WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Data Foundation and Booz Allen Hamilton released a joint report titled Bringing Blockchain Into Government: A Path Forward for Creating Effective Federal Blockchain Initiatives. The report looks into a cross-section of U.S. federal government blockchain projects to examine how well well the government applies blockchain to the problems they address. The report introduces how the federal government is using blockchain technology, characteristics of blockchain, and problems that the technology solves.
Drawing from seven interviews across five U.S. federal agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Health and Human Services, the report explores the benefits that blockchain technology could bring to the federal government. The emergence of blockchain holds promise for the federal government to improve the trust and transparency of data-based transactions between individuals and organizations.
Key Findings:
Blockchain promotes transparency. The application of blockchain technology can increase knowledge of data availability, which offers great potential for transparency and trust in information. Blockchain users that produce data with transparent approaches enable accountability and make information rapidly available to other users, sometimes including the public.
More open data delivers better results. As blockchain users produce data according to agreed upon standards, information is rapidly available to users, sometimes including the public. In some instances, blockchain can promote a culture that fosters information sharing. That can mean vast improvements in data production, sharing, and use, accompanied by the societal benefits that go with open data.
Blockchain requires targeted application. Blockchain cannot or should not be applied to all data management use cases. A majority of the projects we explored are leveraging blockchain for the intractable, or otherwise challenging use cases, which traditional data management approaches struggle to address. Other projects are familiarizing agencies with this emerging technology, informing future efforts that may exploit blockchain more fully.
“Our report examines how the federal government is increasingly looking to strengthen its technological capabilities, improve data sharing, and promote the responsible use of emerging technology,” said Nick Hart, Ph.D., Interim President, Data Foundation. “Adoption of federal blockchain technology can, in some instances, expand the amount of high-quality information generated, shared, and used by our government to evaluate programs and better serve the public.”
“Blockchain technology has the potential to open and securely share data which advances the mission needs of government, in ways which were previously impossible,” said Dan Tucker, Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton. “Our report illustrates that ongoing blockchain projects in the government are addressing a range of these use cases where needs exist to bring transparency and trust to shared data. As a leading developer of federal blockchain solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton is eager to expound the numerous benefits this emerging technology can extend to the U.S. government.”
Read the full report here.
About The Data Foundation:
The Data Foundation is the nation’s first industry-focused open data research organization. Through research, education, and programming, the Data Foundation supports the publication of government information as standardized, open data. http://www.datafoundation.org/
About Booz Allen Hamilton:
For more than 100 years, business, government, and military leaders have turned to Booz Allen Hamilton to solve their most complex problems. They trust us to bring together the right minds: those who devote themselves to the challenge at hand, who speak with relentless candor, and who act with courage and character. They expect original solutions where there are no roadmaps. They rely on us because they know that—together—we will find the answers and change the world.
We solve the most difficult management and technology problems through a combination of consulting, analytics, digital solutions, engineering, and cyber expertise. With global headquarters in McLean, Virginia, our firm employs more than 26,000 people globally, and had revenue of $6.70 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019. To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: Booz Allen)