AID GROUPS NOW USING THE SAME DATA TECHNOLOGY AS BITCOIN

In the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, Amar Al-Eid heads toward the checkout of the food distribution store carrying supplies for his two children. The shopkeeper raises a black box to his face and scans the Syrian refugee’s iris. The transaction goes through and a day’s rations are secured.

The data technology that underpins virtual currencies like bitcoin is now also used to deliver aid more efficiently by dramatically lowering the risk of bribes and fraud by local officials — a huge, longstanding problem in the industry. The so-called blockchain keeps a record of all transactions and buyers, making sure recipients like