This report was written by SISWG members Mariana de la Roche Wills, Laura Kajtazi and Åsa Dahlborn, edited by David Phillips and reviewed by the following members of the Academic Advisory Board of INATBA: Professor Paolo Giudici, University of Pavia; Dr. Gustavo Prieto, Ghent University; Professor Lisa Short, La Trobe University.

Report name

Social Impact Model For Small And Medium-Sized Blockchain Projects

Who wrote this report?

Since its launch in April 2019, INATBA has established itself as the pre-eminent convener in the global blockchain ecosystem, offering developers and users of distributed ledger technology (DLT) a forum to interact with regulators and policymakers with the overarching mission of bringing blockchain technology to the next stage. Currently, it has 230+ members from both the public and private spaces.

Best quote

Providing a unified measurement that helps create comparable reports for stakeholders could help blockchain projects raise funds to increase their positive impact on society steadily.

Key takeaways:

  • Many frameworks exist in the ESG space but are complex to understand and analyse, especially for startups and SMEs
  • Showing a framework that enables startups and SMEs to measure and compare their impacts makes it possible to showcase their work and prove their potential in society.
  • Supporting the creation of the report with an easily guided framework for non-experts can bridge blockchain projects with organisations in the development and social impact sector

What’s in this report?

Social impact is a complex concept encompassing a multiplicity of facets that are not always easy to measure and although a range of frameworks for organisations and companies to monitor their social impact exist, most of them aren’t feasible for small and medium-sized projects as they often are very complex and demand more capacity and resources than such projects can allocate. The SISWG decided to address this challenge with a social impact model to guide small and medium-sized blockchain projects in measuring the social impact of their work.

The report shows an analysis and simplified classification of 20 ESG models and the creation of a sample framework for easy use as a unified model. The goal is to help startups and SMEs with no experience in impact measurement to be comparable and contribute to key compliance requirements included in the EU Commission Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) taxonomy. The framework does not set any standard nor does it intend to replace any international standard for social impact and sustainability measurements but instead supports these projects that are not subject to those standards yet to understand some of the key steps they need to follow to measure their impact through the project life cycle.

Why should you read this report?

The report is a good place to start if you are looking at blockchain SMEs or startups in the sustainability or impact space and looking for some guidance on how to set up a reporting framework. The proposed model presents a series of steps that should be taken into consideration when implementing blockchain projects with the designed capacity to measure social impact, however, the model can be applied to projects outside of the blockchain industry. In total, the model consists of 46 simple steps that provide guidance for the project life cycle and the different project phases (initiation, ideation and planning, implementation and evaluation).

Who is this report for?

Governmental bodies working in standardisation and impact measurement; responsible project and programme managers; C-Levels and startups; and founders working with blockchain projects in the sustainability or impact space. With the proposed framework they get some guidance on how to set up a reporting framework for their organisations that can be used for stockholders and investors.

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