Scouting for the Future: Technology and the Scouting Movement

Good day everybody! My identify is Mihajlo, and over the previous six months as a part of my Subsequent Billion Fellowship, I’ve been working to deliver the advantages of Web3 to the World Scouting Motion.

Rising up in Serbia within 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 position fashions or supportive friends. In that form of setting, it’s straightforward for youth to change into caught up in gangs or prison exercise. I’d say it’s due to know-how and the scouting motion that I used to be in a position to keep away from turning down the mistaken path.

In 1996, I looked for “Izviđači” (Serbian for ‘scout’) on Yahoo, and stumbled upon one of many first scouting teams on the planet to have its personal web site. One of many members had created the web site as a college challenge earlier that yr. Discovering that web site was the place my journey started. Quick-forward by way of 27 years of journey, studying, volunteering, {and professional} engagement – and now I work for the World Group of the Scout Motion (WOSM), a vibrant world neighborhood, representing greater than 57 million Scouts throughout over 170 Nationwide Scout Organizations.

A Decentralised Motion

The Scouting motion is decentralised, with every chapter bringing its personal distinctive abilities and targets to a grassroots neighborhood centered on fostering an setting of studying, private progress, and mutual respect. Scouts comply with a common framework and guiding rules agreed upon by all members of the World Group, however have autonomy in how they implement initiatives and initiatives.

In Scouting, we imagine that training is vital to creating the world a greater place to dwell, and that know-how is among the strongest instruments for training. Since 1957, scouts around the globe have participated within the “Jamboree on the air” – a distant gathering of scouts engaged on the abilities of novice radio operation. Extra just lately, scouts around the globe have joined the “Jamboree on the Web” – the subsequent era of world scouting occasions facilitated by know-how.

In my time with WOSM, I’ve watched the scouting motion experiment with the early web, after which helped it to make the transition to Internet 2.0. Right now, scouts have a full on-line presence and platform that can be utilized worldwide to coordinate and contribute to world initiatives, preserve observe of native chapters, and to speak with the worldwide 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 protected on-line. I hosted two periods on the “Jamboree on the Web”, and as a proof of participation for the occasion, inspired attendees to mint the first-ever World Scouting NFT badge utilizing POAP.

The digitization of scout badges is a really clear use case for us, and we will likely be working to create new blockchain-based badges for scouts around the globe to unlock and gather. However there’s rather more potential for innovation on the planet of Web3 for the scouting motion. New mechanisms for voting and governance may permit scouts worldwide to have more practical coordination on huge initiatives. A world scouting curriculum for Web3 may assist thousands and thousands of younger individuals discover ways to safely preserve and use digital belongings. A world scouting pockets may information and reward scouts on their journey of studying, and permit native chapters to create and export their very own challenges and badges to a world neighborhood.

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 targets of Scouting. A Scout’s badges are tokens of private progress and achievement {that a} scout takes with them. They assist to assist and outline the id of a scout, performing as ‘soul-bound tokens’ connected to an actual individual’s journey by way of 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 the rest that Scouts might have sooner or later.

We are actually making ready to construct the primary 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 permit the scouting motion to have an id layer for badges, tokens, signatures, messages, and many others. Specifically, a Web3-enabled scout’s id would permit for extra sturdy social restoration for scouts, permitting us to soundly create DAO scouting teams, to discover new strategies of crowdfunding and governance, and naturally to unlock the infinite prospects of NFTs and digital badges or certifications. Above all else, growing a particular pockets module for the Scouts will allow us to create person flows and account protections particularly for younger individuals, an necessary demographic not typically thought of in client pockets software program.

Like all initiatives within the scouting motion, we’re working from the bottom up. The event of the scout’s passport could have a sustainable assist system and community-based contributions from the numerous scouts already concerned in Web3. The Scouts pockets will likely be open-source, permitting anybody to each contribute to and to profit 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 all around 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 Instructional Initiatives and Scouts for Sustainable Improvement Objectives Badges primarily based on verified credentials that can then be saved within the Scout’s pockets module. I believe that know-how is a robust software to create an empowered neighborhood, 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 know-how inside their very own communities. Let’s embark on this journey collectively and see the place it takes us!

When you’re taken with studying extra about my challenge and staying updated on my progress, be at liberty to attach with me on Twitter or LinkedIn

The World Group of the Scout Motion (WOSM) is a vibrant world neighborhood, representing greater than 57 million Scouts throughout over 170 Nationwide Scout Organizations. As one of many largest youth actions on the planet, WOSM performs a vital position in shaping the lives of younger individuals, fostering values of management, neighborhood service, and environmental stewardship.

A Observe from Group Subsequent Billion: As of right now, functions are actually closed for Cohort #3 of the Subsequent Billion Fellowship. We wish to thank everybody who utilized, and will likely be reaching out to all candidates with a call within the coming weeks.