 Tykn aims to give 'invisible children' identity via blockchain
Dutch start-up Tykn is developing a blockchain solution aimed at providing vital certification for the 230 million "invisible children" worldwide whose lack of proof of identity can prevent them from gaining access to services such as healthcare and education. Project Zero Invisible Children (ZINC) links the Hyperledger Indy platform to an app via the Sovrin Network. The solution would offer a permanently certified proof-of-existence without a subject having to provide sensitive information. The alpha release of the app is set for Q1 2018.

Imagine: you don’t have any proof of your existence and therefore lack access to healthcare, education or insurance. This is the reality of the CEO of Dutch impact startup and Rockstart-alumnus Tykn, Tey El-Rjula. As an ‘invisible man’ – his birth certificate was destroyed during the Gulf War – the Kuwait-born entrepreneur conceived a solution that uses blockchain technology to identify children with similar difficulties.

Which problems are you solving?

“We are collectively tackling the issues of paper-based vital records systems, and with 230 million children worldwide without birth certificates, this became our primary focus with Project ZINC (Zero INvisible Children). Having said this, the birth certificate is also by far the weakest link in the identity chain. Where passports, ID cards, and driver’s licenses have just about thirty different security features, birth certificates are largely still a piece of paper, which you have to pick up at the municipality where you were born just to claim the proof of existence that serves as your ticket towards healthcare, education, insurance, etc.

Not to mention the fact that, in conflict zones, the fallible nature of these documents is even more threatening, since it can effectively turn people ‘invisible’ if a birth registry is destroyed; pair this with geographical immobility, lack of financial means and a significant knowledge gap, and you can start to see the hurdles to birth registration in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Country, ed.) and conflict zones that we are trying to resolve.”

How are you using Blockchain technology?

“Even though we try to remain fully Blockchain agnostic, we are currently leveraging Hyperledger Indy (a ledger specifically tailored to accommodate identity solutions, ed.) through the Sovrin Network as the back-end to our APIs. By doing so we can permanently certify vital records and grant decentralized, digital identities, even to those without direct access to an electronic device through the use of Pure Decentralized Identifiers, for the purpose of authentication and verification.