Blockchain pilot for Humanitarian Aid distribution underway
At the end of 2017 PA Consulting began the journey of conceptualising how to use Blockchain technology to improve humanitarian aid distribution for the Department of International Development (known as DFID) through the Frontier Technology Livestreaming (FTL) programme.
In summary, a number of workshops were conducted during a phase 1, where an array of details around the process of sending humanitarian goods to foreign recipients were captured. The results and findings were then taken into a phase 2 where a Terms of Reference for an Invitation to Tender, as well as a Market Analysis were generated. This resulted in a supplier called Datarella, a big data & blockchain solutions company based in Munich in Germany, to be selected as the preferred technology partner.
The challenge for Datarella would be to take the use case that was defined in the scoping phases and build a proof of technology for the Rapid Response (RR) Scenario. Basically a RR Scenario is a situation where emergency goods (like medical supplies, tents, solar lamps etc) are transported to the recipient after a catastrophic event like an earthquake or hurricane. It is critical that these items reach the intended recipient in a timely fashion, typically within 48 hours of dispatch.
After our workshop and initial meeting with the team of PA, Datarella, and DFID in Shoreditch in London, we set out to plan how we would go about making this a successful endeavour.
The initial key challenge identified was to obtain an Implementing Partner or similar organisation, that would be willing to be involved and trial the suggested new process in parallel with their existing one during the pilot.
Fortunately we were able to find an organisation that agreed to be part of this initiative, and they are known as Atlas Logistique. They are a French Humanitarian Organisation that is a brand of Humanity & Inclusion (HI), who specialise in local supply chain management (including logistics platforms). Their goal is to close the gaps in humanitarian aid delivery chains so resources reach beneficiaries safely and efficiently. The snapshot below indicates where in the supply chain Atlas Logistique would potentially be involved although they may be required to impersonate the responsibilities as early as from the Consignee stage.
Since the implementation of this pilot is largely software related a lean Agile sprint process was developed so that clear progress, outcomes and continued stakeholder engagement can be measured.
As part of sprint 1, a survey indicating what the team wanted to achieve was distributed to relevant stakeholders in order to inform them of what approach would be taken. This was done to ensure their buy-in and continued participation throughout the pilot. When implementing cutting edge tech (such as blockchain) in a complex use case (such as a humanitarian supply chain), we think it is crucial that key actors and experts from the use case are involved early and in every step of the build phase. This makes sure we’re not building something that doesn’t add real world value to their life.
The next steps would be to take any feedback from the survey and use that to further fine-tune the sprint plan. Thereafter the development of wire-frames for the User Interface, setup of the blockchain and interaction using Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Ethereum will be conducted. The end result would need to be a proof of technology that can be showcased to the various other humanitarian aid organisations, as we believe that the effectiveness of this solution can only be realised with a consortium of stakeholders.
It has been a great pleasure working and advising everyone involved in the start of creating this pilot and I believe this will have a lasting and profound impact on humanitarian aid supply chains.
Follow our Medium page for more updates over the next three months as the pilot develops!
