The European Innovation Council has issued grants for $ 5.6 million to six projects using blockchain to solve critical social problems.
This week, the European Innovation Council (EIC) issued grants of $ 5.6 million to six blockchain projects under the blockchain for social welfare program.
“Six winners were selected during the contest, which determined the best scalable, deployable and effective solutions on the blockchain for social tasks,” the organizers explained.
Solutions include blockchain applications focused on fair trade and the circular economy, renewable energy sources and the availability of financial services. The first place and a grant of $ 1.1 million in the category of “High-quality information materials” was received by the Dutch startup WordProof, which is developing a verification system on the blockchain. Its purpose is to help fight misinformation and false news on the Internet.
“WordProof wants to use blockchain to restore trust on the Internet. We are creating a universal ecosystem with timestamps – a global standard that provides consumers with a method of checking the reliability of content, ”said WordProof founder Sebastiaan van der Lans.
Another $ 1.1 million grant was provided to PPP, a British startup, which is developing a system of so-called checkpoints to help enterprises “prove their social influence in the supply chains associated with their business and products.” The Finnish company GMeRitS received the same grant for conducting large-scale experiments with alternative economic structures. Startup wants to contribute to the availability of financial services.
The UnBlocked Cash OXBBU project, founded by Oxfam, an Irish company, and Sempo, a French startup, received $ 1.1 million to develop a decentralized model that explores “the potential for delivering international assistance to disaster victims” in a more efficient and transparent way.
Initially, there were five winners, each of whom would receive a grant of $ 1.1 million, but the jury decided to split the fifth place between the two startups. Thus, the blockchain platform for resolving consumer disputes in electronic commerce CKH2020 and the decentralized autonomous digital market for P2P energy trading PROSUME received $ 561,000 each.
Since the announcement of the program in May 2018, the EIC received 176 applications from 43 countries, including 19 outside the EU. According to a press release, the main goal of the contest was to study how blockchain can solve social problems.
“Despite the fact that the revolutionary potential of the blockchain has already been tested in the financial sector, its possible applications in social fields and for solving sustainable development problems have been much less studied,” said EIC.
Recall that earlier this year the European Commission announced a tender for the development of solutions for the defense industry. Companies can submit proposals based on, among other things, the blockchain.
