In a new major report submitted by the Chief Scientific Adviser of the UK today, the government’s Chief Scientist Sir Mark Walport explained the innovation has the potential to help governance to politicians and leaders of authority.
The report, titled ‘Distributed Ledger Technology: Beyond Block chain’ sees Sir Mark Walport explain how distributed ledger technology or the blockchain can help governments collect taxes, issue passports, deliver benefits and “ensure the integrity of government records and services.
The freely available report can be downloaded here . [PDF]
An official video that accompanies the report is shown below: The Bitcoin Blockchain
The introduction is clear in pinning the origins of the blockchain, which it states “was invented to create the peer-to-peer digital cash Bitcoin, in 2008.”
Bitcoin gets its due share of prominence in the report, enough that an excerpt reads: “this report isn’t about Bitcoin. It is about the algorithmic technologies that enable Bitcoin and their power to transform ledgers as tools to record, enable and secure an enormous range of transactions.”
Still, Bitcoin is mentioned no less than over a hundred times in the report. The report also opined different take of the cryptocurrency compared to the stigma it usually receives.
An excerpt from the official report submitted by the Chief Scientist and Advisor of the UK to the government red: Many clichés and misconceptions have grown up around the digital currency and its underlying principles. Its associations with Silk Road, the digital black market have left some people with the impression that Bitcoin is intrinsically linked to money laundering and terrorists. That misconception, continues to affect how people think about blockchain technology. Detailing the Differences The report summarizes existing methods of data management which are typically “located within a single institution” and consist of legacy systems. “Highly centralized systems present a high-cost single […]
