A meetup on blockchain and social impact? We’re intrigued

Though the banner blockchain products might be cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether, it’s been said time and time again that the technology’s reach could be far more ample.

That premise, coupled with a connection to Brooklyn’s ConsenSys, inspired Rutgers student Piers Duffell to start a new Philly meetup focused on the common spaces of blockchain and social impact. The first session is happening July 6 at Industrious.

Duffell, 28, said that Blockchain for Social Good – Philadelphia is a local iteration of a NYC-based group with the same name. The researcher has a background in international development and nonprofit management. His interest in blockchain began after attending the Ethereum summit in Brooklyn to find out more about the common points between the “digital ledger” and governance.

“Since then, I’ve learned about projects such as the World Food Program using Ethereum blockchain to deliver cash assistance to refugees without government-issued ID, the Dubai Blockchain project which aims to put all government transactions on a blockchain, and projects like CrowdJury that seeks to create a distributed, borderless, justice system through blockchain tech,” Duffell told Technical.ly in an email. “I wanted to bring a meetup group together so that people in my field and the social impact space could get a better grasp of the potentials of blockchain technology in order to change the world for the better.”

The first session sounds interesting enough. Here’s the lineup of speakers:

• Federico Ast, CEO of CrowdJury
• Eugene Leventhal CEO of eduDAO, the makers of a funding platform for education-related organizations

We’ve noticed an uptick in Philly’s blockchain scene of late with new meetups popping up and one promising realLIST startup still in stealth mode, Curren-c. This meetup seems to be fertile ground for a blockchain-related project that tackles Philly’s problems.

https://www.meetup.com/Blockchain-for-Social-Good-Philly/events/240561139/