How frontier technology delivers transformative change for children and young people
UNICEF leans into open-source technology to discover and co-create innovative solutions using AI and blockchain to solve challenges and accelerate change for children, young people and communities
The UNICEF Office of Innovation (OOI) works with diverse partners on possibility-driven and problem-led innovation. OOI leverages digital innovation; sources and supports sustainable scaling; mobilizes and grows innovation ecosystems; and aligns and connects with a diverse range of partners.
What does that look like in practice? Air pollution monitors for schools in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, blockchain-based insurance for small-scale farmers in Uganda to help improve access to nutritious food, digital textbooks for children with disabilities in Uruguay, early-warning systems for climate disasters in Timor-Leste and much, much more.
These frontier tech innovations have wide-ranging value propositions: from providing real-time environmental data that informs public health and emergency decision-making, to saving teachers time so they can focus on teaching; and from opening up tech so that young people can seize digital opportunities, to offering fast and transparent insurance to farmers who feed their families and communities.
Harnessing AI and blockchain, these varied solutions are having real-world impact today. Learn more below, from the people building them and the people using them.
Blockchain x Climate
Watson Matsa, Founder, eSusFarm
Uganda
eSusFarm: blockchain-based climate insurance for small-scale farmers
“Smallholder farmers face the daunting issue of droughts and floods, they don’t have any safety nets to protect them and they are not insured because companies don’t have enough data to insure this kind of risk. Across Africa, 97 per cent of farmers are completely uninsured!
“We measure drought and flood risks, and we put the insurance policies on the blockchain. When the risk threshold is met, it automatically triggers a payment without farmers having to apply. We’ve reduced the claims process from months to days.
“We also collect weekly agronomic data from smallholder farmers and use AI to analyse the data and send it back to them as behavioural insights on how to increase yields and improve practices, meaning the cost of their insurance actually goes down.”
AI x Learning
Magalì Marenco Raverz, schoolteacher
Uruguay
Accessible Digital Textbooks for All: AI-powered creation of multi-sensory school textbooks for children with and without disabilities
Accessible digital textbooks have changed the way I teach. For me, they provide something fundamental: real support for planning. It feels like such a brilliant resource because it makes inclusive education possible in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Everyone can now work on the same topic, in the same way, at the same time without creating differences.
“One of my favorite features is the accessibility button, which makes reading easier. It supports word comprehension, reading aloud and even sign language. The children actually enjoy using it, which makes such a difference. I also love how the design encourages diverse groups, so peer support naturally happens.”
AI x Health
Soheib Abdalla, Technology for Development Officer, UNICEF Lao PDR
Lao PDR
Air for Tomorrow: real time, open source, AI-powered air quality monitoring to combat air pollution
“The project has deployed commercially available AirGradient outdoor air quality monitors nationwide. Today, over 148 monitors are strategically installed in schools across every district. We started with almost no reliable data on air pollution levels; today, thanks to the air quality monitors that we installed, that data exists.
“With the data gap bridged, we are now working to integrate air quality data into the Ministry of Health database. At the same time, we are collaborating with AirGradient to localize the dashboard with additional languages and to develop child-friendly visualizations, making it easier for children and communities to understand and engage with the data.
“Creating positive impact and driving change doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We launched the Air for Tomorrow air quality monitoring project with a budget of a few thousand dollars and now we are expanding it to include health facilities and government offices in Lao PDR, and several countries in the region are also interested in replicating what we have achieved.”
Open Source x Youth
Isabele Barbosa, university student
Brazil
Digital public goods (DPGs): open-source tech for an inclusive, equitable digital future
“For me, knowledge about open-source code opens the door to important discussions. Many young people are already digitally engaged, yet they lack deeper understanding of how this world works. They are used to proprietary software and algorithmic systems created by large technology companies. Truly understanding open source shows how much we, as young people, can collaborate and participate with autonomy, and engage in using – and even producing – these systems.
“In my future work as a teacher, I want to be a conscious professional who helps students develop critical thinking and awareness of these issues. I believe that it is in the classroom, through liberating and transformative education, that true change begins, and I hope to contribute to advancing digital public goods in Brazil.”
Blockchain x Health
Jahid Shahed, Health Officer, UNICEF
Bangladesh
Vaccine Intelligence Network (VaxIN): blockchain-based vaccine supply chain management
“VaxIN strengthens vaccine supply chains, improves data accuracy and provides transparency to enable real-time decision-making. It provides dashboards, predictive analytics and automated alerts to prevent stockouts and reduce wastage – up to 20 per cent of some vaccines can be wasted – and it integrates data from central warehouses to distribution points, allowing programme managers to respond quickly to any gaps in supply or logistics.
“Together, we built a system that is fit for today and tomorrow, a system that is scalable and adaptable, that can handle not only vaccines and logistics but also other health and nutrition commodities. It means up to half a million more children will be protected from preventable diseases. I hope to see it replicated in other countries facing similar challenges, creating a global standard for vaccine and logistics management, as well as other supply chains.”
AI x Climate
Adam Smith, Founder, Similie
Timor-Leste
Similie: AI-powered, Internet of Things-based early warning system for climate disasters
“We do environmental data collection, using sensors and relays out in the field to measure 17 climate parameters and send that information to our cloud service in real time. In Timor alone, we have 30 million data points which gives us the capability to write really strong models of potential climate impacts.
“What AI is helping us solve is how to increase the speed and accuracy of our forecasting and alerts, because when rain falls up in the mountains and translates into flash flooding downstream, you’ve got minutes.
“Similie touches on every aspect of tech: writing software, running embedded systems, designing hardware, integrating AI models. It never gets boring!”