Save the World? Blockchain's Big Dreams Come Back to Earth in DC

[felixesteban]

"Who is actually getting results?"

Whispered between attendees in a crowd of 300 at the Blockchain for Social Impact conference in Washington D.C. on June 1, the statement may have summed up the sentiment at the event.

The group assembled at the U.S. Institute for Peace may have spanned from ethereum entrepreneurs to crypto-curious international development workers, but across that broad spectrum, the sentiment was shockingly cohesive: People want to see results, results, results.

Sandra Hart, Pacific cash and livelihoods advisor at the Oxfam, told CoinDesk:

    "We need to stress-test blockchains in complex environments. It's about being demand driven instead of supply driven."

Gone are the days of excited chatter surrounding proof-of-concept presentations and lucrative token sales. Here to stay, it seems, is the idea the best way to get results is by engaging the people or communities the product or service is geared to help.

Hart, as an example, is working on a blockchain pilot in Vanuatu, one of the world's most disaster-prone island nations. This program, which will run from around September 2018 to February 2019, leverages blockchain-linked IDs to deliver credit to up to 1,000 households displaced by a recent volcano.

Across the board, many attendees at the conference noticed the same challenges and opportunities that Hart faces as she sets up Oxfam's humanitarian blockchain program. Namely, that blockchain solutions for disenfranchised populations work best when they are built cooperatively with recipients and community leaders to complement local habits and infrastructure.

Vanessa Grellet, executive director at the ethereum-centric startup conglomerate ConsenSys, agreed with Hart's insistence on meeting people where they are.

"I'm the least bullish about projects that try to change behavior without economics," Grellet told CoinDesk.

The statement spoke to her belief that technologists need to avoid preaching about wealth creation and instead listen to how people already use products or services.

In Hart's case, Oxfam is working with the Vanuatu Society for People with Disabilities and Youth Challenge Vanuatu to make a smartphone application that represents fiat currencies, since the community is more familiar with mobile devices and cash than credit cards or tokens.

Hart was among many experts at the conference who urged blockchain enthusiasts to build applications alongside diverse communities, not for them.

Read more:
https://www.coindesk.com/save-world-blockchains-big-dreams-come-back-earth-dc/