After working for two boot-strapping, innovation fueled startups solving international development with microfinance and machine learning, transitioning into international development policy was disillusioning to say the least. Mainly because I became intimately aware of the sheer amount of wasted money and resources that slip through cracks of corruption and bureaucratism.
These NGOs and intergovernmental agencies have the largest philanthropic budgets to aid the poorest and most vulnerable among us, World Vision's alone totaling $2.8 billion annually. Yet, 30% of this Official Development Assistance (ODA) money gets lost in translation and questionable supply chains every year. I will breakdown why this absurdity has been normalized and how two creative and committed minds are solving this problem with blockchain technology. This will be a practical tutorial on how to detect and investigate under-performing international aid value chains, both in Europe and the States, and how to use your skills to become an advocate for blockchain adoption by NGOs and governments to build transparency worldwide. There will be a specific case study focus on the response of these orgs to the humanitarian refugee crisis.