A recent survey by HSBC bank found that 60% of consumers have never heard of blockchain and that 80% of consumers who claimed to have heard of it don’t understand it at all. For many people it is still “something far away” and the constantly dropping cryptocurrency rates do not really help to hype this pioneering technology. It is believed that technology is to be of interest only to large companies while, in fact, practical applications for consumers already do exist. Recently I have been able to discuss the impact of blockchain on our society in depth. I always share the following top 4 implementations of the technology for consumers that already exist:

1) From Seed To Sale

The many food scandals of the past few years and the constant disclosures by consumer organizations about misleading products, from broiler chicken to horse steak, haven’t contributed to the good name of the industry. More than half of consumers now want to know exactly where products come from and how they are made, particularly because buying decisions are increasingly being based on the level of environmental and social responsibility shown by the producing company. Recent research also shows that making this supply chain transparent can ensure lifelong relationships with customers.

Many companies are currently realizing this wish at great speed. Albert Heijn started a pilot with orange juice, allowing consumers to see the entire chain via an app all the way back to the tree. Fairfood has placed Indonesian coconuts and Colombian coffee on the blockchain, not only to make the entire chain transparent for consumers but also to draw attention to the unfair way in which profit is shared in the chain, which pushes many farmers to live below the poverty line. The American supermarket Walmart went one step further; from next year it wants to put all its fruit and vegetables on the blockchain.

It is not just food but also products like diamonds, cannabis, drugs, and cars that already have been successfully placed on the blockchain. This has not only led to more significant transparency in the chain but has also demonstrated cost reduction and more efficient use of materials.

2) Payments

Blockchain technology predominantly gained a reputation in relation to financial transactions. Not just the Bitcoin blockchain, which started the revolution 10 years ago, but also predecessors such as Digicash focused on simplifying transactions. It is likely that the blockchain will have the biggest impact in this area in the time to come, resulting in many positive outcomes for consumers. It will reduce transaction costs as well as the duration of a transaction. This will have a major impact in developing countries in particular since a regular transaction through companies like Western Union can sometimes take a few days and they can charge up to 10% of the transaction amount.

There are already various Bitcoin ATMs throughout the Netherlands and the introduction of Bakkt, a project that wants to support the massive adoption of cryptocurrencies by offering a trusted infrastructure for trading, launching and storing the currency, is expected to give the go-ahead for further development from crypto payments.

3) Retaking Control Of Your Own Data

Personally, I consider the opportunity for consumers to reclaim control over their own data to be one of the best examples of the applications of blockchain technology. Various projects have already been successfully started in the Netherlands whereby, for example, personal data is put on the blockchain to allow processes to run more efficiently and without errors. For example, hospitals currently print out data from patients and send it by post to another hospital where another employee captures the information. The startup Labchain from Heerlen, the Netherlands, ensures that by putting patient’s medical data on the blockchain the data can instantly be exchanged with another hospital cheaply and without errors.

Various Dutch municipalities are already experimenting with placing WMO (Social Security Support) and PGB (Personally Allocated Budget) files on the blockchain that usually involve other organizations too. By placing these files on the blockchain, they are always available in real-time, while it also guarantees that everybody will use and access the latest version, something that currently often goes wrong and which has unpleasant consequences for the people involved.

Facebook and Google own more data about us than we would like. Furthermore, various studies show that advertisements and popups are perceived as very negative and that more and more people are therefore installing adblockers. Various applications have already been developed on the blockchain, which give consumers power over their own data and whereby advertisers can let the consumer pay directly for the supply information, without the intervention of the Facebook and Google advertising duo. A technology that brought the Dutch startup Faktor fame is the one from which the very popular Brave web browser originated.

4) Validate Authenticity

The European Union has calculated that 5% of imported products are counterfeit. This doesn’t just mean Nike shoes and Louis Vuitton bags; products like Chiquita bananas, olives and medicines are also being copied on a large scale. Tens of thousands of people die in Africa every year because 1 in 10 medicines sold is, in fact, fake.

By putting products on the blockchain and providing them with NFC (microchips), consumers not only have the possibility of reviewing the production chain of a product, but they can also check whether the product is genuine. Kayne West already did this with his sneaker line and H&M has set up a pilot with the Chinese blockchain startup VeChain to allow consumers to trace their clothing.

Capgemini has calculated that the use of technology by banks and insurers will save the average consumer $500. Blockchain startups are currently introducing new applications for consumers at great speed that will allow items to become more efficiently, cheaply and easily accessible. This ranges from loyalty programs to insurance, and from charities to real estate.

However, there is still much that needs to be done before a real mass adoption of the technology will become reality. Applications must be made more user-friendly as well as easier and faster to scale up. Stablecoins are expected to eliminate the strong volatility of crypto rates and bring consumers confidence that the value of currency won’t drop sharply and suddenly.

I’m looking forward already to all the great developments that will come in 2019!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Criminal money, climate killers and privacy violations

Technology for criminals, the reason why the Earth will warm up even faster and breaches of privacy: I have participated in all sorts of lively discussions, recently, that discussed the impact and use of the blockchain technology. I partly blame the current negative sentiment of the trade in cryptocurrencies and a number of unfounded and erroneous articles published in the media for the many misconceptions that still linger in relation to blockchain technology and everything that comes with it. The time has come to provide a substantiated response to the most important issues.

1) The Obscene Amount Of Energy Consumed For Blockchain Contributes Strongly To Global Warming

A frequently noted, negative attitude towards blockchain technology is that it requires a massive amount of energy to keep the technology going. A recent article in the respected magazine Nature calculated that the energy needed to maintain the Bitcoin blockchain network will cause the Earth to heat up by 2 degrees. Other newspapers that I like to read, such as The Guardian, also gave wide coverage to this claim. Unfortunately, all articles made it clear that those researchers sharing their analysis have not yet fully grasped the technology.

Almost all articles discuss only the technology behind Bitcoin, the so-called “consensus method” (“Proof of Work”) and the “hash rate” which, in the case of Bitcoin, consumes a lot of energy. Unfortunately, it is never mentioned that Bitcoin accounts for only 50% of all cryptocurrencies and that more than 50 other “consensus methods” have already been developed that significantly reduce the hash rate and therefore consume much less energy.

If the blockchain were run only on fossil fuel, you would indeed have the calculated consumption that all media point out. Considering the many projects that already exist whereby the blockchain fully runs on clean energy, these calculations and claims will be considerably watered down. For example, the massive amounts of energy that are left over at wind farms in Morocco and hydroelectric power stations in Canada now have a purpose. Europe is increasingly witnessing how these mining operations (maintaining the blockchain network; securing and validating transactions) are moving to Iceland. This country is 100% dependent on clean energy.

Blockchain Technology

Unfortunately, the researchers fail to consider what it is that the blockchain technology is going to replace. For example, if the blockchain is going to replace certain aspects of banks, the notarial office, etc., as is currently anticipated, various calculations conclude that this will require less than 30% of the energy currently used for this. Gone are the days of the need for infrastructures like physical bank buildings, equipment or traveling employees. That will save energy too.

A comparison with new technologies, ranging from computers to cars, shows that these have always been very energy-consuming during the introduction. The rapid development of these has ultimately resulted in electric cars and quantum computers. When we only consider the super-fast developments of, for example, the Bitcoin blockchain, such as the implementation of ‘Segwit’ and ‘Lightning’, which ensure a higher transaction speed and sharply reducing energy consumption, then it will be, once again, only a matter of time before the impact decreases.

2) Bitcoin And Blockchain Is Mainly Used By Criminals

Unfortunately, criminals tend to prefer various cryptocurrencies, just like fiat money such as Euros and Dollars. Its use for the illegal online marketplace “Silk Road”, where all transactions were done in Bitcoin, was the main reason that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin shot to fame among the general public. Research by the US Drug Enforcement Agency has already concluded that less than 5% of global crypto transactions can be linked to criminal activities. US government specialists have now even reversed this discussion, stating that Bitcoin is one of the best traceable currencies in the world. Blockchain technology provides various tools with which to identify the owners, track transactions and recognize patterns by which criminal activities can be identified.

Experts claim that the new cryptocurrencies that try to offer an alternative for this, such as Monero and ZCash, are too small for big criminals to provide a meaningful purpose. Experts are also still able to track transactions.

3) Our Privacy Is Being Swept Away By The Blockchain

The basic principle of blockchain technology, as introduced by the mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto, raises many questions about the privacy of the data stored on the blockchain. Some components are at odds with European GDPR legislation and many people are concerned about the decentralization of data storage.

It is very positive to see that all kinds of new developments completely eliminate these concerns. The Enigma project from MIT ensures that data can be stored anonymously on the blockchain since it is distributed among the various participants in the network (nodes), who each cannot see the data themselves, but can prove that nothing wrong has happened with it. The “secret contracts” the team has managed to develop on this basis ensure optimum privacy when creating so-called “smart contracts”, as the transactions themselves are not even disclosed.

Many of the companies, consortia, and governments that are currently fully implementing blockchain technology also use so-called “private blockchains”, which ensure that only pre-approved participants can participate in the network. This not only satisfies a few important GDPR obstacles inherent to existing public blockchains but also ensures that the privacy of the data is better guaranteed.

There are also several startups that, using blockchain technology, want to increase the privacy of its users in different ways. A good example of this is the Dutch start-up Faktor, which offers consumers full control of their data.

4) Blockchain = Bitcoin

Like wine and a beautiful cigar, Blockchain and Bitcoin can go very well together, but can also operate perfectly stand-alone.

As they were both launched at the same time, many people still consider them to be the same. However, Bitcoin is really the original form of a cryptocurrency, just like the 2,000+ other cryptocurrencies that have been introduced since. What all these currencies have in common is the technology on which they run; the blockchain.

5) This Will Only Have An Impact On The Banking Sector

Perhaps because of the publication of the original “white paper” about the Bitcoin and Blockchain, which mainly discussed a “Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, many tens of thousands of blockchain projects have been created in all possible sectors and countries. I discussed this in a previous post. From medication in healthcare and the registration of refugees in war-torn countries to vegetables in the supermarket and the collection of plastic; the special and practical applications the blockchain technology offers globally are endless.
 
Blockchain is indispensable in our society and will lead to many bizarre and beautiful developments in the time to come. As CEO of two companies in the industry, I will enthusiastically continue to follow this every day! Read my previous posts about blockchain here.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Consortia, Stable Coins, Killer Apps, ETFs, And Others

The number of large companies embracing the blockchain technology and keen to start using it in different ways is growing every day. Many tens of thousands of people are currently being recruited to enable this implementation. The various major challenges of technology, such as speed, energy consumption, and privacy, are rapidly being picked up by the many thousands of startups in the sector. Blockchain is also called “the internet 3.0” and is often compared to the rise and impact of the internet on our society. The developments in technology and everything associated with them is going incredibly fast. In my previous post, I listed some special, working implementations. In this post, I will take a look at the five important follow-up steps for technology in the coming period.

Standards & Regulations

It is often said that the best prerequisite for companies to innovate is to have as few legislations and regulations as possible. Yet the demand for legislation and regulation, like for standards, is increasing. Whereas policymakers now primarily focus on regulating the trade in cryptocurrencies and ICOs, half of the implementing companies indicated in a recent major study that current regulations are hampering further implementation.

Since many solutions are not yet mentioned in the current legislation, such as the crypt graphic storage of medical data, innovation and development are being hampered.

The demand for standards for this technology is much greater. Github (the Facebook for software developers) is currently aware of over 6,500 active blockchain projects, all of which use different platforms, protocols, privacy standards, and programming languages. To be able to continue taking major steps, it is important to look closely at standards that will be used for the development and implementation of blockchain applications. This can help companies to cooperate better in terms of development, integration within existing systems and better alignment with each other. Hyperledger has already developed the first standards, the Decentralized Identity Foundation, and Ethereum Enterprise. These are already a major step in the right direction.

Collaborating Consortia

As I mentioned in my previous point, a collaboration between companies is essential to facilitate major breakthroughs with blockchain technology. There are currently 51 active consortia that band more than 300 companies to work on certain standards, train staff, explore possibilities and build applications. This is a very positive development for the technology since it clearly indicates how important the (often large) affiliated companies consider this to be. Some consortia have originated in certain industries, others to provide technical implications.

The best known are R3 (which unites more than 100 companies in the financial sector), B3i (which does the same with 15 major insurance companies) and MOBI (which does the same with major car brands such as BMW, Renault, and GM). One of the best-known consortia is Hyperledger. This is an “open source” blockchain to which Accenture, IBM, and SAP are connected and where they collaborate on a “permissioned” blockchain. Although this is at odds with the original blockchain principles (which is meant to be “unpermissioned”), the first jointly developed product, Fabric, has already been successfully launched.

Technological Challenges

One of the biggest points of criticism of the blockchain that is often mentioned is the transaction speed. This is partly due to the various consensus methods (the process with which a transaction can be agreed within a blockchain network) and the structure of the chain itself.
 The speed of Bitcoin (3–7 transactions) is often compared to that of VISA (24,000), but in reality, VISA performs “only” 1,700 transactions per second. Blockchain startups such as ICON have already reached a speed of 10,000 transactions per second.

New consensus methods have also greatly reduced the required computer capacity and associated energy consumption to run the blockchain networks. While Bitcoin uses the energy-guzzling “proof of work” method, some fifty others are already being used. This includes “proof of stake” and the “Federated Byzantine Agreement”.

By means of Directed Acyclic Graphs, the structure of the block chains itself is also critically considered. Directed Acyclic Graphs allow for faster confirmation of transactions.

According to many blockchain specialists, we are now in the third generation of the blockchain. What started with simple transactions from Bitcoin (1st) and was expanded with “Smart Contracts” (2nd), we now consider the form in which the different block chains and other techniques work together.

Financial Receivables

Investors in cryptocurrency are anxiously waiting for a so-called “ETF” (Exchange Trade Fund) to be approved by the US SEC. More than 25 requests have already been submitted, but they have always been rejected because there is still too little regulation and price manipulations are still the order of the day. ETFs, ensure that you can trade in cryptocurrency without owning any. Therefore, it is expected that activating an ETF will bring large amounts of money onto the market, which will certainly increase the value of the various cryptocurrencies. Often the comparison is made with the first ETF that became available for trading in gold, which strongly multiplied the underlying price.

The high volatility of the different cryptocurrencies have been great for some early investors, but disastrous for many who joined late. To greatly reduce volatility and to ensure that the coins actually retain the same value, various ‘stable coins’ have been created. Where there were only five projects at the start of the year, there are currently 30 with several hundreds of millions of euros in raised investments.

Stable Coins

One of those is the controversial “Tether”, which claims to be linked to the US Dollar. In addition to money, these ‘stable coins’ are also linked to precious metals such as gold, coupled to other stable coins (crypto-collateral, such as Haaven), ‘Central Bank Mechanisms’ (applying the same method that central banks use to regulate price stability) and ‘hybrid solutions’ (a combination of two or more techniques). The development of these coins draws a mixed response since on the one hand, it will greatly reduce the manipulation of the rates and thus accelerate the creation of an ETF, but on the other hand, it can also offer the authorities more control over the market when they introduce their own coins.
Apart from the ETFs, much work is also being done on “Digital Asset Receipts” (a type of ETFs) and “Bakkt”, which will make Bitcoin future contracts possible.

Killing The Hype

The big commotion about the advance of Bitcoin at the end of last year and the explosion of ICOs afterward has, in my opinion, helped to give blockchain technology a bad name. ICOs sometimes raised tens or hundreds of millions of euros, despite that they only had a draft plan, but we’re drowning in money and all the negative consequences that that entails. Last year some 85% of the ICOs turned out to be a scam, and the result was that investors almost always lost their stake. As many people still consider the blockchain and cryptocurrencies to be the same, many feel they have been let down by the technology.
In addition, the technology is often presented as a solution for everything that is going wrong in the world or is being used as a solution for issues for which it is not required in the first place. This can be harmful as the growing number of promised solutions that cannot be delivered can put the overall implementation in a negative light.

Waiting For The Killer App

Like in the early years of the internet, an awful lot of funny, interesting and useful applications are added to/built for the technology. These are applications that offer enormous efficiency gains, solve problems or even offer functionalities that were previously not possible. However, we are still waiting for the real “killer app”, similar to what email and social media were for the internet. Not CryptoKitties, but a real solution that will lead to massive, global adoption of the technology.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Refugees, turkeys, the collection of plastic and endangered species.

While there are still critics discarding blockchain technology, insanely cool applications that previously would not have been possible without the technology are released onto the market every day. They cover anything, from art to football and from food to refugees. As I run two blockchain companies and discuss the subject often, I am frequently asked about special, working applications. I hereby list the favorites that I have come across in recent weeks.

Of course, I really like it that Albert Heijn uses blockchain to explain to the consumer how the private label orange juice makes it to the shelves. The scanning of a QR code makes it possible for the consumer to view the entire production chain starting at the tree. In addition, the app contains additional information about the harvest as well as the acidity of the bottle in question. Consumers in the United States can already do this for 30% of milk cartons, and the supermarket chain Walmart — where currently only lettuce and spinach can be traced back to the farmer — aims to have all vegetables on the blockchain before September 2019.

Cargill has even made the traditional turkey fully traceable during last Thanksgiving via blockchain. It went all the way down to the loft where the bird had lived. India goes one step further and is currently investigating the possibilities of putting the entire distribution of dairy products, vegetables and fish on the blockchain. This to optimize the logistics process and to combat food waste.

International Top Football Clubs

Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, two international top football clubs, have issued their own “fantoken” through the Socios platform, which predicts that this will see the investment of $300 million into the sports sector. Various football clubs in the United Kingdom are going to issue their own token to raise money and the company Tokenstars uses the blockchain to facilitate the donation of money to young top athletes who would otherwise be unable to participate in sports. There is even talk of a “Fan-Controlled Football League (FCFL)”, where fans are offered the opportunity to greatly enhance their football experience. Playing decisions by the fans can be made in real time via the app, enabling them to be the coach and General Manager of the team.

Cars Manufacturers

Various car manufacturers are already busy with broad implementation of the blockchain. Several manufacturers have introduced their own joint coin to share data between cars and to use cars to make payments. Porsche, together with the Berlin startup XAIN, has investigated the possibility of putting the entire history of antique Porsches on the blockchain. Daimler (Mercedes, Smart) has introduced its own coin, the MobiCoin, to reward drivers for environmentally friendly driving. Other modes of transport will follow soon. The manager of the Russian railway network, for example, has already achieved considerable efficiency gains by putting her operations on the blockchain. Together with IBM, Maersk has developed a system that can significantly speed up all handling of containers (sometimes 18 different signatures are required). Several airlines have already placed some of their business elements on the blockchain, including loyalty programs, maintenance contracts, and communication systems for delayed and canceled flights.

The number of projects that have a real social impact is really cool to see. IBM and the PlasticBank have set up a project in Haiti that pays the locals in tokens (with which they can buy food) when they collect plastic from the beach and from the ocean. The number of robberies has fallen sharply and the amount of plastic that has been cleared in the last three years is so vast that the project will soon be expanded to various other countries. The World Food Program in Jordan has put the data of refugees on the blockchain to ensure that various aid organizations can always access the data. In addition, money for refugees to purchase food and goods is distributed via the blockchain.

The De Beers Group

The De Beers Group, the world’s best-known diamond company, has put its entire logistical funnel, from digging to selling, on the blockchain to block diamonds from conflict areas or which have been mined through slavery and to prove the authenticity of those that make it to De Beers. Moreocer, The Chinese government has even put its waste processing on the blockchain to increase its efficiency and to track carbon assets. In Palestine, Bitcoin is widely used to make payments, receive money and to invest, as many of the common banking services are blocked by the Israeli government.

The startup Bitgive has made the donating of money to charities and the eventual spending of it transparent, and the non-profit Care for the Uncared from Uganda tags endangered species such as blue whales, Indian tigers, Asiatic elephants, and pandas, etc., to map the movements and health of the animals and to protect them better through blockchain. Soon you will even be able to support an individual animal with Bitcoin J

NFC KPI chips are linked to the blockchain to authenticate artworks, to follow the aforementioned turkeys and even to see if Kayne sneakers are real. Even space organizations NASA and ESA are implementing blockchain on a large scale since previous tests have already yielded great results in the field of efficient communication and collaboration.
 

In my next post, I will discuss the next steps in the field of blockchain technology.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Since governments usually don’t take the lead when it comes to innovation, it is very special to see that local governments in the Netherlands are already experimenting extensively and have implemented several blockchain technologies. Mutual trust is pivotal for this technology and, in addition to ownership, this will be organized significantly better with blockchain technologies. All of this can lead to groundbreaking innovations for local governments. As diehard crypto enthusiasts have a more libertarian idea in mind whereby the government is bypassed by technology, they are skeptical about the idea where local governments still play a role in developing and adopting the technology. Experts even anticipate that national currencies will be replaced by cryptocurrencies in 2030.

Whereas in recent times, governments have mainly been busy regulating both blockchain and cryptocurrencies (especially to combat fraudulent ICOs), the government is currently working at all possible levels to see how they can incorporate the technology itself. Countries like Sweden, Venezuela, Canada, China, Japan have successfully placed services on the blockchain and Russia is even considering issuing its own cryptocurrency.

“What I see here I have not seen anywhere else in the world. The Netherlands is further than well-known blockchain hubs such as Dubai and Singapore,” blockchain guru Vinay Gupta recently said. I have put a number of inspiring developments together.

Administrative Processes

Many municipalities have predominantly started implementing blockchain to reduce their own administration costs. Apart from bringing the costs down, this will also contribute to a strong improvement in transparency and a significant reduction in the bureaucracy of the organizations. A Belgian director recently said,

“We are able to automate all administrative processes via the blockchain that we cannot abolish. We no longer need civil servants behind the counter but can send them out, into society, where their presence is needed the most.”

The most extraordinary applications in this field are already being tested, such as the “DIY marriage/divorce”, that allows for getting married or divorced without the intervention of an official. The Municipality of Utrecht has put the data of its citizens on the blockchain to enable all possible affiliated chain partners, such as schools, libraries, and churches, to adjust the data and always have the most current version available. Moreover, The data is always up-to-date and is better protected by the predefined permissions to access.

Digital Information

Digital information can also be significantly better authenticated and 100% securely saved. This includes invoices, permits, subsidies, etc.. This prevents the fraud that commonly occurs these days, and does away with the need for citizens and entrepreneurs to visit the town hall for every application. Haarlem Municipality is currently conducting a pilot project.

The Municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn has already placed elements of its tenders on the blockchain. When a lamppost fails, a work order is automatically generated and interested parties can register for this project automatically. The submissions are checked by means of a smart contract and the winning party is allowed to start the assignment immediately. Once the lamppost recognizes that the problem has been solved, the company will be paid immediately. It is a process that saves a lot of paperwork and time across the board.

Rotterdam Municipality has placed its real estate contracts on the blockchain, which allows them to conclude leases faster and easier, monitor payments and to conduct management more transparently.

Parking is another example of services that can be arranged and maintained much more efficiently. An app facilitates both the purchase of a card and searches for available parking spots. This solves the large-scale fraud with parking permits for disabled people instantly as enforcers can quickly verify the validity of the permit based on license plates. The cities along the Drecht river (Dordrecht, Papendrecht, Sliedrecht, and Zwijndrecht) are currently conducting a pilot project.

Social Domain

The entire care chain is also expecting major changes, such as with the PGB. This often involves various parties in the value chain, all of whom have their own decentralized system. Using one central, shared database not only reduces the number of errors made when transferring data but also speeds up the various processes involved considerably. Amsterdam Municipality is busy working on a SmartPGB (Personally Allocated Budget), which allows patients to purchase their own care themselves through predefined ‘smart contracts’. The blockchain validates this with an agreement and makes payments automatically, thereby making declarations superfluous and reduces fraud greatly.

Zuidhorn Municipality has, for example, placed the validation of its “child packages” on the blockchain and the Groningen Municipality has introduced the “Stadjerspas” which allows people with a low income to receive discounts at the many dozens of organizations in the city. The organizations can check immediately whether the person in question is still entitled to the discount and can record the discount given on the blockchain.

Several municipalities are also busy placing “kitchen table discussions” on the blockchain. This will make it easier to see who has had an appointment with people with a specific need for care, without disclosing substantive details. This assists people in debt counseling too as the entire payment chain is placed on the blockchain. As payments are being made via the blockchain, all parties in the chain (health care providers, energy suppliers, home rental agencies) receive their payment before the remaining money is transferred to the client.

In addition to getting clearer where possible problems arise, the deadline for applying for a 2-month allowance expires and debts can even be prevented.

Voting

Unfortunately, the technology does not yet make it possible to fully digitalize voting. Nevertheless, Groningen Municipality had a national scoop when it counted votes digitally. This took place at five polling stations during a recently held referendum. In Sierra Leone, all votes were even counted using the blockchain and the US state of West Virginia is already experimenting with voting via an app for soldiers stationed overseas. By means of face recognition, the identity of the voter is verified and the vote is kept anonymous on the blockchain.

Identity

Various municipalities are already busy placing the identity of its residents on the blockchain. This allows the resident to share the (previously verified) identity data and information with any desired organization. In addition to the aforementioned improvement of communication between chain partners that provide care, this real-time shared information can obviously also be used for all other possible chain processes allowing them to be set up a lot faster, be more transparent, more efficient and more secure.

The Delft University of Technology has already developed a first prototype that will place one’s passport and driver’s license on the telephone. A trial with this “Trustchain” will soon start in several municipalities.
 
 The possibilities are endless and the government realizes this in a very inspiring way. I am already looking forward to the actual implementation of the various projects in the months to come!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.