Early findings from our Blockchange: Blockchain for Social Change initiative. More at https://blockchan.ge/

1. BLOCKCHANGE
BLOCKCHAIN
FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
Stefaan G. Verhulst
Andrew Young

2. 2
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS
EMERGING BLOCKCHAIN ECOSYSTEM

3. 3
BLOCKCHANGE ATTRIBUTES
OPTIONAL ATTRIBUTES
What are the design attributes
of all emerging Blockchain or
Distributed Ledger Technologies
(DLT) that could be leveraged to
create Civic Change?
Blockchains and DLTs are not a
monolith, and different types
(e.g., private permissioned vs.
public blockchains) possess
different, optional attributes
IMMUTABILITY
DISINTERMEDIATION
(GUARANTEED) INTEGRITY
TRANSPARENCY
DISTRIBUTED RESILIENCE
ACCESSIBILITY
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS

4. 4
SMART CONTRACTINGIDENTITY
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS
TRACK & TRACE
BLOCKCHANGE USE CASES
Blockchange experiments are largely taking place across three types of use case:

5. 5
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
THE FOUNDATIONAL USE CASE
IDENTITY’S KEY ROLE IN CREATING SOCIAL CHANGE
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS
Access to public,financial and commercial services
KYC requirements
Being entitled to certain rights
Human, economic, social, political rights (i.e., voting)
Trusted identification is requirement for:
IDENTITY UNDERPINS OTHER BLOCKCHANGE APPLICATIONS
FOCUSED ON TRACK AND TRACE OR SMARTER CONTRACTING
IDENTITY IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS THE “MISSING PROTOCOL”
OF THE INTERNET (WEB 3.0?)

6. 6
IDENTITY LIFECYCLE
Beyond a set of attributes
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS
PROVISIONING
Current Challenge(s)
Lack of identity/ attributes
(unequal access)
DLT Promise
Universal access
ADMINISTRATION
Current Challenge(s)
Control of Identifiers
DLT Promise
User Control
AUDITING / MONITORING
Current Challenge(s)
Opacity of Identity
DLT Promise
Transparency
AUTHENTICATION
Current Challenge(s)
Quality and trusted identifiers
DLT Promise
Integrity
AUTHORIZATION
Current Challenge(s)
Fragmentation of requirements
DLT Promise
Interoperability

7. 7
BLOCKCHANGE CASE STUDIES
World Food Programme Building Blocks
Self-Sovereign Identity on the Blockchain in Zug, Switzerland
Swedish Blockchain Land Registry
Illinois secure digital birth certificates
Blockchain for education in South Africa
Blockchain for voting at Tufts and in the Massachusetts Democratic Party Convention
Blockchain and national elections in Sierra Leone
MIT Digital Diplomas
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS

8. 8
ID Lifecycle Stage Current Pilots Tech and Ecosystem
Provisioning ID2020 Maturity: Low
Authentication
Decentralized Trusted ID:
World Food Programme Building Blocks
Maturity: Medium
Administration Self-Sovereign Identity: Zug, Switzerland Maturity: Medium
Authorization MIT Digital Diplomas Maturity: High
Auditing / Monitoring Swedish Blockchain Land Registry Maturity: High
MATURITY OF INNOVATION
The use of Blockchain is not equally mature across the ID lifecycle
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS

9. 9
ECOSYSTEMDATA & TECHPROBLEM
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS
OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS
Operational conditions for Identity-focused Blockchange solutions...
There is a clear problem
definition;
Information) asymmetries
and high transaction
costs incentivize change.
(“The Market of Lemons”
problem)
There is already
availability of (high
quality) digital records;
No availability of
credible and alternative
disclosure technologies;
Deficiency (or efficiency)
of (trusted) intermediaries
in the space.

10. 10
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Despite challenges
related to governance
structures, interoperability,
and user experience,
Blockchain technologies
can promote positive
social change in the
Identity space.
Be “GUARDED”
BLOCKCHANGE
ATTRIBUTES
USE CASES
FOCUS ON IDENTITY
CONDITIONS
USER ACCESSIBILITY
GOVERNANCE LEGITIMACY
AGENCY OF PARTICIPATION (Beyond Vendor Lock-in)
RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH
DIGNITY OF ESTABLISHING A RECORD
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
DO-NO-HARM to Already Vulnerable Populations
G
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11. QUESTIONS
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12. THANK YOU
STEFAAN G. VERHULST & ANDREW YOUNG
blockchan.ge | thegovlab.org
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