How Building Blocks Works
Donor countries provide the UN High Commission with funds for specific use in refugee aid. The UN High Commission forwards the funds to the WFP. The WFP administration in Rome is part of the Building Blocks Blockchain, through which all transactions in refugee camp supermarkets are processed. Every refugee receives a certain amount on their account each month, which they can spend for certain purposes. The refugee identifies herself at the supermarket checkout using the iris scan or ID app and has the amount incurred during his purchase debited from his account. The supermarket operator carries out a weekly transaction with the WFP administration in Rome and receives his money in local currency. Up to this point, all transactions have been carried out purely digitally in the form of blockchain transactions. With this process, savings of millions in bank and transfer fees are achieved. In addition to the highly efficient billing, there is no need for an additional audit by an auditor, since the building blocks system has been certified and blockchain technology guarantees the correctness of the transaction history.

Building Blocks for Corona Financial Transfers
A system inspired by the  Building Blocks system can be used for financial transfers in the corona crisis. The federal and state ministries of economics and finance operate system nodes and thus have full control. Other nodes could – but do not have to be – operated by process-relevant organizations such as BaFin, Landesbanken, IHK, chambers of handicrafts, auditing companies, etc..The complete set of rules, including all levels, conditions and dependencies, are programmed as smart contracts. The final payouts can also be automated.

For Citizens and Companies – For All Types of Corona Aid
Every citizen and every company downloads an app that works as a wallet and that can be used to receive and send funds. The wallet also serves as an identification tool for the citizen or the company. The user fills out the application form for Corona emergency aid, loans, basic security or protection funds provided via the wallet. She uploads the necessary documents such as ID card via the wallet and sends the complete application. The user’s identity can be determined with a high degree of certainty via an additional ID function. If the authorized transfer recipient has been determined beyond doubt and automatically, the payment will be transferred to his account – also automatically.

We at Datarella are ready and working on a Building Blocks inspired version of a Corona Aid Disbursement System to be used in Germany, and the EU, we can deploy a Blockchain disbursement system for Coronavirus aid at short notice.

Other Approaches to Corona Aid Disbursements
There are other approaches to address the urgent need for efficient distribution of Corona-based aid. We can’t evaluate them in the same way we can assess our above described own system, but in one of our next posts we will describe one of them – the project “Diggi” which was created during a hackathon organised by the German Bundeskanzleramt a week ago.

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We are very proud to announce that our close development partner and Polish associated company BDS has formally been appointed by the World Food Programme for the further roll-out the existing Building Blocks platform. At the beginning of the this year, we together with our partner BDS started to build a blockchain-based proof-of-concept for WFP and transformed it into a fully-functional blockchain-based transaction platform in Jordan. The inhabitants receive food vouchers that can be used in the village’s supermarket.

So what are the benefits compared to traditional transaction payments? Thanks to the blockchain technology, our innovative system provides higher transparency of aid accounts for beneficiaries and easy tracking of transaction which helps to lower the effort of bookkeeping for vendors and WFP. The biggest, however invisible, advantage is a minimized risk of fraud or data mismanagement.

We are excited to follow the next phase scale-up of the transaction platform and want to thank WFP for their trust and wish both partners a successful roll-out.

If you want to learn more about our services or specifically this project, please contact us at info@datarella.com or BDS at info@balticdatascience.com.

About WFP:
The United Nations World Food Programme “WFP”, with its headquarters located in Rome, Italy is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. WFP is mandated to deliver the food necessary to save the lives of victims of natural disasters, wars, and civil unrest. On average, WFP reaches more than 80 million people with food assistance in 75 countries each year. About 11,500 people work for the organization, most of them in remote areas, directly serving the hungry poor. WFP is part of the United Nations (UN) System.

About BDS:
Headquartered in Gdansk, Poland, BDS is an international data science and blockchain development company specializing in business-focused solutions. BDS develops data-driven applications (mobile/desktop frontends and backends) for international customers as well as blockchain-based applications.

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What started with a Proof-of-Concept in Pakistan in early January this year, has been transformed in a fully functional Blockchain pilot being rolled out in Jordan in May, 2017. The Building Blocks project not only demonstrates the power and the impact of blockchain technology enhancing to potentially enhance the lives of millions but it is proof of the efficiency of a humanitarian agency, such as WFP.

Based on the early, however robust concept suitable for prototyping in a field environment in Pakistan, the Building Blocks pilot serves thousands of households in a Jordanian refugee village. The inhabitants receive food vouchers that can be used in the village’s supermarket. The seamless integration of the existing iris scan identification technology into Building Blocks allows to maintain existing processes without any need for changes for villagers, supermarket managers as well as WFP personnel.

1 May 2017, Tazweed Village, Refugee Camp, Jordan

The only visible differences is a higher transparency of aid accounts for villagers and easier bookkeeping for supermarket managers. The biggest, however invisible, advantage is a minimized risk of fraud or data mismanagement.

In this Coindesk article (http://www.coindesk.com/un-group-advances-ethereum-aid-tracking-pilot/), on our website (http://datarella.com/building-blocks-how-the-world-food-programme-harnesses-blockchain-technology-ro-deliver-aid/), and on the WFP Innovator website (http://innovation.wfp.org/project/building-blocks) you find further information about the Building Blocks project.

We’re very much looking forward to presenting the project at WFP Innovator – see you there!

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Based on the early, however robust prototype field tested in Pakistan, the Building Blocks pilot in Jordan now serves thousands of households in a Jordanian refugee camp Tazweed village. The inhabitants receive food vouchers that can be used in the village’s supermarket. The seamless integration of the existing iris scan identification technology into Building Blocks system allows the  existing processes to stay in place without any need for changes for the beneficiaries,  the supermarket nor WFP personnel. The only visible differences are a higher transparency of aid accounts for beneficiaries and easier bookkeeping for supermarket managers. The biggest, however invisible, advantage is a minimized risk of fraud or data mismanagement.

The economic benefits of harnessing Blockchain technology can amount to several million US-Dollars for the Jordanien refugee camp population, alone. The goal of the Building Blocks pilot is to demonstrate a fully-functional Blockchain solution that can serve as a role model and architecture for similar humanitarian projects worldwide and a base to develop other use cases.

The Datarella team wants to thank the WFP team, the IrisGuard team and our partners over at Parity Technologies for the great cooperation: from the beginning, we felt being one big team with everybody helping the others out when they needed it. Other than with this collaborative effort a project like Building Blocks would not have succeeded: Blockchain technology still is in its infancy and basic conditions in the field have proven to be challenging. Again: thank you very much for the opportunity to demonstrate the power and the real impact of Blockchain.

If you are interested in the Building Blocks project you might consider visiting our Ethereum Meetup on May, 16 .Here we will present more details and especially share our experiences gained in Tazweed village, Jordan

Find some more information on Coindesk or you contact us directly.

Foto by Houman Haddad, WFP:  Opening scene, 1 May, 9:00 am, in the Tazweed Village supermarket, Jordan

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