VOL eMag TEAM

Co-Founder & Editor: Mayte Mascarell

Co-Founder & CFO: Luca Bugialli

Brand Guardian: Javier Minguez

Journalism: Daiva Sen & Natalia Díaz

Lead Graphic Designer: Ramón Navalón

Graphic Designer: Jorge Romero

Editorial & Media Director Uruguay Javier Madero

Image Credits: Shutterstock (Lemon Tree Images, Srdjan Randjelovic, DFLC Prints, pato13, Diego Zalduondo, jennagenio, DFLC Prints, Ksenia Ragozina, View Apart), by: Keith Parsons, motion.vidos, Alice, Source (socialtechtrust.org., www.worldsummitawards.org, UNU-EHS, Alexander Davidyuk Videezy.com, lo3energy.com, comgo.io, climateledger.org, www.ngi.eu).

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Sempo

Circularise

LO3 Energy

Alice Si

Dr. Erick Tambo

Click to hear the article,

voiced by author Javi Mínguez

Blockchain is data. Long, incredibly long strings of data that are in constant growth. What makes it so unique is how all of this data is organised in cyberspace.

Blockchain separates the information into pieces, or blocks to be specific, all of which are cryptographed to be of the same size (regardless of the original amount of information they held).

This cryptography is one of the reasons why the blockchain is so secure. By the use of “hash functions” (mathematical algorithms that package data of different sizes into strings of the same size) the information is packaged into cryptographic blocks that are almost impossible to invert (undoing the cryptograph to access the information). In this sense, blockchain is essentially a secure repository of information, transactions and interactions.

Blockchain is also proactive, it can react and initiate processes if certain preestablished parameters surpass a certain threshold, thus automating processes and protocols, all in a way that’s inalterable by malicious intents.

A new era of data management is unravelling in front of our very eyes - one where the possibilities of data management, privacy and security are all in the hands of the users. Through blockchain technology, we are leaping forwards into making a more transparent, safer society, all through the power of innovation.

It hardly comes as a surprise that the pace at which technology advances means it is difficult to keep up with it. Indeed, true to Moore’s law where the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years, the trend in technological growth and computational power has clearly been exponential.

Since the 1970s, the number of transistors (little devices that act as switches to carry out the logic operations inside a chip) has gone up from about 2500 to a staggering 25 billion. No wonder the average highschool calculator nowadays has a superior computing power to the computer that guided the Apollo 11 to the moon 51 years ago.

In such a world of wonder, where the data processing capacities of hardware rise meteorically on a daily basis, storage and security of that data has become a crucial issue. Since 2008, blockchain technology has come to offer a solution to that and many other problems. Nevertheless, it’s quite odd how something which has been recognized across common language and integrated into our vernacular by 2020, is somehow so difficult to describe. Indeed, it is peculiar how you could ask almost anyone if they know what the blockchain is (to be answered by a rotund “yes”) only to provoke a rather uncomfortable situation if you request an exact definition or explanation.

So, here we are, to try and briefly explain what blockchain actually is.

In the 90s for example, it was beyond most of our imaginations that the Internet would be what it is in 2020. Bearing in mind the youth of the platform therefore, a level of patience is necessary.

Click to hear the interview,

voiced by Raphael Mazet

Trillions of euros are spent every year to address social and environmental issues, yet there is still little data available on the actual impact of this funding. As such, public trust in charities have seen a dramatic decline over the past decade, reaching a new low in 2018 according to UK-based Charity Commission. Assuaging this decline in public trust was the initial spark of the idea behind Alice Si, a social tech enterprise that has become one

of the first companies in the world to employ blockchain technology to promote transparency in the social finance sector.

A finalist for the “Blockchains for Social Good” EIC Horizon Prize of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, Alice has built a blockchain-based social financing platform that makes it easier and cheaper for organisations, impact investors and governments to fund projects with fully tracked impact data and impact reporting processes. This informs donors about the impact their money makes based on a “payment by results” mechanism, using smart contracts on the Ethereum public blockchain to lock up funds – in other words, it “freezes” donations until pre-defined goals are achieved. Say, if a charity promises to provide housing for the homeless, it will only receive the donations when that outcome has been met.

“It therefore guarantees that whoever is funding the service knows that something is being achieved with that money”, said Alice CEO Raphael Mazet in an interview with VoL. Before founding Alice, Mazet worked as a corporate and financial communications consultant, last working with a government relations firm helping multinationals shape the regulatory landscape in emerging markets. That led to setting up his first company focused on online advocacy and digital campaigning, “helping people do more than just like a Facebook page or sign a petition, and that led us to working with charities and social impact, and that’s how we got into Alice.” The platform has since enabled the likes of St. Mungo’s, a charity helping the homeless, secure a GBP5 million Social Impact Bond to help 175 homeless people in the UK over the course of 5 years, from 2017 to 2022.

In a conversation with Mazet, we navigated Alice’s earliest beginnings and key milestones, as well as its biggest challenges as it looks to unlocking a future of of possibilities with impact investment.

Voices of Leaders: How did Alice get started up?

Raphael Mazet: Our previous startup was all about helping people organise and campaign online, and that was working relatively well, but our business model required people to

make donations as well as take action, and they just weren’t giving enough. So we started looking into that and saw that there was this increasing decline in public trust, that people were starting to become cynical about where they were donating, really worried about what the money was achieving, where it was being used. And that was the starting point for Alice: declining public trust, and how we could reverse that trend because it seemed like such a huge problem. That was the genesis of the idea that sparked the birth of Alice, but it’s obviously since then gone further than that. We started looking into impact investing and institutional funding, we saw that the decline in public trust is in all kinds of institutions, and then we started looking at data availability and data sharing problems. And really what we do at Alice now is to provide transparency into what is being achieved with money that’s used to fund social and environmental impact projects and make sure that the data about the effectiveness of these projects is very widely shared. That’s because that data helps cut down transaction costs, due diligence costs, impact measurement costs, while also tackling that very initial problem around public trust.

VoL: Could you explain to our readers just how the platform works and how it uses blockchain technology to track impact data?

RM: Let me tell you about the core mechanism, before getting into any considerations about blockchain technology. We’ve found that sometimes focusing too much on the tech can be a distraction from what we do. It’s a very overhyped technology, that elicits quite a lot of strong emotions, so

I’m going to leave the blockchain aside for just one second.

Really what the whole platform or protocol is predicated on is a kind of “payment by results” mechanism. So whenever you’re funding something, the money is only paid out when pre-defined goals are achieved. If there’s a charity that says they’re going to find a homeless person a home, they’re only going to receive the money as when the outcomes are achieved. That therefore guarantees that whoever is funding the social service knows that something is being achieved with that money. That’s the basic starting point.

Where the impact investment side comes in, is a bit like a cashflow financing mechanism. You probably know what Social Impact Bonds are. The idea is that there’s a sum of money committed to pay for a social service, but it will only be paid once it’s achieved. So if you’re providing that service, what you need is working capital up front to start that service done, and so we allow you take out a loan from impact investors against your future payments. Then what our technology does is that investors automatically get their loan paid back by receiving the future cashflow instead of the social service provider.

Where the blockchain technology itself comes in, is in several places. The first is the most fundamental: transparency. Everything is recorded on chain. No private or sensitive data, but all the performance data: the goals that the social organisation achieve are visible to everybody, along with how much has been paid out. So it makes it really simple for people to then go and audit what’s going on and to extract that information. In terms of restoring trust in social organisations, that’s really key.

The second element of why we use blockchain technology is to automate that entire process. So it’s kind of an RPA (Robotic Process Automation) for social impact finance: when a social organisation achieves a goal, it needs to make a claim and submit proof to a validator. When the validator verifies that, it triggers not only the payments, but also the reporting. That’s important because right now, a lot of the impact reporting done in the social sector is manual, which creates high transaction costs. What we’re trying to do at scale is to reduce a lot of those transaction costs that are involved with setting up a social project and then administering.

VoL: One theme that we seem to be coming across as well is a lot of businesses, and not just tech businesses, are using blockchain technology to talk a lot about this issue of transparency. Has that created a kind of sense of community in the tech sector, particularly those working with blockchain?

RM: Absolutely, especially in the ethereum space, there’s a huge and very supportive community of really passionate and dedicated people with one big thing in common which is that all code is open source. So there’s no real alternative to collaborating, when you’re working in that kind of environment, because your code is there to be used, be reused and be remixed, and what you’re really looking for is for people to build on top of it and add to it, and help debug it. Certainly, probably the biggest use cases in the Ethereum community is decentralised finance where there’s a huge focus on trying to empower people, to give them more agency, freedom and more

control of their data for their finances, and there’s certainly quite a few projects that are focused on funding public goods, public infrastructure, the charity sector and all the rest. And what tends to happen is a lot of collaboration. We’re part of the Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition (BSIC) for example, which is a big global association that brings together blockchain companies and impact funds, non-profits and all the rest. We’re also part of Blockchain for Humanity, it’s another collective of different companies that are working to tackle transparency, efficiency, and just generally increasing the amount of money that goes to social environmental projects – all tackling it in different ways, and in ways that are often very complementary.

VoL: What would you say are Alice’s proudest achievements since your foundation?

RM: There have been quite a few things we’ve been really proud of, the latest one was being finalists of the EU’s Blockchains for Social Good prize, because obviously that is an award recognising what we’ve accomplished in this journey so far. About a year after we started working on Alice, we launched the very first real world use of a stablecoin for a payment by results project on a public blockchain, it was completely regulated, working with a partner called Tramonex in the FCA (UK financial regulator) sandbox

selects and promotes outstanding digital innovations with a positive impact on society.

Chairing the WSA is Peter Bruck, who heads the International Center for New Media (ICNM) of the Austrian government, which launched the WSA to showcase the richness and diversity of the creative use of ICTs to the global UN family of states and delegates. Since 1996, Peter initiated a number of activities

“Hack the Gap” is the motto and of the 2020 World Summit Awards (WSA) Global Congress hosted this year in Vienna, Austria. It is a fitting call to action combat the recent developments of global digital media – tainted with fake news, cyber-attacks, online bullying and populist mobilisations – with positive social impact. Such is the underlying message of the WSA, a UN-based global award initiative that

to develop best practice in new media and e-content including the Austrian State Prize for Multimedia and e-Business, the Europrix MultiMediaArt – the leading contest for the selection and promotion of e-content creation in Europe – and the UN World Summit Award on e-content and creativity with participation from 184 countries.

In an interview with VoL, Peter talked about the intensified role of the WSA in highlighting the role of digital innovation in finding solutions to some of the world’s most critical socio-economic problems today.

Voices of Leaders: Since its foundation, what do you feel have been the WSA’s greatest achievements?

Peter Bruck: In 2003, WSA was launched as part of the UN World Summit on the Information Society as an Austrian initiative, carried out by the ICNM, on behalf of the Federal Government. We started with participants from 40 countries in the first year.

WSA is now active in 180 countries. A global network of ICT experts locally makes the preliminary nominations for global competition. This enables WSA to present a unique variety of solutions. In the first few years, the award winners were often large companies or government organizations, now 70% of the award-winning innovations come from start-ups, social ventures and innovative companies. The participants and the network have also rejuvenated overall.

From a politically-initiated project with the mandate to report on e-content best practices worldwide, the WSA has developed into a globally recognised seal of quality for digital innovation through close cooperation with United Nations organisations and the strategic alignment to the UN SDGs. Starting as Austria’s contribution to the United Nations, the WSA has developed into a global network of people who want to achieve positive change with ICT.

VoL: There have been many winners and nominations over the years with incredible impacts in their respective fields. Which winners or nominees have really stood out for you?

PB: The most exciting thing about WSA is not that it’s a single project, but the diversity

and innovation of the projects every year. It shows how a simple SMS-based solution in a country in Africa can have a similar social impact as an app based on Artificial Intelligence in Europe.

The creative use of ICT and the inspired variety of solutions open my eyes every year. I see WSA, which I manage as a volunteer Chairman in my spare time, as a source of inspiration and knowledge, and every year I learn through the projects created and developed around the world.

VoL: What is the role of the WSA Global Congress, and what were your key takeaways from the last Congress?

PB: WSA is a global initiative within the UN. As a result, we have been to over 32 countries with our events. It is also about involving as many regions as possible to achieve global inclusion and promotion. In the seventeenth WSA year, it is Austria’s turn, thanks to the invitation of the City of Vienna.

Last year, WSA and its Portuguese partners APDC, the City of Cascais and Nova SBE brought together digital creatives and social entrepreneurs from all corners of the world whose focus is purpose before profit.

At the WSA Global Congress, you always enter a transformative learning journey and join a global, multi-stakeholder community. You will discuss the possibilities of purpose- driven innovation and see bestpractice from around the world.

Every event holds its own magic, but what I learnt foremost in Portugal, was that innovation comes primarily not from the pursuit of profit and quick money, but from commitment to avoid suffering and alleviate need. This results in sustainable positive transformations of our society.

VoL: What are you looking forward to for the next awards? What do you hope to see in a WSA winner?

PB: WSA is about positive social impact. Recent developments with fake news, populist voter mobilizations, hate postings, online bullying and cyber-attacks show the negative sides of digital creativity and global availability. WSA is therefore even more important today than when it started in 2003.

We achieve social or societal impact when new, innovative solutions are found for problems and challenges in society. It is not the quick cash that counts, but the sustainable benefit for as many people as possible – when innovative solutions to local problems are found, with the involvement of the relevant interest groups.

Let me give you an example. In Cameroon, prenatal care and education in large areas is completely inadequate and the mortality rate of newborns and mothers is immense. WSA Young Innovators winner “GiftedMom” has developed an app solution. Correct medical information on birth and pregnancy is offered to mothers, they are brought into contact with doctors and reminded of important appointments with the help of an SMS service.

Digital technology doesn’t have to be complex or “high performing” to save lives and make a real difference. It must be based on need, on the problem. This is how I understand the term impact. In many cases, social potential cannot be recorded in numbers, but rather in the effect of positive and, above all, sustainable social change.

VoL: What changes and developments would you like to see in the world of local digital innovation?

PB: Digitization has made access to information easier on one side and enabled people to live faster and more efficiently. But this access does not apply to everyone and has created new challenges with data theft, fake news and the lack of distribution. 59% of the world population access the Internet, which makes relevant content and sustainable applications that enable global knowledge transfer and added value for society even more essential.

Only through close and strategic cooperation can resources and networks be used effectively. In the rapidly changing, highly networked and digitized world, the creation

of positive social, economic and ecological change requires the cooperation of a large number of interested groups from the digital society and economy. We need to eliminate the digital and social differences that are delaying development and harming people and communities.

The WSA helps to connect people with this goal at eye level and to involve large corporations and organizations such as the United Nations.

VoL: Amid the advocacy and knowledge sharing done by WSA, especially in relation to UN SDGs, are you optimistic that this necessity for change is sinking into the collective consciousness (including politicians, the private sector and consumers)?

PB: The UN SDGs encourage global action by 2030 in three major issues: ending poverty, combatting climate change and fight injustice and inequality. ICT and digital content form an essential catalyst in driving rapid transformation of nearly every aspect of our lives, but it is the creative and adequate use of ICT that proves to be a powerful enabler of the 17 SDGs.

WSA combines two major perspectives in its initiative – first the commitment on the UN SDGs, and how to use ICTs to development. And second the development of a global knowledge society. The UN SDGs must be our measurement – in terms of what to look at and where to look. Today we are living in a completely different environment – through the mobile revolution, through the emergence of the algorithmic age – data has become capital as much as labour, land money and machinery.

Hence, it is more important than ever to evaluate what is excellent content that really offers solutions and impact. Qualitative, local content has become the key and permanent issue. WSA presents innovation that uses ICT for social connectivity. The challenge is and remains: bridging the worldwide divides such as access, education, gender or wealth. Digital innovation combined with the focus on solving local challenges enables a positive, sustainable value for society.

The World Summit on Information Society process towards 2025 is the framework for

WSA and all our shared efforts and work to promote, select and award best practice in content-driven interactive digital applications and solutions. The WSA gets a very broad view about rich and creative content from all over the world and narrows the content gap, gender gap, knowledge divide and skills divide. All social entrepreneurs share the perspective that it is crucial to build the right community, reach users, attract an audience. Technology is not the issue.

Community means a lot of different things but needs to be built by each new project or enterprise. WSA has built a unique global network of experts and ambassadors supporting young social entrepreneurs, developers and change makers and promoting the WSA social entrepreneurs and start-ups worldwide. In a significant and recognized contribution to the UN objectives and the (SDG), WSA is a key factor to give digital innovators a unique opportunity to join a global network of knowledge and inspiration.

I think this is the key to real change, to not wait for something to sink in to the top, but to inspire the passion for change bottom-up. And in the WSA winners and the WSA partners, you can see and feel this will and inspiration of change.

VoL: What is the kind of leadership you wish to see in the coming decade? Both within the field of digital innovation and in a wider sense, taking the public and private sector as a whole?

PB: The world is not fair and the expectations of digitisation from 20 years ago have been disappointing in many aspects. Not everything will get better on its own with the Internet, web and social media. This applies to income inequality between women and men as well as between rich and poor countries. In addition, it becomes screamingly clear that humanity is depriving itself of its livelihoods and producing a climate catastrophe.

The 45 WSA winners of 2019 were selected from the submissions of over 120 UN member states in a three-stage process. These winners are no unicorns, but they show how they can use their technical and design skills to reduce global gaps – in a wide variety of areas such as climate protection and education, health or gender equality, democratic participation and social inclusion.

And this is what I want to see in the coming decade – leadership encouraging positive change and the braveness to tackle real problems.

Through talking to the likes of Alice Si, The Common Good Chain, SolarCoin Foundation, Unblocked Cash Project, Circularise — we can get an idea of the type of values and innovation that NGI (Next Generation Internet) hopes to advocate in their selection of the finalists for the Blockchain For Social Good Awards.

To gain a further understanding of NGI´s values, their link to the European Union and the Blockchain For Social Good Awards, we spoke to Olivier Bringer, Head of Unit at European Commission.

Voices of Leaders: Could you give us a brief background about the NGI Initiative — the reasons behind its establishment in 2016, and key milestones over the past 4 years?

Olivier Bringer: The reason for launching the NGI initiative was the lack of trust of many Europeans in the internet, following revelations about the exploitation of personal data, large-scale cybersecurity and data breaches, and growing awareness of online disinformation. Many stakeholders, from the civil society, governments, the technical community, but also the industry were calling for a restart of the internet, in terms of the technologies, the business models and social impact.

A volcanic eruption in the Philippines was what first sparked the idea for the Unblocked Cash Project platform. Having been in contact with some of the evacuees in real time on Facebook Messenger, Sempo Co-CEO Nick Williams relayed that they were desperate to buy water and gas masks, and needed fuel for their generators, but there was just no way to send them money. “It was bizarre, because we had this

Click to hear the interview, voiced by Nick Williams