Distributed Ledger Technologies (DTLs) for Social and Public Good – Where to next?
Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), such as blockchains, are often associated with commercial use cases, from cryptocurrencies to asset track and tracing. But a number of organisations are looking into alternative ways to harness the potential of DLTs to address social and public good challenges at local and global levels, and to enable more sustainable, ethical, inclusive, cooperative, transparent, or accountable worlds.
Such potential has been well mapped out, and Europe has a vibrant DLT ecosystem of innovators and developers working on projects that can strengthen civil society or the public space in contexts as financial inclusion, fair supply chains, or sustainable environment.
But the general role of DLTs must be assessed through more than just the identity or purpose of specific applications. DLT development is
taking place within a broader contemporary context of innovators efforts to ‘redecentralise’ the internet both technically and in terms of economic and governance models.
DLT should be understood in such a broader context, and a snapshot of current challenges and possible ways forward for its development are presented in this policy brief
POLVORA Alexandre;
BREKKE Jaya Klara;
HAKAMI Anna;
2022-01-03
European Commission
JRC127939
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