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Spotted: According to figures from the UNHCR, as of 2022 there were some 35.3 million refugees around the world, with another 62.5 million internally displaced people and 5.4 million asylum seekers. Many, if not most, of these people lost access to vital personal documents, such as graduation or training certificates, when they fled.

To solve this problem, Italian Researcher and Designer Giorgia Maria Malandrino has developed a universal system for validating university work called Geoidentity. The digital passport would contain personal and academic data and be validated using the blockchain. The borderless platform would allow students to provide all their data to any host university in the world.

Malandrino told Springwise that she was prompted to develop the system after working with young refugees and observing how “geography has the power to draw and define our existence”. She actively involved the refugees she worked with in developing the platform, telling us that, “Their first-hand experiences and contributions have been invaluable in shaping Geoidentity’s strategy, communication, and progress.”

‘Geoidentity: Logging the Border’ was part of Malandrino’s thesis project for an MA in Communication Design. The project has received several international awards, including recognition at this year’s ‘Coups de Cœur’ session at the ChangeNOW summit.

Blockchain has been proposed for a host of innovative uses, including verifying that green hydrogen really is green, and in using DNA markers to track individual products.

Written By: Lisa Magloff