Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 6 OctOber 2018
Aid groups now using the same data technology as bitcoin

By ROBERT STEVENS ity, AidTech, had a social
Associated Press worker bring the medicine
LONDON (AP) — In the to her the following morn-
Za'atari refugee camp in ing.
Jordan, Amar Al-Eid heads "We're able to show more
toward the checkout of data on the first two wom-
the food distribution store en using the platform than
carrying supplies for his two the organization could
children. The shopkeeper with over 10,000 women
raises a black box to his when they were using a
face and scans the Syrian paper-based system. That
refugee's iris. The transac- means we can be far more
tion goes through and a responsive," said Joseph
day's rations are secured. Thompson, founder of Aid-
The data technology that Tech.
underpins virtual curren- The system does have its
cies like bitcoin is now also downsides. In practical
used to deliver aid more terms, having aid released
efficiently by dramatically only upon an iris scan
lowering the risk of bribes means a busy mother, say,
and fraud by local officials would not be able to ask
— a huge, longstanding her child to go get the aid
problem in the industry. The rations for her instead.
so-called blockchain keeps The way the transactions
a record of all transactions are verified can also be pa-
and buyers, making sure re- tronizing. The blockchain
cipients like Al-Eid get their aid for the homeless, for
goods without the added example, ensures the mon-
costs of graft or bank trans- ey is used for productive
fer fees. And donors can purposes like shelter rather
track the use of their aid than alcohol or drugs, im-
money, all the way to the plying a lack of trust that
refugee family it helps sur- can be degrading for the
vive. receiver.
"It's a very easy process In this Sunday, May 21, 2017 file photo, David Beasley, the new executive director of the World And there are broader
and it doesn't have any Food Programme, speaks to The Associated Press, in Amman, Jordan. questions about privacy
complications," says Al-Eid, Associated Press rights, as the data can
before taking the food off track the actions of indi-
to his family. chain technology helps it accountability, and com- entering a bank's vault. viduals.
The UN's World Food Pro- know where every cent is, munication across the The blockchain doesn't use While personal details like
gramme has been test- from the moment it is do- board." middlemen like Western names are encrypted, the
ing the use of blockchain nated to when it is spent on Because the data is spread Union or PayPal, mean- record of transactions is
technology since 2017 a physical good. across so many comput- ing the costs of transfer- viewable to anyone with
to manage aid for over And that can mean huge ers, a thief would have ring money are reduced access to the blockchain.
100,000 refugees in camps savings. to take control of the en- by 98 percent for users like The issue is all the more
in Jordan, which hosts over Former UN Secretary Gen- tire network — potentially the WFP. That translates to delicate when the people
740,000 people from neigh- eral Ban Ki Moon has said thousands of terminals — savings of over $40,000 per tracked are vulnerable, like
boring countries like war- that in 2011, some 30 per- to fudge the numbers and month for the UN agency. stateless refugees.
torn Syria. It aims to extend cent of aid donations - make off with the money. Smaller charities are also Some UN officials are aware
it to 500,000 refugees by around $40 billion, accord- That would require an enor- testing out blockchain. of these risks, and there is a
the end of March. Other ing to one estimate - failed mous amount of comput- Last year, the London- debate about whether to
international organizations, to reach intended recipi- ing power, so it wouldn't be based homeless charity St. ramp up its use across aid
including the World Bank, ents because middlemen profitable. Mungo's tested a block- and development projects.
UNICEF and the Red Cross, skimmed some off of top That doesn't mean smaller chain platform to monitor "We will not store any sensi-
are looking at ways to im- and corrupt officials often thefts can't occur. So far in the use of donations and tive personal data (on the
plement blockchain into took a cut. 2018, about $1 billion worth prove they were being blockchain), especially of
their own projects. Ultimately, the system helps of virtual currencies backed spent on improving the re- such a vulnerable popu-
Blockchain is an online led- those who receive the by blockchain has been cipients' lives. Only then lation as refugees, with a
ger of transactions spread money by making more of stolen, according to cyber- would more donations be technology that still needs
across a global network of it available and reduces security firm Carbon Black. released. to prove its merits," says
computers that use their the concern among do- But these thefts are typi- The data can also help Karl Steinacker, a deputy
processing power to verify nors that their money will cally carried out through make aid more efficient by director at the UN refugee
any changes. It is most fa- actually be used for the in- hacks of the end users by, tailoring the service to the agency.
mous for being used to sup- tended purpose. for example, entering the needs. For example, in one For Al-Eid, such questions
port virtual currencies like "We have this rapid abil- email account of a person project in Tanzania, the are secondary while he
bitcoin, but can in practice ity to understand where to get their passwords to blockchain system could tries to keep his family safe
be used to track any sys- our money is throughout open their virtual currency show that a particular and nourished.
tem of payments or data the process," says Gustav accounts and take the woman regularly visited the Without the donations,
transfers. In the refugee aid Stromfelt, one of the proj- money. The thieves do not local doctor once a week "people wouldn't be able
system it is testing, the UN ect managers working on take control of the block- to buy medicine for her to live," he says on his way
does not use virtual curren- the WFP's program. "It im- chain system. It's like com- child. So when she missed out of the food shop. "The
cies but dollars. The block- proves the transparency, paring pickpocketing to an appointment, the char- assistance is very good."q