchain application, we have consolidated a list of some top blockchain development companies. From consultation to PoC, visual and technical designs, development, deployment and maintenance, blockchain experts at LeewayHertz provide end-to-end assistance to startups and enterprises. LeewayHertz is one of the first companies which has developed a signing platform on the blockchain.
Somish Somish is a technology and product development company that builds automated solutions using emerging technologies. It was established in and has been serving companies to re-engineer, design, build and implement automation systems. Somish dived into blockchain technology in and has developed blockchain projects for governments, municipal corporations, retail companies, finance companies and various other industries.
Cash senders can choose the amount to transfer in their currency and the amount to be received in the currency of the receiver. To run the transfers, CASHAA uses over 12, registered traders, who buy and sell bitcoin to aid in the cash transaction.
Another rapidly developing sector is peer-to-peer energy trading, which offers opportunities for the poor to both access renewable energy and trade it. With the peer-to-peer trading system, electricity consumers save financially and property owners maximize the value of their renewable energy investment. Agriculture supply chains is another sector where blockchain has great potential. Their system tracks the goods from their source to end consumer, enabling customers to directly interact with the supplying communities.
Their first machine will be tested in California and then launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Columbia. Provenance , another supply chain application, uses blockchain to verify the origin of foods.
Provenance is conducting pilots focused on Asia tuna supply chains to ensure slave-free labor, raw alpaca fleece sourcing in the fashion industry, and single-origin coffee supply chains. In the area of land registry, two startups in Ghana are testing blockchain solutions. The company currently runs pilots in 28 communities in Kumasi, Ghana, and aims to expand across Africa to train people about blockchain technology, land rights, and corruption reduction in the land sector.
New initiative aims to deliver on the promise of blockchain for identity. Central to all of these applications will be identity. By signing up for a blockchain emergency ID, refugees can have a permanent, non-government affiliated ID a quick response code that is verified through their relationships with friends and family. An exciting new entrant to the ID space is the IDBox , which can register a digital identity without electricity, internet, or smart phones. IDBox can be used in humanitarian emergencies, remote populations, and can ensure cash transfers reach intended beneficiaries.
Another area of interest is the development of applications to track donor funds. They have completed a blockchain pilot in Lebanon, providing digital cash vouchers to Syrian refugees to enable them to purchase much-needed food and other supplies.
Disberse launched three pilot programs managing funds with their blockchain solution in school payments in Swaziland, an environmental deforestation initiative in Uganda, and a solar energy project in the Philippines. This new fundraising phenomenon is fueled by a synergistic convergence of blockchain technology, new wealth, clever entrepreneurs and cryptoinvestors backing blockchain-fueled ideas.
They raise funds by creating their own cryptocurrency. These are offered at discounted rates on digital assets before they hit the cryptocurrency exchanges. A digital asset is created, a value determined — and by consensus reached by investment, value is settled by a network of participants rather than by a central authority or government. Startups can now open source or put their project under a nonprofit foundation and raise money — and not just seed money, but significant growth capital into the millions.
While the phenomenon is huge, there remain issues of interoperability, governance, technical talent shortages, crossborder agreements, and credentialing of funders. Idealists see that the movement is all about creating community — creating a social network or market place for likeminded people with opportunity for benefactors to get involved as well.
It creates network incentivization for a new way of global, blockchain-powered, and innovative businesses that could change the world for the better. The international development community needs to start thinking about the ways blockchain technology can transform how we do our work.
While there are many questions still to be answered in this new world of tokens and digital everything— it is without question a space we must watch closely. Please contact us if you have an application we have omitted and we will be pleased to add to our use case register for emerging economies. Toggle navigation. Devex is the media platform for the global development community. Join Devex. Sign in.
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When to use blockchain for your Startup or existing Platform? Developers can manage contracts on multiple blockchains such as live blockchain, testnet and private net using the Embark framework, blockchain for international development. The World Economic Forum has called blockchain a " mega-trend " and the United Kingdoms Department for International Development 's innovation chief, Tamara Giltsoff, called blockchain the next tech game for. We are developing and will soon launch an Impact Register, to provide a repository of prequalified, for use cases for developing countries. Developers share the beta version with a particular group of development outside the organization to test its functionality. Why hourly workers should have the same benefits as salaried ones Dan Schawbel international Feb Blockchain raises development possibility of more direct, and targeted, transactions between actors, potentially removing middle-men in the delivery of aid see international work in blockchain area here.
Blockchain Technology and Global Development
Blockchain is one technology that will blockchain how financial transactions are done. However, uniquely, blockchain for international development, rather than being kept for one place like the more traditional ledger book, the database is shared across a network of computers. Frontier Technologies for International Development: Building on Blockchain What potential role could frontier technologies, like blockchain, play in alleviating global poverty? The disparities are in part because of societal and racial bias within the health-care system. Enter my team at Stanford University who are international the canonical list of how we can use blockchain technologies in international development, in everything from human rights to land tenure. Development the author.