GoodDollar Newsletter: March 2019
Hackinequality takes centre stage
The end of March marks the beginning of Israeli and British summer time, and in the last month GoodDollar has continued to bloom. Welcome to our third monthly newsletter (here you can read January and February’s editions).
This month, GoodDollar’s inaugural Hackinequality event — possibly the world’s first hackathon for reducing global wealth inequality using decentralised technology — was the main focus.
After fierce debate, the judges eventually agreed that the three-person T2D team — comprised of Jesse Medina, Lior Yaffe, and Yaron Shmaria — had done enough to see off competition from the other eight projects.
The successful project was a prototype for a system that incentivises pre-diabetics to report changes in their blood sugar levels and weight to prevent type 2 diabetics by rewarding them with GoodDollar tokens.
The trio claimed the US$2,500 first prize, following the 20-hour hackathon, held in Tel Aviv in eToro’s offices on March 14 and 15 — although the money was of secondary importance, with their contribution for social impact by far the more valuable.
Gilad Barner, GoodDollar’s community and operations manager, reported in his Medium blog that the “dedication” of nine teams was “commendable”. He continued: “The talented 35 participants — including programmers, analysts, designers, user experience experts, blockchain enthusiasts — burnt the midnight oil. In all, around 50 people attended Hackinequality, which was a great turnout for our first event of this kind.”
There was one very special attendee who didn’t compete: Ron Adam, the Israeli ambassador in Rwanda and former deputy representative of Israel in the United Nations, stayed for almost three hours and was very impressed by what he witnessed.
He wrote on Twitter: “Excited to be present at the first @TheGoodDollar hackathon in TLV where young Israelis compete on the most #Innovative solution to narrow the gap between poor and rich of the world using #blockchain and creating #Socialimpact to achieve the #SDGs. Ready for #Rwanda!”
Gilad added: “We are delighted to say that the first GoodDollar hackathon was awesome, and are hopeful that this will inspire others to join our quest to reduce global wealth inequality through the use of blockchain technology.”
For those seeking to learn more about what might be possible in this space, it is well worth reading the keynote slides presented by Dr Nir Yaacobi, GoodDollar’s Economic Lead (here), and Hadar Rottenberg, our Tech Lead (here), at the Hackinequality preparation event. As ever, if you would like to join the GoodDollar project, the ways to reach us are below.
Hackinequality March 14–15 results:
First place ($2,500): T2D
Second place ($1,500): Lightning Alarm Clock
Third place ($750): GoodTrust
Most disruptive: Lynx
Code and decks for the teams: http://bit.ly/2FfG34f
Photos from the hackathon: photos.app.goo.gl/s1rFtTgLJHFkTxz8A
Q and A with winning leader, Jesse Medina: https://medium.com/gooddollar/hackinequality-winning-team-leader-q-and-a-jesse-medina-7bb7c949d5cc
In early April, GoodDollar will be taking centre stage at UBI-Nordic 2019, held in Oslo. As the only project speaking about blockchain and universal basic income (UBI) at the important conference, it will be a great opportunity to network with like-minded people who a more traditional attitude to solutions. With luck, it will spark even more collaborations as we collectively try to reduce global wealth inequality. We will report back with our experience in Norway in next month’s newsletter.
Introducing … GoodDollar’s newest joiners
The GoodDollar team continues to grow. Here are the profiles of three of our newest members.
Name: Amit Baram
Based: Tel-Aviv City, Israel
Role at GoodDollar: Creative Lead
Month joined GoodDollar: March 2019
How would you describe yourself in three words? Inquisitive, energetic, anxious.
Why did you join GoodDollar? I love the opportunities that come with discovering new frontiers in future-facing products, so many challenges we face are uncharted, it’s very exciting. I also love the altruistic agenda, the good karma created from working around such a narrative makes for a great working environment.
What excites you most about exploring the interaction between UBI and blockchain? I feel like I’m working at NASA in the 1960s; we haven’t landed on the Moon yet, but we all know it’s coming. There’s a connection between these two concepts that make complete sense to me, and it’s just a matter of time before the small steps we’re making become a giant leap.
Name: Ziv Keinan
Based: Israel
Role at GoodDollar: I’m leading the legal team and helping with the strategy and ecosystem development.
Month joined GoodDollar: February 2019
How would you describe yourself in three words? Entrepreneur, geek, crypto-lawyer.
Why did you join GoodDollar? I’m a blockchain-for-impact enthusiast. I founded several initiatives in this space such as BlockchainForPupose and SDG-MARKET, and I have visited the United Nations headquarters many times.
What excites you most about exploring the interaction between UBI and blockchain? We can’t solve humanity’s problems by using the same thinking we used when we created them. The number-one goal (out of 17) of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” (see here). Blockchain UBI could accelerate humanity to achieve this goal.
Name: Liav Gutstein
Based: Holon, Israel
Role at GoodDollar: Product Designer
Month joined GoodDollar: December 2018
How would you describe yourself in three words? Creative, innovative, dreamer.
Why did you join GoodDollar? I really liked the idea behind the product; this idea can change the lives of millions of people in need. Additionally, I’m a big fan of blockchain technology — so it was a match made in heaven.
What excites you most about exploring the interaction between UBI and blockchain? UBI is an idea that has existed for a while, but now, with the advancement of blockchain technology, we can solve a lot of issues that have previously prevented its implementation.
Must-View GoodDollar Content
– Q and A with Jesse Medina, T2D team leader (Medium, March 2019)
– First GoodDollar hackathon won by project that incentivises prediabetics to report health improvements by handing them cryptocurrency (Gilad Barner blog on Medium, March 2019)
– GoodDollar’s official launch (video from Web Summit, November 2018)
– GoodDollar positioning paper (written by Yoni Assia and Omri Ross, November 2018)
– Welcome to the GoodDollar Experiment (Yoni Assia blog on Medium, November 2018)
Related News from Elsewhere
– Hackinequality write up (Blockpublisher report, March 2019)
– Hackinequality write up (NewsBTC report, March 2019)
– Hackinequality write up (CCN report, March 2019)
– Hackinequality write up (Blockpublisher.com report, March 2019)
– Four Futures of Work (RSA report, March 2019)
– Tron Bankroll Dapp launches UBI app (Bitcoin Exchange Guide, March 2019)
– Y Combinator president backs crypto for UBI (CoinGape, March 2019)
– Kenyan’s crypto-based UBI changing local communities (Coingeek, March 2019)
Do you have the skills to help the GoodDollar project? We need builders, scientists and experts in identity, privacy, and financial governance, as well as philanthropists and ambassadors. Contact us at hello@gooddollar.org, via our social media channels (Twitter, Telegram, or Facebook), join the OpenUBI movement, or visit our GitHub page. Our YouTube channel is worth checking out, too.
