SDG Blockchain Accelerator Announces the Start of a Virtual Hackathon

UNDP Alternative Finance Lab (AltFinLab), in partnership with the Blockchain for Good Alliance (BGA), EMURGO Labs (with funding from Project Catalyst), Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) and Flock.io, is launching a virtual global hackathon to connect frontline development challenges with frontier blockchain technology as part of the SDG Blockchain Accelerator.

Building on the momentum of the accelerator’s first cohort, this new phase brings together UN Challenge Owners with expert Solution Makers to co-create viable roadmaps for impact. The most promising of these will be selected by mid-September to join Cohort 2 for dedicated pilot and scale-up support.

The Framework – A Sprint for Solutions

Over the course of an intensive two-week sprint, from August 25 to September 8, we will move from identifying problems to drawing the blueprints for their solutions. The initiative will pair nearly 50 UN Challenge Owners, each working on a pressing development issue, with expert Solution Makers from the forefront of the blockchain space. Put simply, matched teams progress from identifying a problem to presenting a roadmap, design, and plan to bring it to life. Together, they will:

• Frame the use case in the real-world context (users, policy, markets, data) and define what success looks like.
• Assess the necessity and added value of blockchain for the proposed solution.
• Design a feasible implementation path (timeline, resources, partners, governance) that enables the development of a strong pilot-ready solution should the project be selected for Cohort 2 of the SDG Blockchain Accelerator.

A Curated Collaboration

The hackathon is made possible through a strategic partnership between UNDP AltFinLab and key leaders from the blockchain industry. The core accelerator partners are the BGA and EMURGO Labs, joined by SDF and Flock.io. Each pairing was deliberately curated, matching the specific context of a development challenge with the most relevant technical expertise from these diverse ecosystems.

The Path to Cohort 2

Once teams are matched, the hackathon kicks off on August 25 with shared objectives, followed by thematic clinics on identity, payments and disbursements, traceability, and data governance.

The two-week sprint culminates on September 8, when each team will present a final pitch to demonstrate the viability of their proposed solution.

Standout roadmaps will move into Cohort 2 of the SDG Blockchain Accelerator for hands-on build support and piloting with UNDP and partners. Outputs are designed to be open and portable so proven models can travel across sectors, borders and chains.

For more information, please contact: 

Hajdana Imrovic  
Hackathon Lead, UNDP AltFinLab
hajdana.imrovic@undp.org