House of Commons last week, House of Lords this week. 🫡
Fascinating to see a packed Roundtable and a large audience present, all keen to talk about how blockchain can make the public sector more efficient and innovative, taking lessons from the DOGE initiative in the US.
I have to admit, personally, I fear we’re not yet ready.
Some of my reasons (and some takeaways from the session) are:
> We still synonymously use blockchain and crypto. The discussion quickly shifted to DeFi, tokenisation, etc.—we really need to decouple these asap if we want to develop faster as an industry
> We have the same champions in Parliament (Is it increasing? Hard to tell…) and I’m convinced the real impact is in converting the Neutral and Non-believers to become more open to use cases of the tech
> Before the govt. can even think about using blockchain in their internal systems and processes, answers are still pending on legislations and regulations for the industry. Non-negotiable if we want the hoi polloi to adopt the innovation too
> Trust is an inherent aspect of the foundations of decentralised technology. But how is it that many people still do not trust the technology itself? Other verticals of tech like AI, quantum computing, biotech, and even data centres are taking most of the mindshare of govt. Why is blockchain not front of mind?
> Media has a huge responsibility to cover and publish pro-blockchain stories and stop picking at low-hanging fruits that perpetuate the negative narrative surrounding the industry, especially re. crypto. Let’s move on
> Legacy protection is a huge aspect within the UK culture. I think one the things it wants to hold onto (and protect) is the claim that London is a global financial hub. We can’t do that if we’re fighting tooth and nail re. this tech that makes internet capital markets accessible, and possible
I do think we are inching closer to progress, but managing expectations on speed and depth is important.
Thank you to the organisers,
@LDN_Blockchain and to the Right Honourable
@AlunCairns.
Job’s not finished, but we’re working hard 🫱🏽🫲🏼