Scouting for the Future: Technology and the Scouting Movement

Howdy everybody! My identify is Mihajlo, and over the previous six months as a part of my Subsequent Billion Fellowship, I’ve been working to convey 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 folks. There weren’t quite a lot of alternatives to seek out good position fashions or supportive friends. In that form of setting, it’s simple for youth to develop into caught up in gangs or prison exercise. I might say it’s due to expertise and the scouting motion that I used to be in a position to keep away from turning down the improper path.

In 1996, I looked for “Izviđači” (Serbian for ‘scout’) on Yahoo, and stumbled upon one of many first scouting teams on this planet to have its personal web site. One of many 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 means 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 group, 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 group centered on fostering an setting of studying, private progress, and mutual respect. Scouts comply with a normal framework and guiding rules agreed upon by all members of the World Group, however have autonomy in how they implement tasks and initiatives.

In Scouting, we consider that schooling is vital to creating the world a greater place to reside, and that expertise is among the strongest instruments for schooling. Since 1957, scouts all over the world have participated within the “Jamboree on the air” – a distant gathering of scouts engaged on the talents of beginner radio operation. Extra lately, scouts all over the world have joined the “Jamboree on the Web” – the following era of world scouting occasions facilitated by expertise.

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 Net 2.0. At this time, scouts have a full on-line presence and platform that can be utilized worldwide to coordinate and contribute to world initiatives, hold monitor 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 Net 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 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 can be working to create new blockchain-based badges for scouts all over the world to unlock and accumulate. However there may be rather more potential for innovation on this planet of Web3 for the scouting motion. New mechanisms for voting and governance might permit scouts worldwide to have simpler coordination on large initiatives. A world scouting curriculum for Web3 might assist hundreds of thousands of younger folks learn to safely hold and use digital property. A world scouting pockets might 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 worldwide group.

The Scout’s Passport

Though this journey started with seeing the untapped potential of NFTs and digital badges, the world of Net 3.0 is a giant territory — and I needed to chart a path that strikes correctly 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 help and outline the identification of a scout, appearing as ‘soul-bound tokens’ hooked up to an actual particular person’s journey by means of life and scouting. Digital badges are a big a part of the image, however what we actually want is an identification system that’s appropriate with digital badges, tokens, and anything that Scouts may have sooner or later.

We are actually getting ready to construct the primary foundational layer of World Scouting Web3 imaginative and prescient: The Scout’s Passport. As an identification system, a Scout’s passport can be appropriate with all types of Web3 methods, and would permit the scouting motion to have an identification layer for badges, tokens, signatures, messages, and so on. Particularly, a Web3-enabled scout’s identification would permit for extra strong social restoration for scouts, permitting us to securely create DAO scouting teams, to discover new strategies of crowdfunding and governance, and naturally to unlock the infinite potentialities of NFTs and digital badges or certifications. Above all else, creating a particular pockets module for the Scouts will allow us to create consumer flows and account protections particularly for younger folks, an essential demographic not usually 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 can have a sustainable help system and community-based contributions from the numerous scouts already concerned in Web3. The Scouts pockets can be open-source, permitting anybody to each contribute to and to learn from modules in our identification 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 convey collectively 45,000 scouts from all around the world.

Transferring 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 Growth Targets Badges primarily based on verified credentials that can then be saved within the Scout’s pockets module. I believe that expertise is a robust device to create an empowered group, and with this framework we are able to 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!

For those who’re taken with studying extra about my undertaking 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 group, representing greater than 57 million Scouts throughout over 170 Nationwide Scout Organizations. As one of many largest youth actions on this planet, WOSM performs a important position in shaping the lives of younger folks, fostering values of management, group service, and environmental stewardship.

A Word from Staff Subsequent Billion: As of at this time, purposes are actually closed for Cohort #3 of the Subsequent Billion Fellowship. We wish to thank everybody who utilized, and can be reaching out to all candidates with a choice within the coming weeks.