Chairing a blockchain event a few months ago at techUK, I was asked by a civil servant how he should convince the Minister in his department that blockchain was worth pursuing in the public sector. I gave him three reasons. First, implementing blockchain will bring in huge efficiency savings at a time when European governments are struggling to cut public sector administration costs. Second, by creating a government ID using blockchain you will be able to achieve ‘joined up government’ which has always been a satisfying phrase but never a reality. And last but not least, Britain – especially post-Brexit – needs to be a country which encourages and does everything it can to bring in blockchain and distributed ledger technologies because these companies are not just building new services and business models but creating the entire architecture for how both private and public sectors will transact in the future.
Still not convinced? perhaps you were not aware that according to research by MyungSan Jun recently published in the Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity over 100 blockchain projects are being conducted to attempt to transform government services in more than 30 countries around the world. IBM has reported that it expects 9 out of 10 governments will invest in Blockchain projects by 2018.
One of the most well-known examples is Estonia’s e-Residency programme which has used blockchain technology to issue e-ID for identity verification for its citizens. But blockchain also promises to transform the way we elect governments with electronic voting systems based on blockchain being built in countries including Ukraine, Estonia, and Australia.
Meanwhile, Honduras and Georgia are trying to introduce blockchain technology for the management of their land registry and the UK is investigating how to apply blockchain technology to public services. Recently the pace has picked up in Europe and policymakers in Britain are taking a much closer interest in blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology with the launch of a new All Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain as well as, at the EU level, the creation of an EU Observatory dedicated to blockchain.
Further East, both China and Dubai – one of the first governments to engage with blockchain – have announced plans to build smart cities based on the technology. In Dubai, as well as the goal of using blockchain for all relevant government documents by 2020, the strategy has three main objectives: government efficiency, industry creation and international leadership. Other benefits of blockchain could also be mentioned – like improved information sharing and enhancing the quality of public services.
Stumbling blocks still remain (pardon the pun) including how to make cultural and organisational changes a reality, how best to evaluate blockchain pilots and demonstrate tangible benefits and cost savings and, perhaps most importantly, how to safeguard citizen’s data and ensure trust in what promises to be the new trust layer for doing government business. With the plethora of new government projects springing up, policymakers can no longer rest on their laurels. It’s time for public sector blockchain to get real.
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Helen Disney is the CEO and Founder of ‘Unblocked’, Assistant Editor at the JBBA and the Advisor for Policy, Governance & Public Affairs at the British Blockchain Association. The views, information or opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the British Blockchain Association (BBA). The BBA is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the author in this blog post.