Whats up everybody! My title is Mihajlo, and over the previous six months as a part of my Next Billion Fellowship, I’ve been working to deliver the advantages of Web3 to the World Scouting Movement.
Rising up in Serbia in the ’90s, I skilled firsthand the devastating results that wars and sanctions can have on younger individuals. There weren’t a whole lot of alternatives to seek out good function fashions or supportive friends. In that form of setting, it’s straightforward for youth to change into caught up in gangs or felony exercise. I’d say it’s due to expertise and the scouting motion that I used to be capable of keep away from turning down the improper path.
In 1996, I searched for “Izviđači” (Serbian for ‘scout’) on Yahoo, and stumbled upon certainly one of the first scouting teams in the world to have its personal web site. Considered one of the members had created the web site as a college undertaking earlier that yr. Discovering that web site was the place my journey started. Quick-forward by 27 years of journey, studying, volunteering, and skilled engagement – and now I work for the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), a vibrant international group, representing greater than 57 million Scouts throughout over 170 Nationwide Scout Organizations.
A Decentralised Movement
The Scouting motion is decentralised, with every chapter bringing its personal distinctive abilities and objectives to a grassroots group targeted on fostering an setting of studying, private development, and mutual respect. Scouts comply with a basic framework and guiding ideas agreed upon by all members of the World Group, however have autonomy in how they implement tasks and initiatives.
In Scouting, we imagine that schooling is vital to creating the world a greater place to reside, and that expertise is certainly one of the strongest instruments for schooling. Since 1957, scouts round the world have participated in the “Jamboree on the air” – a distant gathering of scouts engaged on the abilities of newbie radio operation. Extra just lately, scouts round the world have joined the “Jamboree on the Internet” – the subsequent era of worldwide scouting occasions facilitated by expertise.
In my time with WOSM, I’ve watched the scouting motion experiment with the early web, and then helped it to make the transition to Internet 2.0. At present, scouts have a full on-line presence and platform that can be utilized worldwide to coordinate and contribute to international initiatives, maintain observe of native chapters, and to speak with the international motion. I’m excited to say that it’s now time for the scouts to improve to Internet 3.0!
My Subsequent Billion Fellowship
The primary piece of my work as a Subsequent Billion Fellow was to create some instructional content material for scouts on the fundamentals of Web3: We talked about what a blockchain is, how it may be used, and the significance of encryption for staying secure on-line. I hosted two periods at the “Jamboree on the Internet”, and as a proof of participation for the occasion, inspired attendees to mint the first-ever World Scouting NFT badge using POAP.
The digitization of scout badges is a really clear use case for us, and we will probably be working to create new blockchain-based badges for scouts round the world to unlock and acquire. However there’s far more potential for innovation in the world of Web3 for the scouting motion. New mechanisms for voting and governance may enable scouts worldwide to have more practical coordination on large initiatives. A world scouting curriculum for Web3 may assist tens of millions of younger individuals discover ways to safely maintain and use digital property. A world scouting pockets may information and reward scouts on their journey of studying, and enable native chapters to create and export their very own challenges and badges to a worldwide group.
The Scout’s Passport
Though this journey started with seeing the untapped potential of NFTs and digital badges, the world of Internet 3.0 is a giant territory — and I wished to chart a path that strikes properly towards the long-term objectives of Scouting. A Scout’s badges are tokens of non-public development and achievement {that a} scout takes with them. They assist to assist and outline the id of a scout, appearing as ‘soul-bound tokens’ hooked up to an actual particular person’s journey by life and scouting. Digital badges are a big a part of the image, however what we actually want is an id system that’s suitable with digital badges, tokens, and anything that Scouts might have in the future.
We at the moment are getting ready to construct the first foundational layer of World Scouting Web3 imaginative and prescient: The Scout’s Passport. As an id system, a Scout’s passport can be suitable with all kinds of Web3 programs, and would enable the scouting motion to have an id layer for badges, tokens, signatures, messages, and so on. Specifically, a Web3-enabled scout’s id would enable for extra sturdy social restoration for scouts, permitting us to soundly create DAO scouting teams, to discover new strategies of crowdfunding and governance, and after all to unlock the infinite potentialities of NFTs and digital badges or certifications. Above all else, growing a particular pockets module for the Scouts will allow us to create consumer flows and account protections particularly for younger individuals, an essential demographic not typically thought of in shopper pockets software program.
Like all initiatives in the scouting motion, we’re working from the floor up. The event of the scout’s passport could have a sustainable assist system and community-based contributions from the many scouts already concerned in Web3. The Scouts pockets will probably be open-source, permitting anybody to each contribute to and to learn from modules in our id platform. We hope to have an MVP of the World Scouting Pockets prepared in time for the World Scout Jamboree being held in South Korea this August, which is able to deliver collectively 45,000 scouts from throughout the world.
Shifting Ahead
As I proceed on this thrilling journey, I am engaged on implementing a technical framework for a set of preliminary World Scouting Academic Initiatives and Scouts for Sustainable Development Goals Badges based mostly on verified credentials that may then be saved in the Scout’s pockets module. I believe that expertise is a robust instrument to create an empowered group, and with this framework we will begin to construct a brighter future for Scouts worldwide.
I am excited to share my progress and experiences with you, and I hope to encourage others to discover the potential of blockchain and Web3 expertise inside their very own communities. Let’s embark on this journey collectively and see the place it takes us!
Should you’re involved in studying extra about my undertaking and staying updated on my progress, be at liberty to attach with me on Twitter or LinkedIn
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is a vibrant international group, representing greater than 57 million Scouts throughout over 170 Nationwide Scout Organizations. As certainly one of the largest youth actions in the world, WOSM performs a essential function in shaping the lives of younger individuals, fostering values of management, group service, and environmental stewardship.
A Notice from Group Subsequent Billion: As of as we speak, functions at the moment are closed for Cohort #3 of the Subsequent Billion Fellowship. We want to thank everybody who utilized, and will probably be reaching out to all candidates with a call in the coming weeks.
