Blockchains for social good

While the revolutionary potential of blockchains has been largely tested (in the financial domain in particular), its possible applications in social domains and to address sustainability challenges have been explored far less.

The goal of the EIC Prize on Blockchains for Social Good was to recognise and support the efforts made by developers and civil society in exploring the decentralised applications of blockchains for social innovation. The Prize proposed to cover areas such as traceability and fair trade, financial inclusion, decentralised circular economy, transparency of public processes, participation in democratic decision-making, and management of public records.

The Prize sought to award a total of 5 million euros to the innovators that come up with the most promising Blockchain solutions in different social innovation areas. The areas and the winners are:

Quality Content: WordProof (by Dutch SME WordProof B.V.) developed the WordProof Timestamp Ecosystem, to prove authenticity and to make information verifiable, which ultimately would be leading to more trust in internet content.

WordProof (by Dutch SME WordProof B.V.) developed the WordProof Timestamp Ecosystem, to prove authenticity and to make information verifiable, which ultimately would be leading to more trust in internet content. Traceability & Fair Trade: PPP (by UK social enterprise Project Provenance Ltd) developed Proof Points to allow businesses to prove their social impact across the supply chains behind their business and products.

PPP (by UK social enterprise Project Provenance Ltd) developed Proof Points to allow businesses to prove their social impact across the supply chains behind their business and products. Financial Inclusion: GMeRitS (by Finnish university Aalto) is conducting wide scale experiments with alternative economic structures, to evaluate various anti-rival compensation and governance structures.

GMeRitS (by Finnish university Aalto) is conducting wide scale experiments with alternative economic structures, to evaluate various anti-rival compensation and governance structures. Aid & Philanthropy: the UnBlocked Cash Project OXBBU (by Irish Oxfam and French startup Sempo) pioneers a decentralized model to efficiently and sustainably deliver international aid to disaster-affected women and men.

the UnBlocked Cash Project OXBBU (by Irish Oxfam and French startup Sempo) pioneers a decentralized model to efficiently and sustainably deliver international aid to disaster-affected women and men. Decentralised Circular Economy: CKH2020 (by French cooperative Kleros) is a platform for resolving consumer disputes in e-commerce or collaborative economy, where both jury selection and rulings are regulated by blockchains.

CKH2020 (by French cooperative Kleros) is a platform for resolving consumer disputes in e-commerce or collaborative economy, where both jury selection and rulings are regulated by blockchains. Energy: PROSUME (by Italian Prosume srl) is a platform providing a decentralized and autonomous digital marketplace for peer-to-peer energy trading, targeting consumers who are also producers of renewable energy.

Congratulations to all the participants and in particular to all the other finalists for their exceptional solutions.

The winners will be awarded at the NGI Policy Forum in September 2020 (to be announced soon).