Blockchain ‘Premature’ for Public Sector

Lithuanian Agriculture Minister: Blockchain ‘Premature’ for Public Sector

This week, one of Lithuania’s top agricultural officials said blockchain technology likely has a serious future in the agriculture industry. Yet the official, Vice Minister Venantas Griciūnas, also noted it was too early to integrate distributed ledgers in the public sector, lest the fledgling tech’s early vulnerabilities be exploited. 

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Not Ready for Implementation … Yet

In remarks to agriculture news portal IEG Policy, Lithuania’s Vice Minister of Agriculture Griciūnas said this week it would be “premature” to implement blockchain technology in the public sector while it’s still unclear what shortcomings could arise from such implementations. 

The minister said that, like every technology, distributed ledgers have their practical limitations, particularly as they’re so nascent. However, the official also argued that blockchain does have the potential to revolutionize the agriculture industry in the years ahead, e.g. via supply chain innovations. 

“There is no doubt that in the future this technology will affect agriculture,” he said.

“It is likely to stimulate and broaden the range of research opportunities in agriculture.”

Griciūnas also qualified that his ministry had no plans to take a formal promotional stance of any sort toward the fledgling tech, but rather it would watch from afar as blockchain gradually evolved.

“The use and application of technology is dictated by the market and the need and financial capacity of each individual company,” he said.

“After all, the ministry cannot promote Cloud solutions, SAP or Microsoft systems. All of this is dictated by natural technological progress and economic development.”

Taking a Back Seat? Kind Of

The Baltic nation could trail far behind other nations if the government pursues a laid-back approach towards blockchain, at least as other countries around the world are conducting considerably more proactive campaigns in the arena.

However, for its part, the country’s private sector has aggressively embraced blockchain technology and the cryptoeconomy.

According to the token-listing platform ICO Watchlist, the tiny European nation positioned itself for a time as 13th globally and eighth in the European Union regarding the number of Initial Coin Offerings it was home for. Lithuania has accounted for above two percent of all ICO projects to date.

Also, Lithuania’s capital Vilnius is home to the International Blockchain Center, which offers blockchain startups shared office space.

Should the Lithuanian government take a more active approach toward distributed ledgers? Share your views in the comments section.

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