Blockchain Technology is being used by creative businesses and individuals to turn the most significant issues facing humanity into its greatest victories.

How is blockchain helping to make the world a better place?

Due to inadequate digital infrastructure or scarce resources, charities, nonprofits, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) frequently fail to connect with corporate contributors who can assist. Their ability to raise money may be hampered if these crucial connections are lost or never created. Furthermore, these organizations may not have the requisite expertise or resources to meet the financial transparency and accountability demands of corporate contributors, which can be intimidating for them.

By giving social organizations the ability to develop shared record-keeping systems that satisfy the needs and specifications of corporate donors, blockchain technology has the potential to alter the way they conduct business fundamentally. Social organizations can harness the potential of blockchain to build cutting-edge models for change that can advance their cause and encourage accountability and transparency.

By providing solutions to some of the largest problems facing society, blockchain is making the world a better place. Here are a few illustrations:

• Supply chain transparency: By enabling end-to-end supply chain transparency, blockchain can ensure fair labor standards, cut down on waste, and promote sustainability while enabling consumers to trace the origin of items.
• Humanitarian help: By ensuring that aid reaches its intended recipients, lowering fraud and corruption, and offering a secure, tamper-proof record of transactions, blockchain technology is enabling more efficient and transparent distribution of humanitarian aid.
• Environmental conservation: Blockchain may be used to track carbon credits, track deforestation, and support sustainable practices in sectors like agriculture and energy. Environmental preservation.
• Contributing to charity: By providing a safe, irreversible record of donations, cutting administrative costs, and guaranteeing that monies are allocated to their intended recipients, blockchain can promote transparency and accountability in contributing to charity.

Overall, blockchain is fostering transparency, trust, and accountability in a wide range of applications, opening up new avenues for addressing social and environmental challenges.

Blockchain verifies the environmental impact

A secure and transparent method for tracking and confirming the environmental impact of diverse activities is provided by blockchain technology. Blockchain delivers an indelible record of environmental data through the use of a decentralized digital ledger, making it simpler to verify the veracity and accuracy of environmental effect claims.

Blockchain, for instance, can be used to confirm a company’s operations’ carbon footprint. Blockchain can give a certified record of the company’s carbon footprint by monitoring the company’s energy use, transportation emissions, and other elements. Investors, clients, and other stakeholders can use this information to guide their judgments about the company’s environmental impact.

The sustainability of supply chains can also be monitored using blockchain. Blockchain can give a clear picture of the environmental impact of each supplier and point out opportunities for improvement by recording data at every stage of the supply chain. This can be especially helpful in sectors like agriculture and fashion where supply chains can be convoluted and challenging to track.

Blockchain can also make it possible to create tradeable carbon credits, which can be used as a financial incentive for businesses to lessen their carbon footprint. The generation and transfer of these credits can be verified using a blockchain-based system, making it simpler to make sure they are neither counterfeit or double credited.

How blockchain helps humanitarian efforts

Blockchain technology has the ability to completely change the way humanitarian activities are carried out by giving assistance organizations transparency, security, and efficiency. In the following ways, blockchain can support humanitarian efforts:

• Transparency: The transparency of blockchain technology is one of its key advantages. Every transaction entered into the blockchain is public, allowing anybody to observe it. This ensures that aid organizations are held responsible for their activities and makes it simpler for donors to track how their money is being spent.
• Security: Because cryptographic techniques are used to encrypt data, blockchain technology is inherently secure. By doing this, it becomes almost hard for hackers to alter the data that is kept on the blockchain. For aid organizations, which frequently deal with sensitive data, such as beneficiary personal information and financial transactions, this level of protection is essential.
• Efficiency: By lowering the number of middlemen in the process, blockchain technology can help firms function more effectively. Without the use of middlemen like banks, transactions can be conducted fast and securely with blockchain, which can save costs and speed up the process.
• Traceability: With the help of blockchain technology, it is possible to build a tamper-proof audit trail that can be used to track the flow of money and items along the supply chain. This is especially helpful for aid organizations that need to make sure that aid is given to the right people and that money is used for its intended purposes.

All things considered, blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize humanitarian efforts by enhancing traceability, efficiency, transparency, and security. We may anticipate improvements in the delivery of aid and a more accountable and transparent aid sector as more aid groups utilize blockchain technology.

The History of IBM social good initiatives

The foundation of IBM’s research for Social Good program is the notion that by accelerating the pace at which scientific challenges are solved, applied research and technology can address some of the most difficult issues facing humanity. In order to address new societal concerns using technology and research, this program brings IBM Research scientists and engineers together with academic colleagues, subject matter experts from diverse non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public sector agencies, and social entrepreneurs. 28 innovative ideas, 19 partnerships, and 9 pending patents have already resulted from the program, and there is yet room for more in the future.

It is being investigated how artificial intelligence (AI) technology can be used to advance civilization. Cognitive technologies are being used for a variety of projects, including social services, public safety, and educational activities, as well as a United Nations program to improve sustainability in underdeveloped nations. AI is being investigated as one of the potential answers to realize the vision of a safer, more productive world.

Learn more about science for social good

Use cases

Examine how actual use cases might demonstrate the potential of blockchain technology to advance social good and address global concerns. Discover how companies may use blockchain technology to improve society and aid in the resolution of some of the most important global issues.

Tracing coffee from the moment beans are picked

In order to provide a verifiable and transparent record of the path taken by coffee beans from the farm to the consumer’s cup, IBM Food Trust is a blockchain-based platform. By offering a tamper-proof and irrevocable record of the coffee beans’ journey, this platform aids in maintaining the quality and security of the beans. To establish a more open and reliable coffee supply chain, IBM Food Trust and Farmer Connect, a platform that links producers and customers, have teamed.

Farmer Connect is able to track the origin of the coffee beans, keep an eye on their quality and safety, and follow their progress through the supply chain from the time they are picked until they are placed in the customer’s cup thanks to blockchain technology. The sustainability of the coffee industry as a whole can be improved together with the lives of coffee growers thanks to this greater openness and traceability.

Consumers can learn about the place of origin, the farming methods utilized, and the path taken by the beans along the supply chain by using IBM Food Trust and blockchain technology. As a result of the enhanced transparency, the coffee industry is encouraged to adopt more ethical and sustainable business practices. In essence, the potential of blockchain is used to advance social good and build a world that is more just and sustainable.

Traceability means having the visibility to know, ‘Was this coffee sourced in a responsible and sustainable way?’

Dan Behrends, Founder and President, Farmer Connect

Turning plastic waste into valuable currency

A social venture called Plastic Bank is having a positive effect on more than a billion people who reside in places with high levels of poverty and plastic waste. They have created a solution based on the IBM Blockchain Platform to deal with this issue. They can gather plastic debris using the platform and exchange it for the things that people are most in need of. By doing this, Plastic Bank establishes a circular economy in which waste is converted into currency and individuals are encouraged to maintain their surroundings while still having access to the essentials of life.

The gathering of plastic waste is safe and verifiable thanks to blockchain technology’s transparency and immutability. By lowering the pollution caused by plastic waste, this program has a tremendous impact and gives those in need the chance to receive basic products and services.

We use blockchain to solve global problems, providing financial inclusion for the world’s poor and enabling transparent social plastic recycling systems.

Shaun Frankson, Co-founder and CTO, Plastic Bank