Blockchain Revolution

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO SERVE SELVES AND OTHERS
Blockchain-enabled networks make government services more robust and responsive.
Self-service, in anything from renewing a permit to getting an official document, will
improve how governments operate. By freeing up time, removing the potential for

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corruption or other artificial barriers, providing self-training modules online, and
paying citizens their social security funds on time, governments empower their
citizens.
New models, many to be defined, can empower people to collaborate on public
policy goals. Through the blockchain, we can strike a new and appropriate balance
between government’s need for control and accountability for an entire budget, and
the need for individuals and groups to control and contribute to portions of that
budget. Some jurisdictions have been exploring new models to give individuals
(recipients of benefits from multiple government programs) or communities
(neighborhoods), or even entire populations (citywide) control of their own personal
budgets previously controlled by civil servants.
For example, rather than requiring individuals to apply to many different
government programs for various benefits, each with the its own criteria (income,
assets, number and age of children, type of housing, level of education, etc.), the
government platform could personalize a budget based on identity, stored information,
and production and consumption patterns including risk factors such as residence in
poor zip code, level of education, and purchase rates of cigarettes, alcohol, and
processed foods. The individual could then decide how to use the resources to achieve
his or her objectives according to his or her circumstances.
Imagine that—rather than persuading some bureaucrat that your child needs a
new winter coat, you can decide on your own! The result is increased personal
accountability and empowerment. We could do the same at the community level
(portions of budgets related to community-specific services such as parks and
community centers) or at a cross-government level (establishing priorities and then
spending discretionary budget).
Some jurisdictions are already empowering the least advantaged.
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blockchain could accelerate this trend, allowing taxpayers to see where their dollars
are flowing, how fellow citizens are using these resources, and whether programs are
achieving results (income changes, educational goals reached, housing found, etc.).
The platform reduces or even eliminates the need for time-consuming and complex
monitoring and report-backs. While the vast scope of the data and how they’re tracked
through peer-to-peer networks may sound scary and Orwellian, it is actually just the
opposite. Rather than all the data and authority resting in the hands of some central
authority or anonymous bureaucrat, individuals and communities could act based on
verified and trustworthy information. At the same time, the blockchain ledger assures
accountability for the use of public funds. We can now achieve two previously
seemingly contradictory goals: “more government” through more information and
context; and “less government” through providing information and better tools for
individual and group decision making and action within that context.

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