Blockchain for Government Accountability
Many users of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology do so because they enjoy the anonymity provided by these technologies. This is a perfectly valid use, but one of the most important features of the blockchain, in my mind, is record-keeping. The occurrences on the blockchain never go away, they exist forever in a decentralized database. The most common use of this technology is to record and facilitate financial transactions.
I would argue that there is another use for the blockchain that holds more potential, and could lead to more widespread use of the technology. Public records.
No matter what your political inclination is, I think we all agree that government should be held accountable for the things they do. This includes policies put in place, communications between government officials, and the everyday decisions made by our governments that affect us as citizens.
This is a more scalable use as well. The methods for financial transactions don't typically change at a rapid pace, and any new method requires a critical mass of adoption before it becomes practical.
However, local governments can adopt and implement technologies independently of state or national level governments. Within their local ecosystems most local governments have enough autonomy to decide how they engage with their citizenry. Imagine a permitting system that exists in the blockchain, or a municipal code for which every amendment is recorded forever. Communications between councilmen and other government officials, recordings of public meetings.
Rather than coming from the top-down, blockchain technology can be adopted in smaller more nimble municipalities, empowering citizens and providing true accountability for local officials. Success will lead to larger government adoption.
STEEM has already shown the use-case for blockchain communication and storage of information beyond financial transactions. I'd be interested to hear the communities thoughts on this, and any examples of this use that may already exist.
Hey there! I'm Zamara Bennett and I've begun to pool together resources in order to begin Imagine Conscious Collective, a collective agency dedicated to enabling the conscious use of technologies by end users to achieve community empowerment socioeconomic evolution. I have recently been digging into my own government here in Pierce County, WA and I am really dumbfounded at how little of our $71 million budget for human services within the county is put to use or even advocated. I am working to provide two immediate services for community engagement one is a community meetup for steemit content creation workshops and mentorship dedicated specifically to reaching those in dire circumstances within our community. Another dedicated to community programming workshops which we will hold in order to train community members in html/css/javascript and by partnering with Pierce County, it is intended for trainees to be eligible for funding in exchange for providing much needed web design and information architectural resources to Pierce County and other local government websites.
For right now, I am working hard to reach out as best as I can to gain support and confidence as I am planning to have Imagine Conscious Collective resources on our first initiative ready by the new year!
You can read more about my beginning into understanding local government here if you'd like, I would really love your input!
Hi @meowzinator, nice to find another local politics junky like myself. I'll take a look.
This is a very interesting thought Jared, are you by chance on a council? If you dont want to say thats fine, I live in Stratford ON and this town calls itself very technologically progressive but I would be interested in seeing what they have to say about being a test case for an idea like this.
I'm not. I do a fair bit of work alongside our local government though, and could see something like this being an asset. That's the great thing about local governments, there's room for experiments like this that simply aren't feasible for larger bodies.
Absolutely and depending on how progressive the community is they can be really groundbreaking, there is actually a town in Canada where they test UBI for something like 2 years and found nothing but positive results, UBI Universal Basic Income.
That's very interesting! You wouldn't happen to have the link would you? I'd be interested in seeing how they implemented that
Yea of course man, an article written on the project can be read here https://web.archive.org/web/20170104122921/http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/4100
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I like the sound of this. I think this could make some amazing changes, more honest society. No more hiding stuff from the public! It is time for a more honost system, where we the people have te power!
Upvoted, resteemed and followed! #minnowtowhale
Woops, also wanted to mention that the need for transparent funding and budgeting operations as well as opportunities and attempts at public participation and engagement are crucial when considering why blockchain is needed in local government RIGHT NOW!