As the world marks the 2020 International Anti-Corruption Day, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in East Africa recognized and awarded the winners of the East African Blockchain Challenge.
The blockchain hackathon saw 143 participants and 13 teams submit blockchain solutions in line with three UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on fighting corruption over the last 6 weeks.
Corruption poses significant threats to countries around the world; it weakens institutions, erodes trust and threatens the economy by undermining fair competition and discouraging investment and trade.
UNODC is the sole custodian of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and under the FTU project is set to support and build capacity of member states in Eastern Africa in four major thematic areas:
- Public procurement
- Whistleblower protection
- Financial Investigations
- International cooperation
The East African Virtual Hackathon was a 6-week virtual programming marathon for innovative young developers in Eastern Africa to design and implement block chain- based software applications in solving real world challenges on anti-corruption.
Dr.Amado Phillip-UNODC ROEA Representative.jpeg
The challenge was focused on three major thematic areas:
- Public Procurement
- Whistle blower protection
- Financial Investigations
Below are the top winning teams during the hackathon:
- Planet Shakers (UNODC Blockchain Hackathon Winner) – Built on the Celo blockchain, the solution allows for the safe filing of complaints while protecting the identity of the core users by offering anonymity and uplifting trust & confidence of these said users
- Uptech Africa (2nd Position) – Built on Hyperledger, this is an anonymous reporting system that is open, transparent, and tamper-proof
- Team Sentinel (3rd Position) – Built on the Celo blockchain, the platform will allow well-wishers and foreign aids to send money to whistleblowers in a secure way using encrypto end-to-end transactions when their assets and bank accounts are frozen by the government
- Team Citizen (Best implementation on Celo Blockchain) – This financial investigations tool helps eradicate money laundering by enabling the government to directly transact funds to a project developer with every action published and transparent on the blockchain
- Team Vybe (Best implementation on Hyprledger Blockchain) – This is a public procurement solution that tracks tender implementations over the lifespan of a project. Kyc-verified users are granted access through the blockchain
- Team Manifest (Most active participant) – This whistle-blowing solution is a governance database to know one’s leaders while rewarding information submissions via the blockchain
- Team 8 (Best presentation) – Built on the Truffle blockchain, this solution helps solve corruption during procurement by offering transparency during the bidding process, traceability in the supply chain, financial tracking, and ledger trust with customers and suppliers verifications
- Team DAD (Most diverse team) – Built on the Celo blockchain, this solution offers transparency by enabling donor assistance via airdrops to beneficiaries wallets that can be redeemed at registered agents/merchants.
The event was attended by key government officials including:
- James Nyoro – The Governor of Kiambu County
- Roy Sasaka – CEO, Kenya National Youth Council
RECOMMENDED READING: [WATCH] 1/3 of Kenya’s Yearly Budget is Lost to Corruption & Blockchain Can Help in the Fight, Says UN Office on Drugs and Crime
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