United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) is to go ahead with a program which will see the organization invest USD 100,000 into six blockchain companies.
In its continued efforts to leverage blockchain tech into its programmes, UNICEF will also include 20 other tech startups as part of the same project. The six companies named are Atix Labs, Onesmart, Prescrypto, Statwig, Utopixar and W3 Engineers.
These companies were selected from 100 applications from across the world. Their challenge is to build prototypes for global issues such as health-care delivery, affordable access to mobile phone connectivity, and the ability to direct finances and resources to social-impact projects.
Chris Fabian, Principal Adviser, UNICEF Innovation, says that his organization is glad to be in at such an early stage at the development of blockchain technology, explaining:
“…there is a great deal of experimentation, failure, and learning ahead of us as we see how, and where, we can use this technology to create a better world. That’s exactly the stage when UNICEF Innovation Fund invests: when our financing, technical support, and focus on vulnerable populations can help a technology grow and mature in the fairest and equitable way possible.”
The UN itself is not new to working with companies that apply the latest technologies such as blockchain. Binance’s head of blockchain charity indicated in the past that blockchain technology would bring “transformative solutions to social problems, and help bridge the UN Sustainable Development Goals funding gap in fast and innovative ways”.
The release accompanying the news of this latest project suggested that investments into blockchain companies and other tech organizations were in line with the direction that UNICEF is taking; using smart contracts, creating distributed decision making and working to build a better knowledge of DLT.
This changing view and leaning towards emerging technologies were illustrated early this year when UNICEF France followed up on previous cryptocurrency-related initiatives it adopted this year, to add nine popular digital currencies to its website donation portal.
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