The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has reached a two-year agreement with the Blockchain for Good Alliance to help public institutions protect the digital systems they use to deliver services.
The alliance, founded by cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, announced the agreement Oct. 19. UNDP’s Alternative Finance Lab will organize the work with cybersecurity specialists from the alliance’s network. Training and advice will cover safeguards for data, digital payments and online public services.
The alliance cited governments’ growing reliance on digital systems and the threats those systems face. Robert Pašičko, lead of UNDP’s Alternative Finance Lab, pointed to conflict, fraud involving artificial intelligence and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks among the pressures on governments the agency supports.
UNDP Resident Representative Edward Vrkić, whose remit covers Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, signed the agreement in Singapore with alliance founder Helen Liu. The announcement did not give a signing date. Liu described the initiative as a way to apply the cryptocurrency industry’s security experience to public projects.
The agreement builds on the organizations’ existing blockchain work. The alliance serves as a strategic partner in UNDP’s SDG Blockchain Accelerator, now preparing for a third cohort. That program pairs UN teams with technology partners on active projects.
UNDP also lists the alliance as a member of its Blockchain Advisory Group. UNDP launched the group in June to examine how blockchain technology could be used in public systems.
The partners plan to offer sessions through the accelerator and UNDP’s Government Blockchain Academy. Interested UNDP country offices and government counterparts are also expected to be able to take part. The alliance identified users of public services among the people the effort is intended to benefit.
The announcement gave no funding terms or date for the first training session.
