Digital transformation insights and blockchain innovation with Jesús Cepeda, OS City

Interesting conversation with Jesús Cepeda, OS City, Mexico, who recently received new funding from the UNICEF CryptoFund portfolio.

What is your own background briefly?

I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. I care about the future of cities and governance models. I’ve obtained Excellence Honors for both of my academic degrees, Mechatronics Engineer and PhD in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. As a technology entrepreneur and enthusiast, I praise data-driven strategies and top technology such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to address global challenges including making cities more sustainable and governments more trustworthy.

Does it seem like a logical background to what you do now?

From an application perspective it doesn’t. I come from using artificial intelligence for behavior-based robots’ control. I was deep into automation and emergent intelligence of robotic teams. Nevertheless, from a personal and technology-empowerment perspective it makes full sense. I’m using my technical background and personal experiences living in Monterrey, to fuse both worlds and aim towards a human collective intelligence that leverages new governance models and new approaches for cities to grow. I’m not an urbanist, not even a political scientist or government worker, yet I’m a technologist that understands how technology can serve to improve public institutions’ efficiency and trust.

Digital transformation, blockchain innovation with Jesús Cepeda

How was the last 12 months? What were your big wins?

During these last 12 months we graduated from UNICEF Innovation Blockchain Cohort, delivering tens of thousands of blockchain digital assets into the Latin-American public sector, impacting nearly 650,000 people in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico. We closed an investment agreement with Ethereum Classic, solidifying our technical capabilities to transform the public sector using blockchain, and more recently a 125ETH cryptocurrency investment provided by UNICEF Innovation and Ethereum Foundation.

Also, we consolidated close-collaboration partnerships with great multilateral organizations including the OAS, Trust for the Americas, The Development Bank for Latin America (CAF), the WEF joining as Young Global Leader 2020 and Future of Cities Global Council, and the IDB joining it’s Ethical AI Council. This network of partners have helped to reduce the high uncertainty of the last 4 months (COVID-19), they’ve helped us to create new technology modules including blockchain-backed Health Travel Visas to re-open tourism and trade in a more responsible way, and also to organize the first edition of the “Foro Govtech LATAM” (Govtech Summit Latin-America).

Last but not least, this year we were featured as a Govtech Top 100 global company. For a full list, please go to awards.os.city.

What would you have done differently?

Team went full remote during the last 4 months, closing our offices in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Productivity is way higher, costs reduced significantly, and the team feels more tightly-coupled. If we could have known this, we’d definitely go fully remote months before.

1 min pitch for what you are doing now / how are you managing during these corona times?

OS City uses top technology to help city authorities provide digital services. We give governments access to the first App Store for public institutions so they can modernize themselves safely and continuously. During these corona times, governments that were reluctant to prioritize their digital transformation have completely changed their mind, understanding that what we offer is no longer a nice to have, but a must have. Forecasting for 2020, it looks like a 2.5x growth. We can say that if something is accelerating the transformation of the Latin-American public sector it’s definitely the corona times.

What is Blockchain bringing to governments in Latin America and how Blockchain is being used by governments in Latin America?

Blockchain is essentially a technology that brings trust to any sector or industry. If we think about Latin America, the public sector is the one that lacks trust the most. Through blockchain we’re improving government’s trust, essentially by creating digital records in a tamper-proof way, we can say leapfrogging digitization and tapping into the most secure digital assets.

Examples of what we do with blockchain include subsidies delivery and traceability, commercial licensing and commercial IDs, liquor-selling permits, urban development transparency and construction permits, city-inspectors IDs, energy pricings transparency, vulnerable communities (indigenous) products traceability, and even assuring quality and origin of relevant local products. For the next months we’re delivering Health Travel Visas and, with the support of UNICEF Innovation Cryptofund, creating the first real implementation of citizen IDs.

Why do you think it is such a powerful idea?

Particularly in corona times, society needs to trust authorities and authorities need to purchase and deliver transparently. Blockchain is a game-changer for this dynamic. For the first time in history, we have a technology that guarantees security, transparency and anti-tampering.

What is your role personally? How soon will some of the projects you are supporting be up and running?

I’m the CEO at OS City. I’m essentially glueing our expertise in the technical and political backgrounds, assuring that we’re delivering value to our customers, and aiming for a healthy cash flow and significant impact on the transformation of the public sector. Today most of our projects are up and running, but in the next few months we’ll see our first blockchain-based citizen IDs, and an interesting collaboration with the national level of government in Argentina, Costa Rica and Panama, planting the seed for blockchain to transform the way their public sector operates.

How can people find out more about you personally & your work?

Company’s site is simple: os.city. About me personally: jesus.os.city.

¿Te sumas a la conversación? -> https://t.co/jLXstQzsrw
Hoy estamos justo a dos semanas del Foro Govtech Latinoamérica, el primer encuentro en su tipo para conversar sobre a dónde debemos llevar al sector público post COVID-19. #govtech #publicsector #latam #forogovtech #covid19

— chuycepeda (@chuycepeda) June 24, 2020

Who and where do you get inspiration from?

Co-founding team is key for me to keep moving. They usually see me “bigger” than I see myself, and this inspires me to be the one they believe I am. Also Co-founders’ families, just in the last months 3 out of the 4 co-founders got babies: Felicitas, German and Aranza. These babies were born under space confinement, unable to see the world as we’ve seen it. Their freedom has been truncated. I want them to live vast and freely in a healthy society and a healthier world. Maybe I should use our greatest partner tagline, our work is for every child…

??08/07 Llega el primer #ForoGovTech de América Latina! Conferencias, salas de networking, mesas con funcionarios y stands, todo 100% virtual!

INSCRIPCIONES SIN CARGO https://t.co/T7mrJCODfY
Programa actualizado https://t.co/JFNyC3pfqx pic.twitter.com/1EdCqMcqkO

— OS City (@oscitylatam) June 12, 2020

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