Government officials in Moscow are willing to explore and implement the potential and uses of blockchain technology in various applications including the Active Citizen project. The city government initiative is a technology-laden program aimed to make citizens of Moscow more inclusive in affecting government decisions. The Department of Information Technology of Moscow is ready to implement blockchain technology within its “Active Citizen” project, according to the department’s deputy director. Andrei Belozerov revealed his eagerness to use blockchain technology during a meeting with the Russian Presidential administration, In quotes reported by prominent Russian news agency RNS , Belozerov stated: Moscow is ready to be a platform to see the use of blockchain technology. We are offering the “Active Citizen” project, as a pilot project. On the one hand, we want to pilot the technology and understand how it is able to function for such an application. On the other, we want to shake off the skepticism [of the Active Citizen project] on the part of the citizens. Criticism Against the Project The “Active Citizen” project is an initiative embarked upon by the new city government wherein citizens of Moscow gain access to the platform via a smartphone app and a website. The project sees citizens weigh in on issues and polls via questions related to the functioning of the city of Moscow and its regional government. Citizens have up to a fortnight to vote before results of the survey are sent over to the agency that put forth the question. At this point, the agency has a fortnight to decide on a decision upon how it would then fulfill the wishes of the majority. While the idea is a novel one on paper, the Active Citizen project has garnered plenty of criticism for the kind of discussion it has fostered […]
