Greetings everyone! I’m Mihajlo, and during the last six months as part of my Next Billion Fellowship, I’ve been striving to introduce the advantages of Web3 to the World Scouting Movement.
Having grown up in Serbia during the ’90s, I witnessed the profound impacts that wars and sanctions can inflict on youth. Opportunities to discover positive role models or encouraging peers were scarce. In such circumstances, it’s effortless for young individuals to get entangled in gangs or illicit activities. I believe it’s largely due to technology and the scouting movement that I managed to steer clear of a misguided journey.
In 1996, I looked for “Izviđači” (which means ‘scout’ in Serbian) on Yahoo and happened upon one of the earliest scouting networks in the world that had its own website. A member had developed the site as a university project earlier that same year. Discovering that website marked the beginning of my adventure. Fast-forward 27 years through experiences of adventure, learning, volunteering, and professional involvement – and presently, I am part of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), a dynamic global network, representing over 57 million Scouts from more than 170 National Scout Organizations.
A Decentralized Movement
The Scouting movement operates in a decentralized manner, with each chapter contributing its own distinct skills and objectives to a grassroots community dedicated to nurturing an environment of education, personal development, and mutual respect. Scouts adhere to an overarching framework and guiding principles accepted by all members of the World Organization, yet maintain independence in executing projects and initiatives.
Within Scouting, we uphold the belief that education is essential for creating a better living environment, and that technology serves as one of the most powerful instruments for education. Since 1957, scouts globally have been partaking in “Jamboree on the Air” – a virtual assembly of scouts honing their amateur radio operation skills. More recently, scouts from around the globe have come together for the “Jamboree on the Internet” – an advanced iteration of global scouting events made possible through technology.
During my tenure with WOSM, I have observed the scouting movement experimenting with the early internet, then assisting it in transitioning to Web 2.0. Today, scouts possess a comprehensive online presence and platform utilized globally to coordinate and contribute to international initiatives, monitor local chapters, and communicate with the worldwide movement. I am thrilled to announce that it is time for scouts to evolve to Web 3.0!
My Next Billion Fellowship
The initial aspect of my role as a Next Billion Fellow involved creating educational resources for scouts on the fundamentals of Web3: We discussed what a blockchain entails, its applications, and the significance of encryption for online security. I facilitated two sessions at the “Jamboree on the Internet”, and as a token of participation for the event, motivated attendees to mint the very first World Scouting NFT badge using POAP.
The digitization of scout badges represents a clear application for us, and we will endeavor to develop new blockchain-based badges for scouts globally to earn and collect. However, the realm of Web3 holds much greater potential for innovation within the scouting movement. Novel mechanisms for voting and governance could enable scouts worldwide to coordinate more effectively on major initiatives. A global scouting curriculum for Web3 could aid millions of young individuals in learning how to securely manage and utilize digital assets. A unified scouting wallet could guide and reward scouts in their educational journey, while allowing local chapters to generate and share their own challenges and badges with a worldwide community.
The Scout’s Passport
While this adventure commenced with recognizing the unexplored potential of NFTs and digital badges, the territory of Web 3.0 is vast – and I aim to outline a direction that responsibly leads towards the long-term aspirations of Scouting. A Scout’s badges symbolize personal development and accomplishments that a scout carries with them. They help to support and define the identity of a scout, serving as ‘soul-bound tokens’ linked to a real person’s journey through life and scouting. Digital badges represent a significant part of the equation, but what we fundamentally require is an identity system that integrates seamlessly with digital badges, tokens, and any future needs of Scouts.
We are now laying the groundwork for the first foundational layer of the World Scouting Web3 vision: The Scout’s Passport. As an identity framework, a Scout’s passport will be compatible with various Web3 systems, allowing the scouting movement to have an identity layer for badges, tokens, signatures, messages, etc. Particularly, a Web3-enabled scout’s identity would provide more robust social recovery for scouts, permitting us to securely form DAO scouting groups, experiment with innovative methods of crowdfunding and governance, and of course, unlock the limitless possibilities of NFTs and digital badges or certifications. Above all else, creating a specialized wallet module for the Scouts will enable us to design user flows and account protections specifically for young individuals, a crucial demographic frequently overlooked in consumer wallet solutions.
As with all endeavors in the scouting movement, we’re starting from the grassroots level. The development of the scout’s passport will incorporate a sustainable support framework and community-driven contributions from the numerous scouts already engaged in Web3. The Scouts wallet will be open-source, enabling anyone to both contribute to and benefit from modules within our identity platform. We aim to have a minimum viable product (MVP) of the World Scouting Wallet ready for the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea this August, where 45,000 scouts from all regions of the world will convene.
Progressing Ahead
As I advance on this thrilling path, I am concentrating on establishing a technical framework for a series of initial World Scouting Educational Initiatives and Scouts for Sustainable Development Goals Badges grounded on verified credentials, which will subsequently be preserved in the Scout’s wallet module. I believe that technology serves as a formidable tool to empower a community, and with this framework, we can initiate the construction of a brighter future for Scouts all around the globe.
I’m enthusiastic about sharing my developments and experiences with you, and aspire to motivate others to discover the possibilities of blockchain and Web3 technology within their own communities. Let’s embark on this adventure together and discover where it leads us!
If you wish to delve deeper into my project and keep abreast of my progress, feel free to connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is a dynamic global community, representing more than 57 million Scouts across over 170 National Scout Organizations. As one of the largest youth movements globally, WOSM plays a vital role in molding the lives of young individuals, nurturing values of leadership, community service, and environmental guardianship.
A Note from Team Next Billion: As of now, applications are now closed for Cohort #3 of the Next Billion Fellowship. We express our gratitude to all who applied and will be contacting all applicants with an outcome in the forthcoming weeks.
