#Fiscal_Digital digitally certifies official election documents on public blockchains allowing anyone to access them in a tamper proof way. Then, we count the votes together!
Governance
Voting Citizens
Pilot - conducted a test of the product with a specific target segment
Yes
No
We produce video content to educate citizens about the voting process. Our system provides opportunity for digital work that anyone can accomplish through honest input in exchange for cryptocurrency rewards. We reduce inequality by ensuring that anyone can compete in an honest election, making voter fraud is impossible without evidence. When voting systems are no longer trusted, transitions of power in democracy are no longer peaceful (example: Bolivia October 2019).
Public trust in democratic voting systems is crashing worldwide causing a spike in civic apathy, particularly in youth. In Latin America this can be attributed to increasing perceptions of rigged voting systems. A few election examples are: 2017 Honduras, 2019 Ecuador, 2019 Guatemala and, most alarmingly, 2019 Bolivia. Peaceful transitions of power need to be guaranteed for future generations to thrive, but to do so, public trust in voting results must be rescued. Distrust in voting results causes civil conflicts and strengthens corrupt power structures, potentially destroying the future for youth. Before this extreme, apathy in young people explodes as they conclude: “I don’t vote or participate because the game is rigged.” Our solution empowers youth to lead the rescue effort and become heroes of democracy around the world. The answer to apathy? Empowerment. The solution to rigged voting? Trust but verify. #Fiscal_Digital, we count the votes together! We became directly affected by this as our team members all live in Guatemala and have had experience being voting table volunteers in several elections prior to 2019. In addition, we supported several congressional candidates that would support blockchain adoption in their run to become representatives in Congress. Unfortunately, we believe that they were directly impacted by the fraudulent Guatemalan voting system, effectively cheated out of their seat. Our support for them was for naught since the game was rigged.
Officially certified voting results documentation is produced by election authorities. They are available to accredited agents from political parties and election observers, forcing citizens to trust these third parties to protect their vote. #Fiscal_Digital disinter-mediates trust from these third parties by forming multi-party observer coalitions, in exchange, documents become publicly available via multiple independently verifiable methods. Additionally, if #Fiscal_Digital results differ from official results, we can mathematically prove that ours are more trust-worthy. This demonstrates to election authorities that blockchain is faster, cheaper and safer than their current technology. Adoption of blockchain by election authorities becomes probable, eliminating the need to create multi-party observer coalitions in future elections. We are blockchain polyamorous, links to Guatemalan prototype details for: Bitcoin - https://ceiba.io/elecciones-generales-de-guatemala-2019-en-el-blockchain/ HoriZEN - https://blog.horizen.global/empowering-guatemalan-citizens-with-fiscal-digital/ EOS - https://ceiba.io/usando-eosio-para-prevenir-fraude-electoral-con-fiscal_digital/ DogeCoin - https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157396770354831&id=513209830
Carlos Toriello Herrerías, https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlostorielloherrerias/ : passionate citizen convinced we’ll be the next great generation or the last one. Serial social entrepreneur with 10+ years of start-up experience spanning 3 continents. Co-founder of movements that leverage distributed ledger technologies including #Fiscal_Digital and Ceiba.io. Leader of non-profit efforts providing civics content to tens of thousands of children and young people in Guatemala. Accelerator of technological adoption, particularly solar energy and blockchain. Esteban de la Peña, https://www.linkedin.com/in/estebandelapenapadilla/ : Senior marketing and brand strategist with 7 year sales and advertising experience in the european market, a successful fintech product launch in Latin America and a deep understanding of Blockchain related topics. As a Guatemalan who grew up in Germany, Esteban developed a sensibility to easily identify cultural idiosyncrasies and leverage these as drivers for meaningful brand and market strategies. Actively engaged in the local blockchain community organizing Meetups, Hackathons Blockchain Weeks, speaking at international conferences and hosting a podcast and live radio show with over 100K listeners. Gustavo Ibarra, https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavoandresibarra/ : dApp Developer, Music Composer, Husband & Digital Nomad. 6 years of experience building enterprise software for the Fintech industry and 1.5 years building software for the DeFi industry. 3 of the startups I've developed with since their early stages are now medium size businesses funded by multiple seed rounds, 2 of which are FinTech enterprises and 1 an education NGO. Rafael Cordón, https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-cordon/ : 10 years experience in enterprise technology for public sector institutions. Tech activist and founder involved in building smart contract protocols and blockchain education. Speaker on blockchain topics for Guatemalan central bank. Founder and CEO of ITZ Data (https://itzdata.tech), an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner. Recently partnered with UNICEF Guatemala to launch Mineduc Digital (digital.mineduc.gob.gt), the first open-source online learning platform for boys and girls in the Guatemalan public education system. See news coverage: https://www.publinews.gt/gt/noticias/2020/07/14/mineduc-digital-plataforma-virtual.html
Carlos Toriello Herrerías, Community Organizer
Multi-protocol
Yes
No
Identifying international partners to accelerate our deployment in Latin America. Technical review of our technology offering a third party opinion of our work."
Self-funded. We are currently seeking funding from UNIVEF Innovation Fund and need help to identify other potential funding sources.
Accomplishments: -Open source code published on GitHub. Live WebApp backed up after 12 months, demo here: https://fiscaldigital-dev.web.app/ 1,552 registered users. -147,526 digitizations: 4million+ data entries, 13million+ characters. -First ever multi-party/observer coalition in Guatemalan elections. -First ever Guatemalan government certification of digital files with HASH signatures. -Hundreds of thousands of certified documents verifiable on 4 blockchains. -Unprecedented election crimes accusation by Guatemalan Justice Department against heads of election authority for dereliction of IT Department duties. -Public presentation by #Fiscal_Digital to election authorities for blockchain adoption with recorded agreement from 2 out of 5 magistrates. 5,600+ signatures on Change.org pressuring adoption. -YouTube: 12 videos with 4,700+ cumulative views. Facebook: 684 followers. Significant coverage by Guatemalan radio, TV and newspapers. -GBAglobal.org 2020 Achievement Award for Courage awarded at the Capitol in Washington DC during an event sponsored by the US Congressional Blockchain Caucus. 12 month Milestones: -Secure Guatemalan election authority adoption of blockchain technology. -Publish Guatemalan audit conclusions describing the regional implications of replacing carbon paper with blockchain certifications. -Participate as accredited international observers in the september 2020 Bolivia and november 2020 USA elections. -Consolidate multi-party/observer coalition for the february 2021 El Salvador elections, register on 3 blockchains minimum. -Secure 15,000 live users on election day in El Salvador, publish post-election audits within 24 hours of polls closing. -Rebuild code for scale and adaptation to new elections. -Review code for open source clarity. -Build mobile app for Android and IOS for additional data verification layer. -Incorporate computerized OCR for additional comparison layer. -Publish Guatemala-specific MNIST-type database. -Incorporate additional gamification elements: Leaderboards, Player Profile, Progress Bars, Leveling Up. -Establish graphic standards for branded visual content. -Optimize cloud architecture to reduce costs. -Incorporate InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) image hosting and verification with blockchains. -Data viewer of audit results in user-friendly format online and data download for third party verification. -Integrate cryptocurrency reward system, allowing users to Opt-In to redeem. -Legal review of El Salvador strategy and End User Agreement. -Code review by world class third party. -Determine expansion potential to Mexico for mid 2021 elections.