Arun Maharajan, blockchain lead at UNICEF, has been named a jury member for FirstBlock-athon.

What he brings to the table

At UNICEF he works on applying frontier technologies to digital public goods — infrastructure meant to benefit children and communities rather than to return a profit.

That is a particular kind of judgement to have in the room. Teams at a hackathon are rewarded for building something that works in 48 hours. Someone who deploys technology in places where failure has consequences will ask a different question: whether it survives contact with the people it was built for.

Fits what the event says it wants

The organisers have set out eight areas for participants, and only two of them are finance. One of the problem statements released so far comes from a charity asking how donors can see where their money actually goes.

A jury member from UNICEF is consistent with that. It also raises the bar on what counts as impact, which the event has made its stated theme.

FirstBlock-athon runs 7–11 September in Stockholm as part of Nordic Tech Week 2026. Applications are open.

More on what's built on the blockchain beyond finance in Onchain Build.