By David Thompson
A team of eight undergraduate and graduate students recently returned from Interledger Summit 2023 in Costa Rica where they enhanced their knowledge of the protocol to create an interoperable open payments network to enable people and businesses around the globe to pay directly for goods or services using digital currency.
At the summit, students had the opportunity to showcase projects they had developed to support Interledger’s mission of making an open payments network accessible to people everywhere, particularly those in marginalized communities. The students also learned more about digital financial platforms and Interledger’s value proposition.
“Interledger’s Summit offered a phenomenal opportunity for students to showcase their progression with digital financial services from awareness through courses, workshops and collaboration through micro-internships,” said Dr. Andrew Mangle, professor of management information systems in the College of Business. “Bowie State is committed to working directly with the Interledger Foundation to support historically marginalized groups to create and connect them to inclusive financial services.”
The Interledger Protocol creates an interoperable open payments system that isn’t limited by currencies or location. Challenges they face range from technical requirements connecting the unbanked to effectively communicating to people the importance of participating in the paradigm shift of regularly using digital financial services. The ultimate goal of open payment systems is to make sending money as simple and easy as sending an email.
Felicia Ilori, a graduate student who attended the Interledger Summit, participated as a panelist and the micro-internship program. Ilori says there are all types of customized projects that need to be implemented to help people understand the technology and benefits of using the Interledger Protocol to facilitate an open payment system.
“The conference really opened my eyes,” said Ilori. “Just being there and meeting students from other colleges and universities was encouraging because we’re all striving for the same goal.
A portion of the $150,000 grant Bowie State received from the Interledger Foundation this year for engaging HBCU students to support digital financial inclusion was used to fund the trip to Costa Rica. Last year 9 students travelled to New Orleans to attend the Interledger Summit also enabled by funds from the Foundation.