- Mihajlo Atanackovic is leveraging his Next Billion Fellowship to integrate Web3 technology into the World Scouting Movement.
- The Scouting movement is adopting blockchain technology, exploring its use in minting digital scout badges, creating a Web3 curriculum, and launching a World Scouting Wallet.
Blazing the Digital Trail: Mihajlo’s Journey with Technology and Scouting
Greetings, I’m Mihajlo. For the past half-year, I’ve been utilizing my Next Billion Fellowship to weave the fabric of Web3 into the World Scouting Movement. My childhood in Serbia during the ’90s was overshadowed by war and sanctions.
This lack of opportunities could easily lead the youth towards a precarious path, but for me, it was scouting and technology that illuminated the way forward.
In 1996, a search for “Izviđači” (Serbian for ‘scout’) on Yahoo led me to one of the world’s pioneer scouting group websites. The beginning of this digital journey culminated in my current role at the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), a thriving global network of over 57 million Scouts hailing from more than 170 National Scout Organizations.
Web3 Integration: Revolutionizing the Decentralized Scouting Movement
The Scouting movement, a decentralized entity, encourages each unit to contribute its unique skills towards a grassroots community centered on education, personal growth, and mutual respect. As an organization, we value technology as a pivotal educational instrument. This ideology has been reflected in initiatives such as the 1957 “Jamboree on the air,” a global remote gathering for amateur radio operations, and its modern counterpart, the “Jamboree on the Internet.”
In my tenure at WOSM, I have witnessed the Scouting movement’s evolution from the initial stages of the internet to the interactive phase of Web 2.0. Now, it is thrilling to lead the progression towards Web 3.0. As part of my Next Billion Fellowship, I’ve developed educational content introducing Scouts to the fundamentals of Web3. Through sessions at the “Jamboree on the Internet,” we minted the first-ever World Scouting NFT badge using POAP, marking a significant milestone in our digital journey.
The Scout’s Passport: Charting a Path towards Long-Term Goals
Beyond digital badges, the potential for innovation in the Scouting movement using Web3 technology is vast. We envision creating new voting and governance mechanisms, establishing a global Scouting curriculum for Web3, and developing a World Scouting Wallet to guide and incentivize Scouts on their learning journey.
Our ambitious vision includes the Scout’s Passport, a Web3-compatible identity system compatible with badges, tokens, signatures, and more. The Scout’s Passport will serve as the bedrock for our World Scouting Web3 vision, allowing us to experiment with robust social recovery, DAO scouting groups, crowdfunding methods, and digital certifications.
Scouts: From Ground Up to a Global Scale
All initiatives in the scouting movement are grassroots driven. The Scout’s Passport and the World Scouting Wallet will follow this tradition, aiming to launch an MVP of the World Scouting Wallet at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea this August.
As we move forward, I’m keen on developing a technical framework for initial World Scouting Educational Initiatives and Scouts for Sustainable Development Goals Badges. I’m eager to share my progress and experiences with you, with the hope of inspiring others to unlock the potential of blockchain and Web3 technology in their communities. Let’s navigate this exciting journey together!