Developer challenge: using blockchain to support the UN’s sustainable development goals

Creating a decentralized financial and social operating system for the world is the core mission of Cardano. But it’s not one that we can accomplish alone. That’s why we are always on the lookout for relationships which help us build a global foundation for growth. So, we’re thrilled to announce our hackathon challenge to support the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) designed to accelerate progress on fighting hunger, injustice, and climate change.

Sustainability and blockchain

In this hackathon challenge we aim to give the blockchain community an opportunity to make an impact on international development. The challenge will draw on IOHK’s expertise in community-focused funding developed with Project Catalyst. This initiative brings innovation, voting, and decentralized funding to Cardano by crowdsourcing development proposals, and financing their implementation.

IOHK and United Nations personnel will use the Project Catalyst platform to find and fund initiatives that align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. These goals were adopted by 193 world leaders in 2015. Each of the 17 targets focus on ending extreme poverty and hunger, fighting inequality and injustice, and tackling climate change by 2030.

This IOHK-sponsored challenge hopes to promote projects based in the digitization of finance which increase the efficacy and transparency of funding for the UN’s Decade of Action. In the run-up to the 2030 deadline for achieving the global sustainability goals, the UN is marking 75 years since its establishment. Given that the transnational organization works on global collective action problems it has engaged with blockchain technology as a solution.

Crowdsourcing the future

Participants in the program can put forward ideas focused on any of the 17 goals. To encourage participation, IOHK is sponsoring a prize fund of ada worth $10,000 as well as ongoing support to bring the projects to fruition. Proposals will be judged by a panel of IOHK and UN employees. They will determine the winners based on an idea’s technical prowess, scalability and social impact, as well as its financial and volunteer support. The winning ideas will be able to seek the advice of experts from both the UN and IOHK to ensure that they are implemented in the most impactful way.

To qualify for the scheme, entries must be open source and be created for use on the Cardano blockchain. Example code should be written in Marlowe, a domain specific language developed for financial contracts on Cardano. These do not need to be fully coded submissions. Instead they can be ideas which inspire anyone to get involved with blockchain technology and sustainable development. The proposal submission period opens on Saturday October 10th. Participants must be registered by then in order to submit. Entries must be finalized by October 18 at 11:59 MDT. Make sure to check the official rules to learn more.

Winners will be announced on October 24, United Nations Day, which marks the anniversary of the charter of the organization. We encourage everyone with an interest in using Cardano to achieve sustainability goals to get involved. Make your voice heard to help the UN’s Decade of Action now. If you are interested more generally in developing Cardano, join Project Catalyst on Ideascale.