Silicon Canals
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Ukraine
    • Startups
    • Scaleups
    • Coin Canals
    • FinTech
    • AI and chatbots
    • Travel & Mobility
    • Software & SaaS
    • Health & Medtech
    • (Crowd)funding
    • Blockchain
    • Internet of things
    • Hardware
    • Accelerators
    • E-commerce
    • Cybersecurity
    • Gaming & Virtual Reality
    • Drones
    • COVID-19
  • Exclusive content
    • Amsterdam
    • Rise by Techleap.nl
    • Fintech Files by AWS
    • Free Personio whitepaper
    • Guest Contributions
    • Newsletter
    • Partner content
  • Global Jobs
  • Tech Events
  • Partner with us
  • Contact
    • Contact us
    • About us
    • Team
    • Contribute your content
  • Home
  • News
    • Ukraine
    • Startups
    • Scaleups
    • Coin Canals
    • FinTech
    • AI and chatbots
    • Travel & Mobility
    • Software & SaaS
    • Health & Medtech
    • (Crowd)funding
    • Blockchain
    • Internet of things
    • Hardware
    • Accelerators
    • E-commerce
    • Cybersecurity
    • Gaming & Virtual Reality
    • Drones
    • COVID-19
  • Exclusive content
    • Amsterdam
    • Rise by Techleap.nl
    • Fintech Files by AWS
    • Free Personio whitepaper
    • Guest Contributions
    • Newsletter
    • Partner content
  • Global Jobs
  • Tech Events
  • Partner with us
  • Contact
    • Contact us
    • About us
    • Team
    • Contribute your content
No Result
View All Result
Silicon Canals
No Result
View All Result

This Dutch impact startup gives ‘invisible’ children digital identities thanks to blockchain technology

Aaron Mirck by Aaron Mirck
October 27, 2017
in Blockchain, Startups
This Dutch impact startup gives ‘invisible’ children digital identities thanks to blockchain technology
23
SHARES
LinkedInTwitterWhatsAppFacebook

Imagine: you don’t have any proof of your existence and therefore lack access to healthcare, education or insurance. This is the reality of the CEO of Dutch impact startup and Rockstart-alumnus Tykn, Tey El-Rjula. As an ‘invisible man’ – his birth certificate was destroyed during the Gulf War – the Kuwait-born entrepreneur conceived a solution that uses blockchain technology to identify children with similar difficulties. 

Which problems are you solving?

“We are collectively tackling the issues of paper-based vital records systems, and with 230 million children worldwide without birth certificates, this became our primary focus with Project ZINC (Zero INvisible Children). Having said this, the birth certificate is also by far the weakest link in the identity chain. Where passports, ID cards, and driver’s licenses have just about thirty different security features, birth certificates are largely still a piece of paper, which you have to pick up at the municipality where you were born just to claim the proof of existence that serves as your ticket towards healthcare, education, insurance, etc.

- Partner content -
How to improve your open source security?
How to improve your open source security?
Follow these three steps and get on the path to stronger security practices.Show More
Follow these three steps and get on the path to stronger security practices.Show Less
Read more

Not to mention the fact that, in conflict zones, the fallible nature of these documents is even more threatening, since it can effectively turn people ‘invisible’ if a birth registry is destroyed; pair this with geographical immobility, lack of financial means and a significant knowledge gap, and you can start to see the hurdles to birth registration in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Country, ed.) and conflict zones that we are trying to resolve.”

How are you using Blockchain technology?

“Even though we try to remain fully Blockchain agnostic, we are currently leveraging Hyperledger Indy (a ledger specifically tailored to accommodate identity solutions, ed.) through the Sovrin Network as the back-end to our APIs. By doing so we can permanently certify vital records and grant decentralized, digital identities, even to those without direct access to an electronic device through the use of Pure Decentralized Identifiers, for the purpose of authentication and verification.

Tey El-Rjula’s driver’s license states ‘onbekend’ (unknown) as a place of birth.

Tey El-Rjula’s driver’s license states ‘onbekend’ (unknown) as a place of birth.

This back-end is linked to our front-end that is the ANA App, to be released Q1 2018, a self-sovereign identity management application linked to the Sovrin Network through Tykn’s APIs. With the identity registered through the Ana App, claims can now be made through a zero-knowledge proof algorithm. The implication of this would be that one could provide a proof of age or proof of nationality without providing sensitive details such as one’s date of birth or national ID number.”

Where are you now, in terms of development, and where do you want to go?

“At this point in time, we can share that we are partnering with the Sovrin Network as Founding Stewards, creating a sustainable network backend for the future. This is a huge milestone for us and we are excited to have reached it. We are also doing research with NGOs for interfaces that best match the problems faced in emergency situations and developing countries, and have locked down enough capital to sustain our operations for the next 18 months through angels, VCs and the winning of awards. As for where we are now, we are still very much engaged in preparing both the front and back-end of the ANA App for the alpha release in Q2 2018, as well as the writing of a white paper that delves into the absolving of some of the financial hurdles faced by the same demographic.

In the meantime, we are negotiating some exciting pilots and partnerships with multiple governmental and non-governmental organizations, to be announced soon! We also realized quite early that, changing the world for 230 million invisible children, there are essential partnerships that need to be established to facilitate pilots, lobby for the reshaping of the legal landscape, and of course employ our solution on a larger scale. Whilst we can’t exactly talk about it yet in great detail, we definitely believe that the ones we have lined up meet those criteria.”

 - Partner content -
Personio
Half your staff are planning to quit soon!
Here’s how you can make them stay. Check it out!Show More
Here’s how you can make them stay. Check it out! Show Less
Read more
Tags: Tey El-Rjulatykn
Share2Tweet6SendShare9

Featured | Tech Events

Current Month

february

09feb13:0014:00Key Employee Visa Programme for Dutch StartupsAre you a Dutch startup that is interested in attracting international talent or relocating your team to the Netherlands?

Silicon Canals | Jobs


Free HR whitepaper | by Personio

Want to know how HRs across Europe are rethinking retention and performance management post pandemic? Get this FREE whitepaper by PERSONIO now!

Partner content | Work with us

Putting the Capital in HCM: A look at how HR is defining strategic business decisions in a digital-first world

From retail to hospitality: how Omniboost evolved its product to solve a major data challenge with tech

How SurePay invented IBAN-Name Check to make payments easier, personal and secure

Breaking news from Amsterdam | Partner

Innovation Fund Noord-Holland launches new €10M fund to back innovative companies in the province

After recently getting backed by Kleiner Perkins, Amsterdam’s Vylo launches new app to “reshape news”

Amsterdam’s app-only supermarket Crisp acquires local mealbox supplier De Krat

  • About Silicon Canals
  • Partner with Silicon Canals
  • Contact us
  • Newsletter
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
  • Cookie Policy (EU)
  • Terms & Conditions Silicon Canals

Silicon Canals © 2014-2023 | Website: Bright Idiots

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Ukraine
    • Startups
    • Scaleups
    • Coin Canals
    • FinTech
    • AI and chatbots
    • Travel & Mobility
    • Software & SaaS
    • Health & Medtech
    • (Crowd)funding
    • Blockchain
    • Internet of things
    • Hardware
    • Accelerators
    • E-commerce
    • Cybersecurity
    • Gaming & Virtual Reality
    • Drones
    • COVID-19
  • Exclusive content
    • Amsterdam
    • Rise by Techleap.nl
    • Fintech Files by AWS
    • Free Personio whitepaper
    • Guest Contributions
    • Newsletter
    • Partner content
  • Global Jobs
  • Tech Events
  • Partner with us
  • Contact
    • Contact us
    • About us
    • Team
    • Contribute your content

Silicon Canals © 2014-2023 | Website: Bright Idiots

Stay updated with the Silicon Canals daily and weekly newsletters.
We promise we won't spam you. You can choose to unsubscribe anytime.
Stay updated with the Silicon Canals daily and weekly newsletters.
We promise we won't spam you. You can choose to unsubscribe anytime.
X
X