Devcon 2022

October 14, 2022

Bogata, Columbia

Anda Ngcaba participated in two panels at DevCon hosted in Bogota, Columbia, from 11th to 14th October 2022.

The Giga team at UNICEF invited Anda to participate in a panel discussion at DevCon. Giga is a global initiative between UNICEF and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that aims to connect every school to the internet by 2030. There are currently 2.9 billion people without internet access, and 96% reside in developing countries.

Giga is part of the UNICEF innovation office and is the only named initiative for connectivity in the United Nations Secretary-General's Digital Co-operation roadmap and common agenda.

Giga hosted a panel at DevCon that discussed how blockchain could help connect the next billion. Gerben Kijne; the blockchain lead for Giga at UNICEF; Naroa Zurutunza, mapping and technology lead at Giga; Rajesh Sinha, the founder of Launchnodes; and Salima Bah, state counsel directorate of science Sierra Leone, joined Anda.

This panel discussed how Giga uses Ethereum staking to fund school connectivity in Rwanda. It also discussed ways to bridge the digital divide using blockchain, such as fractional ownership of last-mile infrastructure and connectivity credits.

"During this panel, I had the opportunity to share some insights from some of the exciting projects we're working on at the Financial Innovation Hub. It was also interesting to hear how companies leverage blockchain to solve the digital divide, particularly on the African continent. This is a testament to various use cases blockchain offers beyond financial services," Anda Ngcaba.