Governments find promising use for Blockchain Technology (part 2)
Blockchain technology is part a larger framework called "Distributed Ledger Technology." We will have continued discussions concerning this and more because it is the future of government, technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) and the future of finance. Decentralization has the ability to put power back into the hands of the people. Do you agree or disagree that is a good thing? Some would disagree because the lack of trust in the human potential for good; ultimately. There is merit for this thinking; just look around the world and see how much crime has been and continues to be perpetrated when people are left to govern themselves.
This being said, it does not outweigh the fact that limited government interference in most aspects of our communities will produce a better and healthier legislative body. As I continue to bring new knowledge and ideas to you via this blog, keep an open mind and see what fits. We all have a different lens in which we will use to view the writings which are mine. Most is from other articles of attention in the blockchain and distributed ledger world (it's technical so I can only have my opinion based on the actual writing) thus I will submit the use case and give my educated opinion of the validity and utility of the news.
In light of the governments finding promise with distributed ledger technology, I tend to believe that the oldest institutions of society (government) are in a ready-set-go position to take advantage of decentralization in their processes and policies. Then we will have a true "government by the people." Let's quickly continue our 3 part series about "Government and Blockchain Technology."
In some cases, the government is able to use its assumed power or leverage with vendors to encourage compliance. Many government contracts are sought after because they produce a lucrative benefit to the winner of the contract. Yet, there are challenges from the vendor and payment as well as the government body and potential breaches of contract or compliance issues. Yet, in this scenario, the government could not only solicit work and distribute funds via blockchain-based applications, it could also drive vendor compliance by offering access to the platform as an incentive for certain corporate practices. There seems to have been negligible blockchain activity in the government procurement space, despite interesting progress on trade and shipping applications by startups, industry consortiums, and at least one foreign government. There are government blockchain clubs that are exploring ways to incorporate the right distributed ledger framework with government processes. Yes, I agree that it is time to overhaul how the federal governments do business in support of the citizens yet, it has to be the right fit and it is not a case of "if" it is surely a case of "when."
Government to Vendors. One potentially compelling G2V application is a blockchain-based chain-of-custody platform to provide supply chain assurance. Many platforms have been underway for some time in the private sector. For example I know about SHIPCHAIN, ORIGINTRAIL, CARGOX, FR8, BLOCKCARGO, to name a few. These are leading the charge in real-time visitbility and tracking of goods from actual origin to transport to loading to manufacturer to wholesale to destination to consumer. By partnering with the IOT (Internet of Things) technology is more accurate and visible and immutable on the blockchain. In this industry federal regulations must be present in order to help ensure the players are following proper protocol to make it work as intended and the government could help drive adoption by making them a precondition for federal contracting eligibility to bid on government contracts.
