From energy redistribution and cocoa tracking, to solid waste management. These five innovative projects found in Blockchain technology a way to provide solutions with social, productive and environmental impact.
Latin America takes giant steps in the adoption of Blockchain technology. In recent times, a great variety of initiatives have emerged that are strengthened day by day to innovate in different areas from finance to the agricultural industry.
In Colombia, for example, projects are developed that apply disruptive technology in different aspects, from the sending of remittances to models of electoral systems. In Mexico, the Agrocoin project, the first agricultural cryptocurrency, is among the more than twenty cryptocurrencies that have emerged on the continent. DiarioBitcoin presents a list of five initiatives that account for this phenomenon. Some of these projects are already advanced, but others are still under development and are seeking financing.
1.-Ecochain (Brazil)
Antonio Limongi França is a renowned Blockchain technology enthusiast in Brazil and currently stands out as the developer of the Ecochain project (see editor's note at the end of this article). In addition to several decades working in the technology sector, Limongi is doing his postdoctoral thesis in which he investigates the application of Blockchain technology in companies with a social focus.
The project has the alliance of the companies TI2CI, LF1 and Finchain, whose objective is to generate technological solutions with a social impact. Ecochain, green currency, is based on the model adopted by the community of Santa Cruz de Esperanza, where the recyclable material is exchanged for a currency valid only within the municipality, an initiative that they seek to strengthen with the launch of the ECO token, supported in the Blockchain of Ethereum.
Ecochain aims to apply disruptive technology to implement a solid waste management system that involves low-income families. In an interview with DiarioBitcoin, Limongi said that the project is in the final phase of testing and that it will come into use in the community at the end of June.
The most important challenge is the total innovation of this project in regard to the use of blockchain integrated to the traditional database environment via API ".
For the expert, one of the most important benefits offered by Blockchain technology is the "guarantee of information integrity", which not only protects public and private actors, but also the "humblest users".
In addition, in his opinion, the implementation of technology will ensure that more people participate in the ecological system of waste management, which would bring a series of additional benefits:
This will significantly increase the benefits in the areas of health, education, environment, economy, family finances and quantity of recyclable materials, decreasing the need for production of raw materials, which is a source of pollution, etc., etc. "
2.-OpenVino (Argentina)
An ideal initiative for wine lovers and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. OpenVino is the initiative led by Mike Barrow, a US computer scientist based in Argentina, who decided to apply Blockchain technology to communicate to consumers about the quality and production process behind each glass of wine.
In an interview with the Argentine media Correveidile, Barrow highlighted the value it has for this initiative: "It's not a brand, it's not a company. It is a project that shows maximum transparency in the wine business. It is related to open data, generating intellectual property that can be reused and shared. "
Each sale of the tokens will be supported by a bottle of wine produced in the organic vineyard Costaflores, based in Mendoza, Argentina. The main objectives of the project are: that the market decides the product value; transparency in the production practice and the possibility of tracking the drink from the plant to the mouth of each client. According to the official page of the vineyard:
We want to incorporate the latest traceability tools: Vineyard → Wine → Dinner → Mind that allows us to follow our product from the vineyard to the mouth, and beyond ".
For the Argentine winery, documenting and knowing the consumer's experience is the most valuable, which is why they will reward the tasters with tokens for their reviews and comments. Its motto is: "When you drink it, it's yours".
In addition, the Costaflores winery, which produces around 15,000 bottles of organic wine per year and exports to countries such as Spain and Canada, began to market its products in bitcoins last year, which is why the initiative is a pioneer in the industry. to the handling of cryptocurrencies.
3.-Cycle (Colombia)
Cycle is the initiative of the team made up of four university students from Colombia: Kevin Gutierrez, David Castaño, Mateo Rivero and Nicolás Cuadrado, and international members Shivam Sharma (India) and Samwel Kinuthia (Kenya), who sought to decentralize access to energy for low-income populations.
"Energy is almost as important as the air we breathe and the water we drink, but not everyone has easy and safe access to it," according to the team's official website.
The project, which took second place in this year's World Virtual GovHack, integrates Blockchain technology and the power of communities to redistribute the generation of surplus clean energy in a network of homes and share it in the community in exchange for money. .
The project's CEO, Nicolás Cuadrado, assured the media in an interview that Cycle uses disruptive technology to generate an economy based on renewable energy:
Blockchain is a very versatile technology and we implement it as an architecture of our transaction layer to take advantage of reliability, scalability, security, and above all, decentralization. "
Through a device, designed by the team of enthusiasts, they seek that any sustainable energy generator that overproduces this resource allows to exchange or sell that surplus through a system of digital currencies. Additionally, through the use of tokens, called Cles, "we can quantify the energy sold in each community."
The project has the sponsorship of companies such as IBM and ConsenSys, and is currently close to implementing a proof of concept in collaboration with the National University of Colombia, through which they seek to make a "positive impact on communities affected by the absence of energy" .
4.- Bit & Nibs (Venezuela)
Thinking of chocolate lovers and Blockchain technology enthusiasts, the Bit & Nibs project team is currently developing a platform whose objective is to rescue the cocoa-producing culture in Venezuela.
In a context where the most valuable and precious product is no longer the barrel of oil, cocoa stands as the clear choice for the exit of poverty of hundreds of families: a kilo of Venezuelan chocolate in the European market has more value than a barrel of oil. "
The social initiative seeks to rescue the tradition and old practices of production, each day more abandoned, ranging from the cultivation of cocoa to the preparation of the chocolate bar in a movement that has been baptized "Block-to-bar"
In this way, the initiative will apply Blockchain technology to guarantee the quality and transparency of production. The Bit & Nibs CVO, German Lugo, told the media about the application of the technology in the project:
We are working with Blockchain to guarantee the traceability and quality of cocoa and to create a platform for chocolate "prosumers" where they can sell bean-to-bar chocolates. The idea is that the sale of these chocolate bars (made with cocoa registered in the chain of blocks) can generate a commission that reaches the cocoa-cultor directly. "
5.- Moeda (Brazil and the United States)
A funding initiative with a social focus, Moeda is a project that seeks to communicate financial actors with programs and projects from different communities, "to create a more equitable, cooperative and sustainable future".
Although Moeda was born in the United States, and, therefore, is not an initiative of Latin America, currently the project of social impact is developed in Brazil. To finance its growth, Moeda raised 20 million US dollars in an Initial Cryptocurrency Offer (ICO).
Moeda applies Blockchain technology in order to more effectively overcome some of the most common challenges faced by entrepreneurs when requesting financing, so technology seeks a more efficient collection by providing transparency and reducing the power of the intermediaries.