...
Public Sector SIG
Working Group Health
Working Group has been in operation for three quarters now. Number of participants on calls is holding generally steady at around 12 per call, with variation. Last call had 22 participants. A sub-group has recently formed and is holding its own scheduled calls. The purpose is to draft a White Paper on Public Sector uses and dynamics.
Issues
The group is becoming larger and diverse with subscribers and participants from all around the world. Presently we are close to 200 subscribers and expect a wider engagement on diverse topics covering Blockchain applications in Public Sector. General Biweekly meetings are conducted regularly as per schedule and there has been new attendees sharing exciting ideas and new subscriber base addition to the evolving PS SIG Community in the last quarter.
Issues
Communication and Engagement remains the focal point for the year 2020 followed by spreading awareness of the core values of open source. Chair hopes to continue to improve the balance of group tasks distributed between Chair and membership. This has been shifting positively, but is still evolving.
Overall Activity in the Past Quarter
Regular meetings have been held, no meetings have been missed. The chat channel still has low activity. The mailing list is still primarily used for Agendas as well as call follow up discussions.
- We have a new sub-group formed, which is developing active momentum. Its topic is to write a White Paper on Public Sector uses of blockchain. The group has sought support from Hyperledger Community Architects to add their weekly calls to the Community Calendar.
- The Public Sector SIG continues to attract a diverse range of presenters for each call. This year to date, we have had:
January 18:
The Netherlands is putting serious support behind Blockchain technologies for the Public and social good sectors.
Be among the first to know about this countrywide, national strategy. Koen Lukas Hartog, Program Manager Blockchain Pilots for Governmental Organisations, is going to join us, present, and answer questions about the large public-private cooperations that the DBC is activating.
The mission of the Dutch Blockchain Coalition is to realise fully reliable and socially accepted
blockchain applications, to create the best possible conditions to allow blockchain applications to arise, and to facilitate the use of blockchain as a source of trust, well-being, prosperity and security for citizens, companies, institutions and government bodies. The Dutch Blockchain Coalition acts as a catalyst and facilitator in this process and activates its large public-private network for this purpose.
February 1:
Arjeh van Oijen, CEO of Unchain.io, will be kicking off the call with an overview of Unchain. Unchain allows one to link any application with any blockchain. His presentation is providing us with both a national and individual view of where blockchain is going in the Netherlands and in the region.
2. An Italian Vision of the Future of Blockchain
Pietro Marchionni from the Italian Digital Transformation Agency will be joining us to present his paper, Next Generation Government Service Bus - The Blockchain Landscape. Pietro lays out and advocates for next generation government to run on blockchain as the IT solution of choice. Let's hear how Pietro is positioning blockchain to the Italian government!
"The idea behind this paper is that with a decentralized IT solution as Blockchain/DLT we would be more effective in representing and therefore implementing government services....
With the advent of the Blockchain/DLT paradigm we have a clear match between an IT architecture/ecosystem and the interconnected structure of government services.
This paper explains and positions architectural approaches to implement such service integration through blockchain/DL technologies in order to greatly simplify the provisioning of such services between entities....to surface how governments can enhance efficiency, security, transparency and engagement, while allowing each of their entities to run their own processes with their own technology stacks, regardless of the processes and technologies of any other entity."
Feb. 15: White Paper Call
March 1:
CERTH
We are starting off with a fascinating presentation from Sofia Terzi, representing the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH) in Greece.
CERTH is one of the leading R&D centers in Greece, has 5 institutes, and over 800 employees working on more than 1500 research projects.
In the blockchain space, CERTH has been pioneering projects in:
- Blockchain in Healthcare
- Blockchain in Active and Healthy Aging
- Blockchain in IoT
- Blockchain and e-voting
- Blockchain in Energy sector
- Blockchain in Automotive sector
- Blockchain and ICO
On Friday, Sofia will provide:
- Intro for CERTH
- Describe 3 apps in healthcare, healthy aging, IoT sectors
- Reference to other CERTH’s apps and areas of interest and research
March 15:
Alfonso Govela Thomae - Metropolis - Blockchain, a tool for metropolitan governance?
Alfonso attended and presented on the Global South panel at the Hyperledger Global Forum last December, which I moderated. We had a tremendous conversation, and he has kindly agreed to present his research here to the Public Sector Group.
Alfonso's research has identified 254 city level blockchain projects!
This is a key opportunity to learn about the trends and projects he has found, as well as open new pathways for collaboration and discussion.
"Some see blockchain as a factor for change in both the economy and society, with the potential to transform industry, services, and social interactions. In the context of the spatial dispersion and social segregation that characterise large metropolises, blockchain has the potential to improve the coordination between the numerous different authorities in any given metropolitan area, contributing towards social and regional cohesion. But will blockchain only bring about technological changes, or will it spark a social revolution? How can blockchain be used in metropolitan governance and financing? What has already been achieved with this technology? What else can be done? How should the technology be used? What lines of policy could be put in place for urban innovation in our metropolises?
In this document, the fifth Issue Paper published by the Metropolis Observatory, we invite Alfonso Govela, an architect and urban planner specialised in digital technology, to answer these questions and help us understand what blockchain is, what it means on a technological, political and social level, what role it plays in transforming society, and whether it can lead to better models of metropolitan governance."
Links to the paper:
English
https://www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/metobsip5_en_1.pdf
French
https://www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/metobsip5_fr_1.pdf
Spanish
https://www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/metobsip5_es_1.pdf
March 29:
Presentation: Casey Koppelson from SecondMuse
BigApps Blockchain
A program of NYCEDC, BigApps Blockchain is an open innovation challenge that asks teams to design meaningful blockchain applications that will improve the the efficiency, security, and transparency of public sector services in New York City. Casey Koppelson of SecondMuse will speak about the program's goals and invite feedback from others who have worked on similar initiatives.
April 12:
Live Public Sector Blockchain Deployments from Uzbekistan
A great opportunity to hear both from the dev implementer, as well as the government side on how blockchain projects have been deployed. Bring your questions on how they got it to work out.
Lessons learned while implementing blockchain in the public sector. How to build decentralised solutions in a hierarchical centralised government structure. Based on real-life case scenarios: education certificates and Kindergarten admissions. (The Government of Uzbekistan and Blockchain Contractor: Blockchain Industrial Alliance )
Presenter: Sergei Smalkov (Dev).
Joining contributor: Mr. Bahodir Atahanov, Government of Uzebekistan.
Planned Work Products
Some of the key takeaways are brilliant presentations and experiences shared on Blockchain initiatives in Public Sector by amazing people from all around the world.
OCTOBER 11
Sergio G. Miranda, Head of Blockchain Technology and Innovation Programs at Alastria, giving an overview of the first Public-Permissioned Blockchain network in Spain and Europe with multi-sectorial members.
Bobbi Muscara,Chairperson HL Learning Materials Development WG and a strong proponent of Blockchain in Public Sector sharing her experiences at NYC Big Apps Blockchain Challenge.
OCTOBER 25
Gerard Dache, Executive Director of the Government Blockchain Association giving a fantastic overview of the exciting journey of reaching a 100 member chapters globally and the ongoing efforts in Public Sector.
NOVEMBER 8
Carlo Ruiz from the Office of the Inclusive Economic Development from UNDP Ecuador giving a presentation on The Other Bar – Chocolate that promotes equality, a concept funded by UNDP promoting Sustainable business practice of fair trade and equitable income for the farmers in the cocoa field.
NOVEMBER 22
Strategic discussion on challenges associated with communication and engagement and Work allocation to enthusiastic volunteers for the year 2020.
DECEMBER 6
Virginia Cram-Martos from Barcelona shared a detailed update on Blockchain Applications all around the globe resonating with the values targeted to be achieved as per UN SDGs.
DECEMBER 20
Dr. David King from Boston walking us through the Auditing of Decentralized Power Generation and Storage using a Blockchain based Virtual Power Plant. He tried to give a vivid description of Blockchain adoption and ongoing research in Public Utilities.
Planned Work Products
- Survey of Group Expectations in 2020
- Survey on Blockchain Initiatives in Global Public Sector
- Regular Speakers for the Biweekly General Meeting of the PS SIG
- Coordination with Regional Public Sector Groups, Local Meetups and increasing value exchange
- White Paper subgroup
- Continued build out of the Public Sector SIG wiki as a resource
- Other projects as suggested by the membership.
The primary driver for participation remains peer learning.
Participant Diversity
The balance of Public Sector representatives, civil society, and private sector representatives is balancing out and improving to a fairly even level. Gender diversity is acceptable, with about a third of participants on a given call being female identified. Participants are joining from all around the world, both as presenters and as membershipparticipants joining the calls regularly hail from different countries like USA, Canada, UK, Spain, UAE, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Russia, China and India and with interesting background serving the people in Global, Regional and Local Public Sectors. We also have Blockchain enthusiasts from Large Enterprises and Small Businesses sharing critical insights on diverse aspects of the Public Sector. There is an equal and active representation of both Males and Females and we have volunteers ranging from deep rooted technical knowledge, outstanding techno-functional folks and SMEs with many decades of experience on different verticals and areas of Public Sector enriching the diversity.
Additional Information
The Public Sector SIG is off to a good start this year. We anticipate anticipates a continued diverse range of presentations, and look forward to collaboration around our first work product - the White Paperand deeper integration with the Meetups globally to add fresh and interesting perspective. The SIG welcomes new members - both with an interest in the Public Sector, as well as looking for generalist members who seek out key community strengthening activities, such as documentation, communication, reporting, etc. Additional suggestions and nominations of presenters and use cases are welcome on an ongoing basis.