Blockchain has been called a pillar of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, comparing it to
technologies such as the steam engine and the internet that triggered previous industrial revolutions. It has the power to disrupt existing economic and business models and may prove particularly valuable in emerging market economies. According to experts, blockchain also holds great promise as a method of fighting corruption, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean, where more smartphone penetration can facilitate the adoption of new technology.
Tag Archives: #blockchain
Revolutionizing mobility through blockchain
As digital technology continues to transform and reshape the transportation industry 
over the last few years, blockchain as a decentralized distributed technology has been embraced by other fields through various applications. It has found varied applications across banking, financial services, healthcare, e-governance, and voting.
4 education trends countries everywhere should know about
Recently, we reached out to education experts around the world to hear what they 
considered the most pressing issues facing our sector today. Surprisingly, they all said that little has changed in terms of our most common challenges. What was changing, they agreed, were the innovative ways that the global community has begun tackling them.
Our discussions frequently came back to advances in neuroscience, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Blockchain, and the consequences of negative population growth — as well as the ways that these phenomena are changing and challenging the way we think about education. Some of these changes have received more attention than others, but we are convinced of their importance — and education stakeholders around the world should be paying attention.
Top 7 disruptive technologies for cities
Imagine you were working in development and poverty reduction in the early 1990s (I was!). Only one website existed in all the world in August 1991 (today there are over 1.5 billion). Mobile phones were expensive, rare, and clunky. Very few would anticipate a situation in which India would have more mobile phones than toilets.
To paraphrase Bill Gates: we tend to overestimate the changes that will happen in the short term and underestimate those in the long term. Technology is quietly but radically disrupting and transforming how cities deliver services to their citizens. It does that in a way that fundamentally alters not just the mode of delivery but its underlying economics and financing.
For billions without formal land rights, the tech revolution offers new grounds for hope
Many of today’s increasingly complex development challenges, from rapid urban 
expansion to climate change, disaster resilience, and social inclusion, are intimately tied to land and the way it is used. Addressing these challenges while also ensuring individuals and communities are able to make full use of their land depends on consistent, reliable, and accessible identification of land rights.
Meet the World Bank- Sophie Peeters
What is your role within the World Bank?
In 2016, I moved from the Netherlands to work as a consultant with the Information & Technology Solutions (ITS) Department, which delivers transformative information technologies to World Bank Group staff. I am a core team member of the newly launched Technology & Innovation Lab that experiments with innovative technologies that have the potential to improve the World Bank Group’s internal operations and operational work in client countries. We are developing use cases and proof of concepts for the use of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in areas like health, cross-border payments, agriculture, and land administration, among others. I support the Innovation Leads by meeting with clients and performing business analysis for each use case, but I also lead some external partnerships with experienced leaders in this area, like the Dutch Blockchain Coalition. It has been an exciting journey and incredible experience to work with a close and diverse team in exploring these new technologies together with different units across the World Bank Group.
Can cryptocurrencies and blockchain help fight corruption?
Technological advances have made it possible to dramatically increase the accountability and transparency of public financing to reduce corruption.
RFI: DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY OR BLOCKCHAIN SERVICES
DEADLINE: February 28, 2018 @ 5.00 PM EST (Washington, DC)The World Bank Group (WBG) invites interested parties to respond to a Request for Information (RFI) for distributed ledger technology or blockchain services. Through this RFI, WBG intends to identify parties that want to work on hands-on activities to discover and explore the possibilities of distributed ledger technology and / or blockchain services in the context of the world’s most pressing development challenges. Through this collaboration, WBG is providing an opportunity for interested parties to shape their own roadmaps with respect to these technologies and services by working with a large, mature, international organization.
Why technology will disrupt and transform Africa’s agriculture sector—in a good way
Agriculture is critical to some of Africa’s biggest development goals. The sector is an engine of job creation: Farming alone currently accounts for about 60 percent of total employment in sub-Saharan Africa, while the share of jobs across the food system is potentially much larger. In Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, the food system is projected to add more jobs than the rest of the economy between 2010 and 2025. Agriculture is also a driver of inclusive and sustainable growth, and the foundation of a food system that provides nutritious, safe, and affordable food. At the same time, Africa’s agriculture sector is facing mounting challenges.
RFI: Distributed ledger technology or blockchain services
Deadline: 31-Oct-2017 at 5:00:00
PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)
Objective: The World Bank Group (WBG) invites interested parties to respond to a Request for Information (RFI) for distributed ledger technology or blockchain services. Through this RFI, WBG intends to identify parties that want to work on hands-on activities to discover and explore the possibilities of distributed ledger technology and / or blockchain services in the context of the world’s most pressing development challenges. Through this collaboration, WBG is providing an opportunity for interested parties to shape their own roadmaps with respect to these technologies and services by working with a large, mature, international organization.
