Blockchain for Social Impact
Blockchain for Social Impact
What is Blockchain?
What is blockchain? Blockchain is a distributed database, inherently resistant to attacks and fraud. Value Proposition Reduces cost • Increases revenue Reduces risk
•
Removes the costs of intermediaries Reduces processing, re-work, and manual errors
• •
Creates new products and services Captures value lost in transit
• • •
Increases • speed and • transparency •
No single point of failure No unauthorized alterations Resistant to collusion Verifies provenance Allows T+0 settlement Preserves complete audit trail
Key Components Immutable A write-only database that preserves an immutable record of all network transactions.
Decentralized A peer-to-peer platform distributing the same replica of data.
Cryptographically Secure Public/private key to secure identity, allowing only verifiable transactions.
Why decentralization matters? Through its distributed nature, blockchain enables better, trustless coordination.
Inclusive
Robust
Uncensorable
Egalitarian
More creation and collaboration occurs in a global network that each and every one can join.
A power outage, natural disaster, or a malfunction cannot bring it down, nor can an attack from malicious actors.
No government or corporation controls your data. Your privacy remains your own.
The network is that of the masses. No economic, political, geographic discrimination, no monopoly.
Read More Buterin, V. (2017, February 6). The Meaning of Decentralization.
How can you use it?
How to determine if you need blockchain An exceptional blockchain use case is always faster, cheaper, and more reliable
Immutability
Inefficiency
Low-Trust
Operational Benefit
The use case must demand transparency and an immutable reference of records
The traditional process must utilize middle men that increase the overall cost of the service(s) being rendered
The actors transacting between each other must rely on innate trust in the traditional model
The proposed blockchain implementation will be more cost effective and overall more efficient that the traditional model
Immutability: Needing Transactional Settlement A blockchain must be used as a transactional settlement record and immutable proof of the solution’s overlying transactions — whether that “transaction” is storing data, sending money, or shipping something. Note, that transactions do not just encompass financial operations — any action that causes an effect between 2 + n parties is a “transaction.”
Inefficiency: Getting Rid of Middle Men Any use case that needs a blockchain must be a process that currently requires middlemen to transact between parties, or provide a (centralized) third party service to a client. $97
$100
Traditional Model → Consumer
Visa
$100.10
Blockchain Model → Consumer
Vendor
$100
Blockchain
Vendor
Low-Trust: Need for a ‘Trustless’ Environment Any use case that needs a blockchain must be one that operates in a broader environment where there exists a low amount of trust between parties (one that can benefit from ‘trustless consensus’ amongst involved parties). Trust
Trust
Traditional Model → (Innate Trust Dependent) Retailer
Supplier
Trust
Blockchain Model →
Manufacturer
Trust
(Trustless Dependent) Retailer
Blockchain
Manufacturer
Efficiency: More Efficient than Before! Any use case that needs a blockchain must be one that leverages a transactional assumption between parties. Example: A client assumes that after they pay the for product on eBay, the client will receive the product . There must be a need for automated transparency on a shared record of settlement. Most importantlu, the blockchain solution must perform more rapidly and more securely with blockchain implementation that the current state.
Blockchain & Social Impact
What does it mean for social impact? By leapfrogging centralized systems, blockchain can reshuffle the current social and political landscape. Self-sovereign Identity Alternate Source of Funding Increases donation and crowdfunding for community projects. Incentivizes doing good in gamified cryptosystems.
A persistent, private and portable digital identity that accumulates reputation without the need of a centralized authority.
Transparent Supply Chain
Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces
Cuts out middlemen, eases administrative load, and traces the movements of funds, goods and assets.
Enables peer-to-peer trading of energy, carbon, water, wood and many other precious resources.
Decentralized Governance Inspires new governance models through prediction markets, quadratic voting and liquid democracy.
Economy for the Unbanked Brings commerce and finance to the billions of unbanked in the borderless and frictionless network..
Effective Philanthropy Tamper-proof records Stores rights, titles and records safely in a corruption- and fraud-proof database.
Coordinates efforts of charities and philanthropy organizations to track impact goals, audit funds, and pursue more effective aid.
User Experience & Policy
Good UX is Just as Important as Development Web-app and mobile blockchain solutions that hope to empower vulnerble populations must overcome tremendous UX barriers that prevent mainstream adoption in westernized countries: ●
Need to ‘buy-in’ and get cryptocurrencies from exchanges
●
App messaging around ‘blockchain’
●
A DApp is just an App! The UX practices should be the same
Policy Makes a Solution Continue to Work When implementing solutions that are targeting entire communities in developed and developing nations alike, it is imperative that your team research how policy can be used to support the solution you’re proposing. Example: Having a self-sovereign identity system for survivors of sex trafficking is useless if the facilitating government is known for sex-trafficking corruption abuses. Remember: At the end of the day, people still interact with each other and blockchain is not a silver-bullet that can make the world better by itself.
Partnerships
Partnerships Make Solutions Real Partnerships are the most crucial aspect to materializing a solution in the social impact space. If we all compete we’re not the only ones who lose. The potential beneficiaries of our solutions lose out as well. Partnerships are the singlemost important aspect of making blockchain work in social impact projects globally.
Cryptoeconomics
Utility Tokens Only Don’t force a token into your system. Focus on solving the problem at hand. Defining Features of a Utility Token Passes the Howey Test Inexchangeable Fits the category Simplest way to make system work
•
•
The use and reason for the token must not fall under the scope of the 1934 Security Exchange Act
Key System Components Blockchain Immutably and autonomously recording and directing txs
The token should not be exchangeable with existing tokens
• • •
Membership and/or Stake Voting Rights System Inentive Token
•
Any other version of the project would not work without a token
Utility Token Mainting an incentive to use the overall system and maintain governance
UX & UI (DApp) Ensuring users can interact with the solution in the simplest way possible
Importance of Mobile Payments UX obstacles like the complexity of visualizing the use of cryptocurrency for the common consumer, even with something like DAI that is approximately equal in value to the U.S. dollar, serve as massive cultural hurdles to mainstream adoption. If cryptocurrencies like DAI can be backed by traditional banking institutions, making it easily redeemable for cash in the real-world and vice versa, the mobile payments industry can leverage a peer-to-peer banking economy where each individual has complete control of their assets in the palm of their hand.
Blockchain for Social Impact acts upon opportunities that leverage the exponential impact of blockchain technology to address critical social and environmental challenges.
COMMUNITY
PRODUCT
Build a community of action takers through meetups, conferences, and hackathons
Incubate and develop impact-focused blockchain ventures
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONSULTATION Educate and advise NGOs on the adoption of blockchain-based solutions
Produce insights and knowledge on industry best practice
Target Sectors Identity and Vulnerable Populations
Financial Inclusion
Access to bank accounts
Cash Transfer Aid
Savings, lending & loans
Remittances
P2P and community-ba sed credit services
Energy and Environment
Supply Chain
Human trafficking and human rights abuses Crowdfunding and donations
SMBs and global marketplace
Disaster Relief
Ethical products Data collection and social impact bonds
Off-grid Energy
P2P Trading
Community and Partnerships Mission
Vision
The Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition (BSIC) is a community of impact-focused entrepreneurs, investors, and humanitarians who convene to share resources, knowledge and cutting-edge blockchain technology in order to address global social and environmental issues.
Internally, BSIC facilitates collaboration on research, design, development, and implementation of blockchain-based tools for social impact. Externally, BSIC seeks to inspire, connect, and grow our community through workshops, meetups, hackathons, and conferences.
WFP’s Building Blocks The World Food Program launched their “Building Blocks” program to aid resource disbursement in Pakistan. The program aided 10,000 refugess more efficiently by leveraging iris scan technology to keep an accurate account of who is allowed to inquire for resources and how many resources are being asked for. The program is expanding toward helping 100K refugees soon.
IXO Foundation The IXO Foundation’s Amply app is aiding public schools in South Africa accurately track school attendance by assigning digital identities to the students. By accurately recording attendance, school’s can more easily prove their track record and claim government subsidies to expand and pay their teachers. The program has already tracked over 500K attendances.
International Donations Many more projects, like Dether, seek to create stable crypto-to-cash exchange networks around the world - where the user is the teller. This usage of cryptocurrency undercuts the current exchange market’s high transaction fees (up to 10%) and makes it much more feasible for international NGOs to aid places like Syria when in-hand cash is needed.
Resources & Impact Areas
Impact Areas ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Sex Trafficking International Donation Transfers (Money Transfer) Encrypted Communication Uncensored Internet Access Law Enforcement Accountability Voter Transparency Self-Sovereign finance
●
● ● ●
Public Health ○ Sexual Assault ○ Electronic Health Records ○ Etc. Donation Transparency Resource Allocation (Homeless, Refugees) Self-Sovereign Identity in low-infrastructure areas
Technical Resources ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Web Kits - Truffle Ethereum API - Web3Js Private/Development Node/Blockchain - ParityJs Private Blockchain Consensus (for PoC) - Tendermint Private Blockchain Consensus (for PoC) - Auora In-browser Wallet (Chrome) - Metamask Identity Authentication - uPort Blockchain Network Connection API - Infura Javascript Web Applications - ReactJS Javascript Mobile Applications - React Native Decentralized Cloud Storage - StorJ Decentralized Cloud Storage - IPFS
Contact Us [email protected] For More Information www. blockchainforsocialimpact.com
What is Blockchain?
What is blockchain? Blockchain is a distributed database, inherently resistant to attacks and fraud. Value Proposition Reduces cost • Increases revenue Reduces risk
•
Removes the costs of intermediaries Reduces processing, re-work, and manual errors
• •
Creates new products and services Captures value lost in transit
• • •
Increases • speed and • transparency •
No single point of failure No unauthorized alterations Resistant to collusion Verifies provenance Allows T+0 settlement Preserves complete audit trail
Key Components Immutable A write-only database that preserves an immutable record of all network transactions.
Decentralized A peer-to-peer platform distributing the same replica of data.
Cryptographically Secure Public/private key to secure identity, allowing only verifiable transactions.
Why decentralization matters? Through its distributed nature, blockchain enables better, trustless coordination.
Inclusive
Robust
Uncensorable
Egalitarian
More creation and collaboration occurs in a global network that each and every one can join.
A power outage, natural disaster, or a malfunction cannot bring it down, nor can an attack from malicious actors.
No government or corporation controls your data. Your privacy remains your own.
The network is that of the masses. No economic, political, geographic discrimination, no monopoly.
Read More Buterin, V. (2017, February 6). The Meaning of Decentralization.
How can you use it?
How to determine if you need blockchain An exceptional blockchain use case is always faster, cheaper, and more reliable
Immutability
Inefficiency
Low-Trust
Operational Benefit
The use case must demand transparency and an immutable reference of records
The traditional process must utilize middle men that increase the overall cost of the service(s) being rendered
The actors transacting between each other must rely on innate trust in the traditional model
The proposed blockchain implementation will be more cost effective and overall more efficient that the traditional model
Immutability: Needing Transactional Settlement A blockchain must be used as a transactional settlement record and immutable proof of the solution’s overlying transactions — whether that “transaction” is storing data, sending money, or shipping something. Note, that transactions do not just encompass financial operations — any action that causes an effect between 2 + n parties is a “transaction.”
Inefficiency: Getting Rid of Middle Men Any use case that needs a blockchain must be a process that currently requires middlemen to transact between parties, or provide a (centralized) third party service to a client. $97
$100
Traditional Model → Consumer
Visa
$100.10
Blockchain Model → Consumer
Vendor
$100
Blockchain
Vendor
Low-Trust: Need for a ‘Trustless’ Environment Any use case that needs a blockchain must be one that operates in a broader environment where there exists a low amount of trust between parties (one that can benefit from ‘trustless consensus’ amongst involved parties). Trust
Trust
Traditional Model → (Innate Trust Dependent) Retailer
Supplier
Trust
Blockchain Model →
Manufacturer
Trust
(Trustless Dependent) Retailer
Blockchain
Manufacturer
Efficiency: More Efficient than Before! Any use case that needs a blockchain must be one that leverages a transactional assumption between parties. Example: A client assumes that after they pay the for product on eBay, the client will receive the product . There must be a need for automated transparency on a shared record of settlement. Most importantlu, the blockchain solution must perform more rapidly and more securely with blockchain implementation that the current state.
Blockchain & Social Impact
What does it mean for social impact? By leapfrogging centralized systems, blockchain can reshuffle the current social and political landscape. Self-sovereign Identity Alternate Source of Funding Increases donation and crowdfunding for community projects. Incentivizes doing good in gamified cryptosystems.
A persistent, private and portable digital identity that accumulates reputation without the need of a centralized authority.
Transparent Supply Chain
Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces
Cuts out middlemen, eases administrative load, and traces the movements of funds, goods and assets.
Enables peer-to-peer trading of energy, carbon, water, wood and many other precious resources.
Decentralized Governance Inspires new governance models through prediction markets, quadratic voting and liquid democracy.
Economy for the Unbanked Brings commerce and finance to the billions of unbanked in the borderless and frictionless network..
Effective Philanthropy Tamper-proof records Stores rights, titles and records safely in a corruption- and fraud-proof database.
Coordinates efforts of charities and philanthropy organizations to track impact goals, audit funds, and pursue more effective aid.
User Experience & Policy
Good UX is Just as Important as Development Web-app and mobile blockchain solutions that hope to empower vulnerble populations must overcome tremendous UX barriers that prevent mainstream adoption in westernized countries: ●
Need to ‘buy-in’ and get cryptocurrencies from exchanges
●
App messaging around ‘blockchain’
●
A DApp is just an App! The UX practices should be the same
Policy Makes a Solution Continue to Work When implementing solutions that are targeting entire communities in developed and developing nations alike, it is imperative that your team research how policy can be used to support the solution you’re proposing. Example: Having a self-sovereign identity system for survivors of sex trafficking is useless if the facilitating government is known for sex-trafficking corruption abuses. Remember: At the end of the day, people still interact with each other and blockchain is not a silver-bullet that can make the world better by itself.
Partnerships
Partnerships Make Solutions Real Partnerships are the most crucial aspect to materializing a solution in the social impact space. If we all compete we’re not the only ones who lose. The potential beneficiaries of our solutions lose out as well. Partnerships are the singlemost important aspect of making blockchain work in social impact projects globally.
Cryptoeconomics
Utility Tokens Only Don’t force a token into your system. Focus on solving the problem at hand. Defining Features of a Utility Token Passes the Howey Test Inexchangeable Fits the category Simplest way to make system work
•
•
The use and reason for the token must not fall under the scope of the 1934 Security Exchange Act
Key System Components Blockchain Immutably and autonomously recording and directing txs
The token should not be exchangeable with existing tokens
• • •
Membership and/or Stake Voting Rights System Inentive Token
•
Any other version of the project would not work without a token
Utility Token Mainting an incentive to use the overall system and maintain governance
UX & UI (DApp) Ensuring users can interact with the solution in the simplest way possible
Importance of Mobile Payments UX obstacles like the complexity of visualizing the use of cryptocurrency for the common consumer, even with something like DAI that is approximately equal in value to the U.S. dollar, serve as massive cultural hurdles to mainstream adoption. If cryptocurrencies like DAI can be backed by traditional banking institutions, making it easily redeemable for cash in the real-world and vice versa, the mobile payments industry can leverage a peer-to-peer banking economy where each individual has complete control of their assets in the palm of their hand.
Blockchain for Social Impact acts upon opportunities that leverage the exponential impact of blockchain technology to address critical social and environmental challenges.
COMMUNITY
PRODUCT
Build a community of action takers through meetups, conferences, and hackathons
Incubate and develop impact-focused blockchain ventures
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONSULTATION Educate and advise NGOs on the adoption of blockchain-based solutions
Produce insights and knowledge on industry best practice
Target Sectors Identity and Vulnerable Populations
Financial Inclusion
Access to bank accounts
Cash Transfer Aid
Savings, lending & loans
Remittances
P2P and community-ba sed credit services
Energy and Environment
Supply Chain
Human trafficking and human rights abuses Crowdfunding and donations
SMBs and global marketplace
Disaster Relief
Ethical products Data collection and social impact bonds
Off-grid Energy
P2P Trading
Community and Partnerships Mission
Vision
The Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition (BSIC) is a community of impact-focused entrepreneurs, investors, and humanitarians who convene to share resources, knowledge and cutting-edge blockchain technology in order to address global social and environmental issues.
Internally, BSIC facilitates collaboration on research, design, development, and implementation of blockchain-based tools for social impact. Externally, BSIC seeks to inspire, connect, and grow our community through workshops, meetups, hackathons, and conferences.
WFP’s Building Blocks The World Food Program launched their “Building Blocks” program to aid resource disbursement in Pakistan. The program aided 10,000 refugess more efficiently by leveraging iris scan technology to keep an accurate account of who is allowed to inquire for resources and how many resources are being asked for. The program is expanding toward helping 100K refugees soon.
IXO Foundation The IXO Foundation’s Amply app is aiding public schools in South Africa accurately track school attendance by assigning digital identities to the students. By accurately recording attendance, school’s can more easily prove their track record and claim government subsidies to expand and pay their teachers. The program has already tracked over 500K attendances.
International Donations Many more projects, like Dether, seek to create stable crypto-to-cash exchange networks around the world - where the user is the teller. This usage of cryptocurrency undercuts the current exchange market’s high transaction fees (up to 10%) and makes it much more feasible for international NGOs to aid places like Syria when in-hand cash is needed.
Resources & Impact Areas
Impact Areas ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Sex Trafficking International Donation Transfers (Money Transfer) Encrypted Communication Uncensored Internet Access Law Enforcement Accountability Voter Transparency Self-Sovereign finance
●
● ● ●
Public Health ○ Sexual Assault ○ Electronic Health Records ○ Etc. Donation Transparency Resource Allocation (Homeless, Refugees) Self-Sovereign Identity in low-infrastructure areas
Technical Resources ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Web Kits - Truffle Ethereum API - Web3Js Private/Development Node/Blockchain - ParityJs Private Blockchain Consensus (for PoC) - Tendermint Private Blockchain Consensus (for PoC) - Auora In-browser Wallet (Chrome) - Metamask Identity Authentication - uPort Blockchain Network Connection API - Infura Javascript Web Applications - ReactJS Javascript Mobile Applications - React Native Decentralized Cloud Storage - StorJ Decentralized Cloud Storage - IPFS
Contact Us [email protected] For More Information www. blockchainforsocialimpact.com
