Hello everyone! My name is Mihajlo and over the past six months, as part of my Next Billion ScholarshipI have worked to bring the benefits of Web3 to the global Scouting movement.
Growing up in Serbia in the 1990s, I saw first-hand the devastating effects that wars and sanctions can have on young people. There weren’t many opportunities to find good role models or peers. In that kind of environment, it’s easy for young people to get caught up in gangs or get involved in criminal activities. I would say that it was thanks to technology and the scouting movement that I was able to avoid going down the wrong path.
In 1996, I searched “Izvidači” (Serbian for “scout”) on Yahoo, and I came across one of the first scouting groups in the world to have its own website. One of the members had created the website as a university project earlier that year. Finding this website is where my journey began. Fast forward 27 years of adventure, learning, volunteering and professional commitment – and now I work for the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM)a vibrant global community, representing over 57 million Scouts in more than 170 National Scout Organizations.
A decentralized movement
The Scout Movement is decentralized, with each Section bringing its own skills and goals to a core community focused on fostering an environment of learning, personal growth and mutual respect. Scouts follow a general framework and guiding principles agreed by all members of the World Organization, but have autonomy in how they implement their projects and initiatives.
In Scouting, we believe that education is essential to making the world a better place and that technology is one of the most powerful tools for education. Since 1957, Scouts around the world have participated in Jamboree on the Air – a remote gathering of Scouts working on amateur radio operating skills. More recently, Scouts around the world have joined Jamboree on the AirJamboree on the Internet“– the next generation of global scouting events enabled by technology.
During my time at WOSM, I watched the Scouting Movement experience the early days of the Internet and then helped it transition to Web 2.0. Today, Scouts have a comprehensive online presence and a platform that can be used around the world to coordinate and contribute to global initiatives, track local chapters, and communicate with the global movement. I am delighted to say that it is now time for Scouts to move to Web 3.0!
My Next Billion Scholarship
The first part of my work as a Next Billion Fellow was to create educational content for scouts on the basics of Web3: we talked about what blockchain is, how it can be used, and the importance of encryption to stay safe online. I hosted two sessions at the “Internet Jamboree” and, as a token of my participation in the event, I encouraged attendees to to create the first ever World Scouting NFT badge using POAP.
Digitizing Scout badges is a very clear use case for us, and we will be working to create new blockchain-based badges that Scouts around the world can unlock and collect. But the world of Web3 holds much greater potential for innovation for the Scouting movement. New voting and governance mechanisms could allow Scouts around the world to coordinate more effectively on major initiatives. A World Scout Program for Web3 could help millions of young people learn how to safely store and use digital assets. A World Scout Wallet could guide and reward Scouts on their learning journey, and allow local sections to create and export their own challenges and badges to a global community.
The Scout Passport
While this journey began with seeing the untapped potential of NFTs and digital badges, the world of Web 3.0 is a vast territory—and I wanted to chart a course that thoughtfully advances Scouting’s long-term goals. A Scout’s badges are symbols of personal growth and achievement that a Scout carries with them. They help support and define a Scout’s identity, acting as “soul-bound tokens” attached to a real person’s journey through life and Scouting. Digital badges are a big part of the picture, but what we really need is a identity system which is compatible with digital badges, tokens and whatever else Scouts might need in the future.
We are currently preparing to build the first foundational layer of World Scouting’s Web3 vision: the Scout Passport. As an identity system, a Scout Passport would be compatible with all sorts of Web3 systems and would provide the Scouting movement with an identity layer for badges, tokens, signatures, messages, etc. In particular, a Web3-enabled Scout Identity would enable a more robust social recovery for Scouts, allowing us to securely create DAO Scout groups, explore new methods of crowdfunding and governance, and of course unlock the endless possibilities of NFTs and digital badges or certifications. Above all, the development of a dedicated wallet module for Scouts will allow us to create user flows and account protections specifically for youth, an important demographic that is not often addressed in mainstream wallet software.
Like all Scouting initiatives, we are working from the ground up. The development of the Scout Passport will benefit from a sustainable support system and community contributions from the many Scouts already involved in Web3. The Scout Wallet will be open-source, allowing everyone to contribute and benefit from the modules of our identity platform. We hope to have a World Scout Wallet MVP ready in time for the World Scout Jamboree to be held in South Korea in Augustwhich will bring together 45,000 scouts from around the world.
Moving forward
As I continue this exciting journey, I am working to implement a technical framework for a set of initial World Scouting educational initiatives and Scouts for the Sustainable Development Goals Badges based on verified credentials that will then be stored in the Scout’s wallet module. I believe technology is a powerful tool to create an empowered community, and with this framework we can start building a better future for Scouts around the world.
I am excited to share my progress and experiences with you, and I hope to inspire others to explore the potential of blockchain and Web3 technology within their own communities. Let’s embark on this journey together and see where it takes us!
If you would like to know more about my project and stay up to date with my progress, please feel free to contact me on Twitter Or LinkedIn
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is a vibrant global community, representing over 57 million Scouts in more than 170 National Scout Organizations. As one of the world’s largest youth movements, WOSM plays a vital role in shaping the lives of young people, fostering the values of leadership, community service and environmental stewardship.
A message from the Next Billion Team:As of today, applications are now open farm for Next Billion Fellowship Cohort 3. We would like to thank everyone who applied and will communicate our decision to all applicants in the coming weeks.
