From land transfers and digital leases to migrant tracking, tourist IDs, public surveys, and AI learning, the hackathon on decentralised identity saw several innovative prototype apps. Many of these apps will now move forward for development as public services. The hackathon, held at Dungkar Dzong in Paro, ended yesterday.
Thirteen teams of developers showcased apps that apply decentralised identity in real-world scenarios. These apps run on Bhutan’s blockchain-based National Digital Identity (NDI) system.
A panel of expert judges evaluated the entries based on innovation, usability, and impact.
Two teams emerged as joint winners: Team Cyberchain, a local group, and Team DeepGov, an international team.
Team Cyberchain’s winning solution, ZorigHub, is a digital platform that connects Bhutanese artisans to buyers. The app uses NDI to verify artisan identities and protect against counterfeiting, helping ensure that artisans earn directly from sales.
“We have done this integration of NDI in a rush. So, there might be some mistakes or bugs—the error didn’t appear yet, but there might be a hidden one. So, we’ll be looking forward to collaborating with GovTech as well as NDI to get more knowledge,” said Tshering Dorji from the Cyberchain team.
Team DeepGov developed an AI-backed survey app that uses NDI to gather verified but anonymous feedback from citizens. Inspired by Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness model, it encourages wider civic participation in policy-making.
“The most challenging parts for developing the app were taking care of users’ privacy. Therefore, users may be concerned that the data they share comes to us and that we will misuse it. But actually, we’re obfuscating(hiding) all the data that users send. We’re just taking only what the user decides to send. And for the future, yeah, we’re excited to work on this in Bhutan,” said Satyam Mishra from the team DeepGov.
The winning teams won Nu 250,000 and priority support to further develop the app at the TechPark Incubation Centre in Thimphu.
Runner-up teams, NGN and Form BT took home Nu 210,000 each.
All 13 teams received Nu 500,000 from the Department of Employment and Entrepreneurship to continue developing their ideas.
GovTech officials said that any promising app, not just the winners, could qualify for incubation support.
The hackathon was organised by the GovTech Agency with support from the Ethereum Foundation.
Karma Samten Wangda, Paro
Edited by Sangay Chezom
