Inspiration
The journey began with a desire to solve one of the most pressing challenges in the charitable sector: the lack of visibility into how donated resources move through the supply chain. The goal was to ensure that items reach their intended destinations—orphanages—without being delayed, misused, or lost.
What it does
TrustChain NGO is a blockchain-based tracking system that creates an immutable record of a donation's journey. Each participant in the chain (Donor, NGO, Transmitter, and Orphanage) logs their specific contribution or hand-off. These entries are finalized on a ledger, providing a transparent, auditable trail that prevents resources from being diverted or "lost" in the system.
How we built it
The project was developed for the IBM BoB Hackathon using a modern decentralized stack:
Blockchain Integration: We utilized the Ethereum Sepolia testnet to record supply chain actions, ensuring every transaction is immutable and verifiable.
AI-Assisted Development: We leveraged IBM Bob as an AI-powered development partner to assist with debugging code and building the application interface.
Auditability: We built web forms that trigger MetaMask transactions, allowing users to sign and finalize their entries on the ledger securely.
Challenges we ran into
A significant technical challenge was implementing effective anomaly detection to prevent the system from being gamed. We had to develop a rule-based layer to flag suspicious activities, such as:
Bot-driven transactions: Identifying abnormal transaction frequencies from specific wallet addresses.
Rapid/Repetitive movements: Flagging transactions that occur too quickly or loop back to the same origin, which often indicates fraudulent "paper-shuffling."
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We successfully built a functional MVP that bridges the gap between decentralized technology and real-world humanitarian needs. Successfully integrating blockchain transparency with a rule-based auditing layer allowed us to prove that resource leakage in charities can be tracked and mitigated programmatically.
What we learned
Building a secure system taught us a great deal about the architecture of decentralized applications (dApps) and the necessity of automated auditing. We gained a deep understanding of how to manage state on the Ethereum network and how to use AI tools to accelerate the development of complex security interfaces.
What's next for TrustChain NGO
While the current MVP uses rule-based logic, the next phase involves integrating IBM Watson AI. This will allow the system to handle complex pattern recognition that moves beyond simple logic, identifying sophisticated fraud attempts. We believe combining blockchain’s transparency with AI’s analytical power is the ultimate key to rebuilding trust in charitable giving.
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