Are you interested in contributing to the research phase of the Humanitarian Distributed Platform? The goal of the Humanitarian Blockchain Initiative is to develop governing principles, a sustainable business model, and consensus for a new Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform that upholds the humanitarian principles of Humanity, Neutrality, Impartiality, Independence and “do no harm”.
As part of the research, we are currently seeking blockchain/ DLT experts, academics, and humanitarian practitioners who have been involved in impact or humanitarian projects that have used blockchain. Does this sounds like you and would you like to join the conversation? Fill out our survey below!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LLLFQXW
About the Humanitarian Blockchain Initiative
Humanitarian organisations need digital solutions to enable transformational impact to beneficiaries, such as identity without bureaucracy, alternative credit scoring, distribution of value without the risk of corruption and secure data management, among other use cases, at very low cost. DLT presents opportunities to support these use cases, however the Red Cross, an active participant in three separate blockchain initiatives involving fragile and vulnerable communities, has identified specific challenges to scaling existing interventions due to variable fees, data privacy concerns, questionable governance, inflexible tools, and high running costs of existing solutions. The Secretary-General’sUN’s Digital Cooperation Roadmap recommends collaboration for open source common goods based on robust governance that can’t be hijacked by vested interests.
Together with key partners, it is our ambition to address these issues by designing and developing a platform that will lower the entry point for all NGOs, humanitarian organizations, and for-profit companies seeking to implement a technologically advanced, safe space.
Report and Next Steps
The Red Cross and partners have initiated a research project to identify recommendations for governance, business model and targeted use cases, towards identifying or building a platform suitable for use by NGOs and Social Enterprises, to benefit the next billion. The project brings together NGOs, IFIs, commercial organisations and domain experts, to identify the optimal approach and drive forward the practical implementation.
Following the initial research, to be published in September 2020, the next stage will be to design, then select or build elements of the stack to support the key use cases identified, and to design the governance and business model based on the recommendations. Key stakeholders involved during the research stage, as well as contributing expertise and existing research during the research phase, will also be instrumental in shaping the platform.
If you have any questions on the Humanitarian Blockchain Initiative or would like to become more involved in the ongoing discussion, don’t hesitate to reach out to the hiveonline team for more information at research@hivenetwork.online.