what is your first memory as a child
do you remember it was at your first
ride on the bicycle or blowing candles
in your third birthday
mine was running down the stairs of our
building in Kuwait holding on to my
superhero toy
junga junga albertalli Jabbar
under disguise of explosions we left to
Lebanon that was the breakout of the
Gulf War and 1990 I was only five years
old crying over losing my toys but
little did I know that I also lost my
identity in this world you prove that
you exist because there are paper
documents given to you by your
government preserved in a centralized
system during the Gulf War the birth
registries got destroyed and I lost the
only proof of my existence my birth
certificate it’s a human right that
seems so natural for everyone in this
room it was robbed from me in one
instant and I became the Invisible Man
I’m not gonna do magic show here not
gonna disappear and I don’t have magical
super powers it’s quite the opposite the
title invisible is given by governments
to people who do not have birth
certificates but I feel blessed I feel
blessed because at birth
I had this document issued for me even
though I lost it at the age of five
because according to do and 290 million
children under the age of five do not
have a birth certificate at birth and
they’re not only denied their basic
human rights like education health care
and mobility
but they’re vulnerable they’re
vulnerable for trafficking and child
labor so today I’m here to share a story
about lost identity how becoming the
Invisible Man gave me the super powers
to break identity barriers leveraging a
technology like blockchain I was raised
in Lebanon I went to school
graduated from University in a degree
with business management in 2011 I
landed a job in The Hague or than half
at a software company and I grew my
passion for cryptocurrencies and
blockchain to be honest I was living the
Dutch dream complaining about taxes
complaining about the weather and I even
had a dog but dreams do not last forever
even if they are Dutch September 23 2014
I was sleeping at home in my own bed
wrapped with my fluffy IKEA blanket
September 24 2014 I’m sleeping on the
cold floor of the detention center of
the immigration enter Apple in 24 hours
my life was changed why well my work
contract was not renewed and my
residency to stay in the Netherlands was
cancelled as the holder of a Syrian
Passport in 2014 the only chance to stay
in the Netherlands was to apply for
asylum there at the immigration center I
gave all my documents passport Dutch
residency even my library card and now I
became literally invisible the only
thing was left on me other than my
clothes of course was more a smartphone
3G internet and Bitcoin wallet now as
you can imagine
the food menu in a refugee camp or what
we call an asset say is not from a
four-star menu for breakfast we had
three slices of bread with some cheese
for lunch it was one egg with a cup of
soup for dinner to us some rice with
vegetables so for one day
it’s nice food for three weeks I
consider it a diet but for three months
it was unpleasant so I had bitcoins on
my phone and there was ties wizard
Pantanal it was for the people who don’t
know what stars or let’s say food
takeaway website what do you think
happened next
a large pepperoni pizza
was delivered to the assets a in therapy
the gods were amazed how did this come
here who ordered it from inside and the
refugees were asking me how did you pay
for it they had cash on them what they
cannot pay online even worse with their
confiscated identities they cannot
transact digitally because financial
institutions like Western Union or even
banks they require some sort of
identification soon we were having
feasts in the camp and even some of my
friends were able to wire digital money
back home to their families it felt like
a victory because we broke the walls of
their apple and my journey I moved
between five camps and I felt everywhere
that we are all invisible so I started
thinking to myself bitcoin helped us and
the blockchain technology helped us to
break the financial barriers can it help
us break the identity barriers and the
answer is yes the blockchain technology
can help us build digital identities
that are resistant to loss and to fraud
identities that can be signed by
institutions and these digital
signatures cannot be forged it can help
us build a world where we control our
identities and we decide with whom to
share it in the past two years I
partnered with international NGOs and I
led discussions with the World Bank the
Dutch government and even the European
Union
on how can we build digital identities
that are inclusive for everyone because
it also matters for you people your
digital data identity needs to be with
you and not with centralized
organizations that can misuse it or that
can lose it so in my journey as an
Invisible Man moving between asset says
for two years it was painful but I will
never complain because today I look back
and I see how blessed I was to be a
refugee in the Netherlands because 290
million children they wake up for the
same reality every day that they do not
exist so are we going to do something
about it and the answer is with the
people in this room because it’s only up
to us to support represent and create a
world where everyone is invincible thank
you
[Applause] [Music]
do you remember it was at your first
ride on the bicycle or blowing candles
in your third birthday
mine was running down the stairs of our
building in Kuwait holding on to my
superhero toy
junga junga albertalli Jabbar
under disguise of explosions we left to
Lebanon that was the breakout of the
Gulf War and 1990 I was only five years
old crying over losing my toys but
little did I know that I also lost my
identity in this world you prove that
you exist because there are paper
documents given to you by your
government preserved in a centralized
system during the Gulf War the birth
registries got destroyed and I lost the
only proof of my existence my birth
certificate it’s a human right that
seems so natural for everyone in this
room it was robbed from me in one
instant and I became the Invisible Man
I’m not gonna do magic show here not
gonna disappear and I don’t have magical
super powers it’s quite the opposite the
title invisible is given by governments
to people who do not have birth
certificates but I feel blessed I feel
blessed because at birth
I had this document issued for me even
though I lost it at the age of five
because according to do and 290 million
children under the age of five do not
have a birth certificate at birth and
they’re not only denied their basic
human rights like education health care
and mobility
but they’re vulnerable they’re
vulnerable for trafficking and child
labor so today I’m here to share a story
about lost identity how becoming the
Invisible Man gave me the super powers
to break identity barriers leveraging a
technology like blockchain I was raised
in Lebanon I went to school
graduated from University in a degree
with business management in 2011 I
landed a job in The Hague or than half
at a software company and I grew my
passion for cryptocurrencies and
blockchain to be honest I was living the
Dutch dream complaining about taxes
complaining about the weather and I even
had a dog but dreams do not last forever
even if they are Dutch September 23 2014
I was sleeping at home in my own bed
wrapped with my fluffy IKEA blanket
September 24 2014 I’m sleeping on the
cold floor of the detention center of
the immigration enter Apple in 24 hours
my life was changed why well my work
contract was not renewed and my
residency to stay in the Netherlands was
cancelled as the holder of a Syrian
Passport in 2014 the only chance to stay
in the Netherlands was to apply for
asylum there at the immigration center I
gave all my documents passport Dutch
residency even my library card and now I
became literally invisible the only
thing was left on me other than my
clothes of course was more a smartphone
3G internet and Bitcoin wallet now as
you can imagine
the food menu in a refugee camp or what
we call an asset say is not from a
four-star menu for breakfast we had
three slices of bread with some cheese
for lunch it was one egg with a cup of
soup for dinner to us some rice with
vegetables so for one day
it’s nice food for three weeks I
consider it a diet but for three months
it was unpleasant so I had bitcoins on
my phone and there was ties wizard
Pantanal it was for the people who don’t
know what stars or let’s say food
takeaway website what do you think
happened next
a large pepperoni pizza
was delivered to the assets a in therapy
the gods were amazed how did this come
here who ordered it from inside and the
refugees were asking me how did you pay
for it they had cash on them what they
cannot pay online even worse with their
confiscated identities they cannot
transact digitally because financial
institutions like Western Union or even
banks they require some sort of
identification soon we were having
feasts in the camp and even some of my
friends were able to wire digital money
back home to their families it felt like
a victory because we broke the walls of
their apple and my journey I moved
between five camps and I felt everywhere
that we are all invisible so I started
thinking to myself bitcoin helped us and
the blockchain technology helped us to
break the financial barriers can it help
us break the identity barriers and the
answer is yes the blockchain technology
can help us build digital identities
that are resistant to loss and to fraud
identities that can be signed by
institutions and these digital
signatures cannot be forged it can help
us build a world where we control our
identities and we decide with whom to
share it in the past two years I
partnered with international NGOs and I
led discussions with the World Bank the
Dutch government and even the European
Union
on how can we build digital identities
that are inclusive for everyone because
it also matters for you people your
digital data identity needs to be with
you and not with centralized
organizations that can misuse it or that
can lose it so in my journey as an
Invisible Man moving between asset says
for two years it was painful but I will
never complain because today I look back
and I see how blessed I was to be a
refugee in the Netherlands because 290
million children they wake up for the
same reality every day that they do not
exist so are we going to do something
about it and the answer is with the
people in this room because it’s only up
to us to support represent and create a
world where everyone is invincible thank
you
[Applause] [Music]
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