ODEM to Partner with Internet Bar Organization to Aid Rohingya

Credit: David Dare Parker

At the intersection of people and technology, ODEM, the world’s first On-Demand Education Marketplace, is partnering with the Internet Bar Organization to deploy blockchain technology to help address the plight of displaced the Rohingya people of Southeast Asia.

In a refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh at least 700,000 Rohingya have congregated after being driven from their homes in neighboring Myanmar. They fled to Bangladesh with only their most-limited possessions. In many cases, their professional identities and credentials were lost, confiscated, or left behind. Rohingya doctors, lawyers, professors, and teachers are among the displaced.

ODEM and the IBO are working to use blockchain technology to establish, verify and securely store the identities of the refugees. Blockchain is a system of digital ledgers that allow for records, data and transactions to be both secure and shareable. Cooperation between ODEM and the Houston-based IBO is a first step toward establishing identities for people around the world who’ve essentially become invisible. By using verifiable-claim technology and digital wallets in conjunction with smartphones, people with re-established identities can begin to reclaim their dignity and their livelihoods.

For the Rohingya at Cox’s Bazar, regaining their identities is a necessity, not a luxury. Eager to begin building a digital foundation for the future, the Rohingya need verified identities now.

Steve Jobs said it well, “Technology is not the solution, people are.”

ODEM is grateful to play a role in securing the Rohingyas’ future. For more information go to IBO Rohingya Rescue.

Larry Bridgesmith

Chief Education Strategist

ODEM

Adjunct Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University

Posted in ODEM Blog