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How governments are responding to the public's demand for more data transparency
Innovative use of blockchain tech, data trusts, algorithm assessments, and cultural shifts abound.
23 June, 2020
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- A study published last year by the Pew Research Center found that most American's distrust the federal government, and there's plenty of evidence to suggest that the situation has yet to improve.
- Governments have more access than ever to our private information, which creates an inherent tension between how they can use data for the public good while ensuring they aren't abusing citizens' privacy rights.
- As emerging technologies mature, it will become more evident to the public which models are the most effective ways for governments to achieve the levels of transparency they've committed to delivering.
<p>Government transparency is a <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1017/S0022381611000880" target="_blank">central tenet</a> of liberal democracies. In many countries, including the United States, transparency is enshrined into the constitution and laws, such as the <a href="https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/data-transparency/history-overview.html" target="_blank">Digital Accountability and Transparency Act</a>. </p><p>Nevertheless, trust in government is on the decline. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/us/politics/pew-trust-distrust-survey.html" target="_blank">study</a> published last year by the Pew Research Center found that most American's distrust the federal government. Recent events such as the coronavirus pandemic, bailouts, and <a href="https://bigthink.com/videos/black-lives-matter" target="_self">the Black Lives Matter protests</a> casting a shadow over the Trump 2020 presidential campaign aren't likely to have improved the situation.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzE0MTgxN30.IE-wOVUTc7KgFQjsvxlFX0TmPM3QSOnNhR_tZWdvif0/img.png?width=980" id="c5bfa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fe25d9fd229b1510305cb5f7bf22e633" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="New Yorker tweet about Steven Mnuchin not releasing list of pandemic loan recipients" /><p>However, it's important to remember that this is hardly only an American problem. The <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/440941/Trust%20Barometer%202020/2020%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Global%20Report-1.pdf" target="_blank">Edelman Trust Barometer</a> measures the trust in NGOs, business, government, and media. In 2020, the Barometer showed a drop in trust across many nations, including Canada, Australia, and the UK.</p><p>While governments risk decreasing public trust through their handling of events such as the pandemic, such events also create more pressure for governments to demonstrate transparency. The virus crisis results in inquiries into fields such as public health expenditure, while the protests are prompting calls to address institutional biases. </p><p>The increasingly prevalent use of technologies such as big data and AI means that governments have more access than ever to our private information. This creates an inherent tension between how governments can use data for the public good while ensuring they aren't abusing citizens' privacy rights.</p><p>European countries have recently been wrangling with this tension, as a privacy row has been brewing over the use of <a href="https://bigthink.com/coronavirus/britain-covid-app" target="_self">virus track-and-trace applications</a>. An extremely effective way to curb infections happens to involve surveillance of the public with unprecedented precision and scale, and who's to say what all the implications of allowing it may be? Who will gain access to this data, either legitimately or by hacking? What will they do with it? Once the pandemic ends, what happens to these access privileges? </p><p>Using emerging technologies inevitably increases the scope and scale of government data collection. However, technology can also be put to use by governments that want to demonstrate their commitment to improving transparency.</p>
Using blockchain to secure citizens’ data
<p>The Austrian government has recently turned to blockchain as a means of establishing transparent communications about the COVID-19 crisis, between authorities, institutions, and citizens. Communication specialist A-Trust has launched the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/austrian-govt-pilot-aims-to-secure-covid-19-communications-with-blockchain-tech" target="_blank">QualiSig project</a>, on Ignis, part of the Ardor blockchain platform.</p><p>The project will use transparent, encrypted communications visible on the blockchain, and decentralized data storage to secure data against attacks. Citizens can control the use of their own data using qualified digital signatures. </p><p>Alexander Pfeiffer, Danube University Krems researcher, and partner to A-Trust, has a high degree of confidence that blockchain can help to increase trust in governments. "The more such solutions are used by government agencies and their partners, the more likely it is that citizens will regain confidence in the operations of these government authorities," he wrote in an email. "In addition, it will also be possible to work much more efficiently and on a much higher level of mutual trust between the parties involved."</p><p>This is the second time the Austrian government has engaged Jelurida, the Swiss firm that operates Ardor, in projects designed to improve transparency. In May this year, the Austrian government <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/austrian-government-backed-project-will-use-blockchain-to-find-waste-heat-spots" target="_blank">announced</a> funding for a sustainability project designed to pinpoint sources of waste heat that could be redirected back into the energy grid. The "Hot City" project is a collaboration with the Austrian Institute of Technology and plans to use the Ignis chain for providing rewards to citizens submitting data about waste heat that can be harnessed for the public good. </p><p>An outspoken advocate of using blockchain to increase transparency, Lior Yaffe is the co-founder and director of Jelurida. "For the Austrian government, funding applied blockchain technologies has been a major priority for several years," he told Big Think. "Now, the Hot City and QualiSig projects show how a public blockchain can be used to store and display specific datasets, thus increasing transparency." </p>Demonstrating transparency in the electoral process
<p>The potential for using blockchain to demonstrate electoral transparency has been hotly discussed for years now. The first such experiment took place in Denmark back in 2014, when the Liberal Alliance party used blockchain for one of its local elections.</p> <p>At the time, the chair of the party's IT group made a bold prediction. "Voting is the most important process in a democratic society," <a href="https://www.version2.dk/artikel/liberal-alliance-holder-e-valg-med-bitcoin-teknologi-57645" target="_blank">he said</a>. "Here, there is no doubt that new technology will play an increasing role going forward."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU4MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjg0ODAyOH0.IH-EbGtWZRchXtPjFjWkVw6Fd6ly_FUbfQdvDdpWzDQ/img.png?width=980" id="f3980" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c22d232439d1a0321432902507301d07" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Person inside holding "India stay home" sign" /><p>However, as things stand in 2020, blockchain in elections hasn't moved forward at quite the pace many had previously predicted. Most local and national elections still take place using the same pen-and-paper process that has been in place for decades.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the Indian election commission is <a href="https://news.bitcoin.com/india-voting/" target="_blank">among the latest</a> to join the many government bodies that continue to experiment in this area. </p>
Using transparency to combat corruption
<p>Countries that have had problems with corruption going back generations have an especially steep mountain to climb when it comes to gaining public trust. Ukraine is one such example. As part of a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/ukraine-rows-back-anti-corruption-law-imf-aid-in-jeopardy.html" target="_blank">bailout agreement</a> in 2015, the International Monetary Fund demanded that the country's government do more to fight corruption.</p> <p>In 2017, the Ukrainian government engaged blockchain firm Bitfury to store all of its data on the blockchain, in an attempt to demonstrate better transparency. In September that year, the justice ministry successfully used the technology for auctioning seized assets, and later transferred state property and land registries to the platform. </p> <p>"We want to make the system of selling seized assets more transparent and secure," Deputy Justice Minister Serhiy Petukhov <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-blockchain/ukrainian-ministry-carries-out-first-blockchain-transactions-idUSKCN1BH2ME" target="_blank">told Reuters</a>, "so that the information there is accessible to everyone so that there aren't concerns about possible manipulation."</p>Creating a culture of transparency
<p>While technology can be a useful tool for governments to demonstrate transparency, it's not the only means. Some countries, particularly those in northern Europe such as Norway and Denmark, are renowned for their culture of governmental transparency.</p> <p>Canada also ranks highly in transparency from an international perspective, although its <a href="https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2019/press-and-downloads" target="_blank">Corruption Perceptions Index score</a> has been dropping. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU4NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjQyMzgyMH0.amOetbFtQ54_3Jzue27ocLWSqyv1y27c-TTfIMNmJfc/img.png?width=980" id="6cd6e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="df7390880e23c80c9cf7d5a31022ee3c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>It's intriguing that domestic perceptions don't always appear to align with these rankings. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, some quarters of the Canadian academia have been highly critical of Justin Trudeau's government.</p>
<p>"Canada has a culture of secrecy. And it's one of the worst things about Canada," Amir Attaran, professor of law and epidemiology at University of Ottawa, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-data-sharing-1.5521574" target="_blank">told</a> the CBC. "Our lack of transparency is a Canadian cultural trait, and it's one that hurts us. It's also part of a larger belief that the government knows best. But it doesn't."</p>
<p>In the same piece, Jean-Noé Landry, who works for a non-profit that advises governments on data transparency, takes a more nuanced approach. He attributes a culture with a high level of government trust as a potential pitfall when it comes to demanding transparency in a crisis such as COVID-19. As he puts it, Canadians "trust the government more in these kinds of situations, and maybe we lower our guard a bit and go along with them. [COVID-19] is not the type of thing where we should be lowering our standards."</p>
Inside the algorithms
<p>One government that has been almost universally lauded for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic is New Zealand's. Even before the crisis, the government there has been taking some impressive measures to demonstrate transparency. One example is its "algorithm assessment" program, launched in 2018, designed to introduce more transparency into how the government is deploying AI for its citizens. </p> <p>Fourteen government agencies used a self-assessment method, underpinned by the government's own "principles for safe and effective use of data and analytics." The outcome was a <a href="https://www.data.govt.nz/use-data/analyse-data/government-algorithm-transparency-and-accountability/algorithm-assessment-report/" target="_blank">report</a> that acknowledged the need to retain human oversight over machine-led decisions and recommended using independent experts in the areas of privacy, ethics, and data expertise. </p> <p>"We must prepare for the ethical challenges AI poses to our legal and political systems," <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-will-move-quickly-ai-action-plan" target="_blank">stated Clare Curran</a>, New Zealand's Minister for Digital Services, "as well as the impact AI will have on workforce planning, the wider issues of digital rights, data bias, transparency, and accountability are also important for this Government to consider."</p>Data trusts, a work in progress
<p>In the UK, the Open Data Institute (ODI) has been working on several pilots to implement "<a href="https://theodi.org/project/data-trusts/" target="_blank">data trusts</a>" in collaboration with various government agencies, in an attempt to create more transparency. The ODI defines a data trust as a "legal structure that provides independent stewardship of data." They aim to increase access to data, along with providing confidence in the use of it.</p><p>The Institute worked on three pilots with varying degrees of success. The pilots attempted to bring transparency to food waste, illegal wildlife trade, and smart city implementation with a focus on parking data for green vehicles. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMjU4OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzYxNzQyMX0.4CFaAwXToLey4yOJuzRfzsM3_0Bob_4fb4B3n62SOm8/img.png?width=980" id="c72b8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="584c73066497e8bfb8f4a030e284364d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>The findings from all three pilots were consolidated into a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/118RqyUAWP3WIyyCO4iLUT3oOobnYJGibEhspr2v87jg/edit#heading=h.9n2mgns2pza7" target="_blank">"lessons learned" document</a> that highlighted the need to flesh out the overall concept and gain a shared understanding of what it means to all stakeholders for data trusts to become successful.</p>
<p>The ODI continues its work in this regard, exploring the use of data trusts and other data stewardship models. </p>
Trust in flux
<p>The events of 2020 so far have amounted to a perfect storm as far as testing government trust goes. Social distancing and shelter in place rules mean that there's a more significant reliance than ever on technology. However, governments need to continue to walk a tightrope of ensuring that they deploy the best technology available while demonstrating transparency.</p> <p>As emerging technologies mature, it will become more evident to the public which models are the most effective ways for governments to achieve the levels of transparency they've committed to delivering. </p>
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Blockchain: Where does the real potential lie?
Despite the hype, these technologies aren't relevant right now. But they could be in the future.
24 February, 2020
- The hype around blockchain technology has been sufficiently steady since its arrival. But UCLA professor Ramesh Srinivasan reveals the real potential in this relatively new technology is far from its connection to cryptocurrency.
- To tap this potential, it's necessary to move away from the individualistic intentions to which blockchain so often applies. For example, taking root in areas that have fallen victim to disaster capitalism like Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
- To overcome these hurdles, we must scrutinize the sources of these types of technology as well as those that benefit from its implementation.
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Digital advances are never-ending. Here’s how to keep up.
This is what you need to do to keep up with today's digital progress.
24 November, 2019
- Amazon has set aside $700 million to retrain 100,000 of its employees. That's an incredible thing—a company that is already at the forefront of tech is helping its employees catch up. What does that mean for the rest of us?
- Developing digital literacy in your organization's workforce is of utmost importance. How will companies stay ahead of the competition if they don't understand how emerging technologies, like blockchain, can be implemented?
- "Stay current" should become an organizational motto; it's about the disciplined pursued of understanding how technology can change the work you're doing today.
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Blockchain simplified: How it eliminates the middleman
What's the big promise of blockchain in business? Its ability to eliminate the middle man.
24 September, 2019
- Blockchain is basically a ledger of people's transactions. It is the underlying programming on top of which the cryptocurrency bitcoin was developed.
- Blockchain doesn't allow for people's transactions to be hacked because everyone has access to a record of the values exchanged. Because of this, it is said to be unhackable.
- Blockchain has many potential uses, such as in accounting systems. This is already the case in Dubai, where its used for the city's stock exchange, and in the Baltic states, such as Latvia and Lithuania, for their political processes.
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- The image of cryptocurrency tends to focus on privilege and flaunted wealth.
- Financial institutions dismiss Bitcoin as a fad, while exploiting the benefits of the underlying technology for themselves.
- But the story in developing countries paints a different picture – one of vast potential.
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/style/bitcoin-millionaires.amp.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> published a comprehensive expose on the burgeoning crypto movement that detailed the luxurious lives of the newly crypto rich. The article, aptly titled, "Everyone is Getting Hilariously Rich and You're Not" is emblematic of the coverage that often typecasts crypto enthusiasts as amateur wealth connoisseurs.</p><p>It's a common storyline about crypto diehards that is imminently popular because of the ostentatious numbers and the perceived greed of the whole thing. For example, when Ripple surged in value by more than 1,240% in a month, the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/investing/ripple-surges-past-ethereum-and-bitcoin-cash-to-become-secondlargest-cryptocurrency/news-story/05c913253182d32cd93cad558c74a9fd" target="_blank">headlines often reported on the company's CEO</a>, Chris Larsen, who briefly became richer than Mark Zuckerberg.</p><p>The notion that a few people,<a href="https://howmuch.net/articles/bitcoin-wealth-distribution" target="_blank"> 4.11% of Bitcoin owners to be exact</a>, are becoming incredibly wealthy from the crypto movement only perpetuate the idea that cryptocurrencies are about becoming fabulously wealthy. </p><p>Of course, this penchant for discussing privilege has created a limiting narrative that propels skepticism about the transformative potential found in cryptocurrencies. </p><p>More specifically, continuing narratives about the culture of privilege surrounding cryptocurrencies is a distraction from what should define the primary use case for the crypto movement. </p>
The skepticism of financial institutions
<p>While traditional financial institutions are happy to benefit from Bitcoin in the form of derivatives contracts bought and sold through their institutions, they are continually dismissive of the crypto movement.</p><p>Most famously, JP Morgan Chase CEO, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-12/jpmorgan-s-ceo-says-he-d-fire-traders-who-bet-on-fraud-bitcoin" target="_blank">Jamie Dimon, described Bitcoin</a> as a "fraud," adding that it's a good option for murderers and drug dealers. </p><p>Meanwhile, Bill Harris, the former CEO of PayPal, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17275202/bitcoin-scam-cryptocurrency-mining-pump-dump-fraud-ico-value" target="_blank">described Bitcoin</a> as "a colossal pump-and-dump scheme...best suited for one use: criminal activity." Similarly, billionaire <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-14/munger-calls-bitcoin-a-noxious-poison-government-should-tackle" target="_blank">Charles Munger</a>, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, explained that he "detested it the moment it was raised."</p><p>Moreover, Bank of America has expressed continual incredulity about crypto's underlying technology, the blockchain, even as they <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/25/bank-of-america-skeptical-on-blockchain-despite-having-most-patents.html" target="_blank">rack up the most patents</a> for the technology.<br></p><p>To be sure, financial institutions have every reason to prevent the proliferation of cryptocurrencies. Not only do they circumvent their once-unchallenged grip on the monetary system, but these institutions, and those who run them, have little use for an alternative to the existing financial infrastructure. </p><p>Simply put, the incredulity the financial elites feel is self-serving at best. Not only do they sit in powerful positions that prop up their privilege, but their access to vast financial resources encourages them to be dismissive of a new asset class that serves less well-positioned people.</p>Creating Financial Inclusion
<p>With all this noise, an important expression of the crypto movement is struggling to breakthrough. For some, cryptocurrencies are just a modern way for a few people to become incredibly wealthy, while others see it as a threat to their business model and bottom line.</p><p>However, for many others, cryptocurrencies are a savior, a crucial way of exchanging value in turbulent and unstable situations. In between the headlines and hot takes, cryptocurrencies are making a real difference in the lives of the unbanked, those living in developing countries, and those impacted by geopolitical turmoil.</p><p>While <a href="https://libra.org/en-US/white-paper/#introduction" target="_blank">Facebook's highly touted Libra </a>is yet unproven, the purpose is right on the mark. The currency is targeting the worlds' 1.7 billion adults who don't have access to the financial system. In the US alone, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-blockchain-is-banking-the-unbanked" target="_blank">25% of the population is considered unbanked</a>, meaning that there is a significant need for a better option. </p><p>Therefore, tech titan <a href="https://www.ibm.com/blogs/blockchain/2019/04/unbanked-to-big-banks-how-crypto-facilitates-financial-inclusion/" target="_blank">IBM</a> notes, "we have reached a tipping point in the banking industry where our relationships with banks and how they extract value from us is going to be transformed."</p><p>For a lot of people, that transformation is already taking place. In Venezuela, where the national currency's annual inflation rate is 1.7 million percent, cryptocurrencies are allowing people to buy things like food, milk, and housing. As Venezuelan economist, Carlos Hernández, wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/opinion/sunday/venezuela-bitcoin-inflation-cryptocurrencies.html" target="_blank">Times op-ed</a>, "'Borderless money' is more than a buzzword when you live in a collapsing economy and a collapsing dictatorship."</p><p>Indeed, cryptocurrencies effectively combat inflation, corruption, and high remittance costs. With cryptocurrencies, people aren't dependent on financial elites or established organizations to provide relief or opportunity. They can create this for themselves.</p>Creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs
<p>Beyond the use case of blockchain as cryptocurrencies, the open, censorship-resistant nature of the technology has fostered a startup culture that's positively buzzing with innovation, the benefit of which isn't just limited to wealthy hubs like San Francisco and Singapore. </p><p>For example, <a href="https://matic.network/" target="_blank">Matic Network</a> is an Indian company that is rapidly becoming the base protocol of India with its fast, scalable second-layer solution for Ethereum. Whereas Ethereum has struggled to scale beyond around 15 transactions per second, Matic uses side-chain technology to scale up to 65,000 transactions per second. </p><p>The company has already established partnerships with well-known names in the blockchain space, including Binance and Coinbase Ventures. As a development platform, Matic provides ready-made infrastructure to help kickstart the Indian blockchain startup scene, encouraging tech entrepreneurs to bring their applications to life</p><p>Despite its status as a developing country, India has long been the IT outsourcing hub of choice for companies the world over and contains a wealth of programming talent. </p><p>. </p>Open source, shared benefits
<p>For the many people who won't become Bitcoin millionaires and who aren't members of the financial elite, cryptocurrencies and blockchain are becoming a vital resource that levels the playing field, inviting total participation in a trustless economy that has a place for everyone. Furthermore, the low barrier to entry for building blockchain-based applications offers the potential to open new channels for entrepreneurship in developing countries.</p>
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