We’re From the Government and We Want Blockchain

Rebuilding Trust With Blockchain

Hughes, in his report, wants to implement a new platform of transparent checks and balances by moving data from behind firewalls to a more public system that increases accountability and gives citizens more control over their personal data.

“Citizens should be able to own, see, hold and control the use of their own data,” Hughes said in his report.

The ability to use blockchain to automate accounting, verification and contract fulfillment does offer the potential to reduce fraud, Manski says.

Manski points to a 2017 report by the American Council for Technology that blockchain technology could help the U.S. federal government improve governance and increase efficiency and transparency.

Although a number of British agencies, including Revenue and Customs, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and the Treasury Committee, have been expressing interest, it’s time to “act with a sense of urgency,” Hughes said. He called for Britain to focus on blockchain initiatives that “enable social freedom, on cutting the costs of economic activity, and on rebuilding societal trust of the common good.” To that end Hughes would like the government to create a “Chief Blockchain Officer” position. 

He said using blockchain for public NHS records would remove administrative burdens. Health care outcome would be improved because artificial intelligence could be used to analyze data, seeking health patterns or problems to flag for doctors. Blockchain can also be used in banking and in protecting the country’s food supply chain.

As with most new things, however, there are some perceived risks. Blockchain could offer great potential for the public good, Manski says, but there are those who think the government would also use the technology to invade privacy by increasing monitoring and surveillance.

“Technology tends in every way to reinforce existing systems of oppression,” Manski says. Therefore, technology alone will never be a solution to a social problem.”