A Blockchain Project That Incentivises Prediabetics To Report Health Improvements Wins Gooddollar's Inaugural Hackathon To Reduce Global Wealth Inequality

A prototype for a system that incentivises pre-diabetics to report changes in their blood sugar levels and weight to prevent type 2 diabetics by rewarding them with GoodDollar tokens was crowned the winner of GoodDollar’s inaugural Hackinequality event — possibly the world’s first hackathon for reducing global wealth inequality using decentralised technology — held in Tel Aviv in mid-March in eToro’s offices.

After fierce debate, the judges eventually agreed that the three-person T2D team — comprised of Jesse Medina, Lior Yaffe, and Yaron Shmaria — had done enough to see off competition from the other eight projects. The trio claimed the US$2,500 first prize, though the money was of secondary importance, with their contribution for social impact by far the more valuable. Read our exclusive Q and A with winning team captain Jesse Medina here.

The nine teams had 16 hours to work on their projects at the eToro offices in Bnei Brak, and their dedication was commendable. The talented 35 participants — including programmers, analysts, designers, user experience experts, blockchain enthusiasts — burnt the midnight oil. In all, around 50 people attended Hackinequality, which was a great turnout for our first event of this kind.

It was inspiring to see the keenness of participants to work so hard, especially at the end of the Israeli working week. Team leader for FairD — Spreading Fair Income, Rami Hersonski, typified the can-do attitude, as he took part while jet lagged, having arrived straight after a transatlantic flight. It highlighted that people are willing to lose sleep over Gooddollar’s core purpose — to reduce global wealth inequality — for the sake of the mission.

On the subject of sleep, the second-placed team won $1,500 for presenting a device that would spur people from their slumbers. Every time the Lightning Alarm Clock is snoozed, GoodDollars are donated to good causes. The phrase “you snooze, you lose” needs updating for this idea, because everyone wins if you do fancy an extra five minutes in bed.

Teams tested the case for universal basic income (UBI) and explored how wealth might be evenly spread, how a taxation system can be re-engineered to suit blockchain and power UBI, and how by shopping in normal e-commerce sites people could contribute to the formation of the GoodDollar economic framework. Third place — and $750 — went to GoodTrust, while Lynx, focused on voluntary land tax, won a special award for being the “most disruptive”.

There was one very special attendee who didn’t compete: Ron Adam, the Israeli ambassador in Rwanda and former deputy representative of Israel in the United Nations, stayed for almost three hours and was very impressed by what he witnessed.

He wrote on Twitter: “Excited to be present at the first @TheGoodDollar hackathon in TLV where young Israelis compete on the most #Innovative solution to narrow the gap between poor and rich of the world using #blockchain and creating #Socialimpact to achieve the #SDGs. Ready for #Rwanda!”

We are delighted to say that the first GoodDollar hackathon was awesome, and are hopeful that this will inspire others to join our quest to reduce global wealth inequality through using blockchain technology.

Interest in social impact projects is at an encouraging level, and growing — in Israel and around the world. The great success of the first Hackinequality event served to spur on the GoodDollar team in our mission. Congratulations again to all the teams.

For those seeking to learn more about what might be possible in this space, it is well worth reading the keynote slides presented by Dr Nir Yaacobi, GoodDollar’s Economic Lead (here), and Hadar Rottenberg, our Tech Lead (here), at the Hackinequality preparation event. As ever, if you would like to join the GoodDollar project, the ways to reach us are below.

Hackinequality March 14–15, 2019, results:

First place ($2,500): TdD
Second place ($1,500): Lightning Alarm Clock
Third place ($750): GoodTrust
Most disruptive: Lynx

Code and decks for the teams: http://bit.ly/2FfG34f
Photos from the hackathon: photos.app.goo.gl/s1rFtTgLJHFkTxz8A