Topic: [2018-07-05] British MP Says Blockchain Technology Can Save UK £8 Billion (Read 156 times)

Yep, very much yes. Merkle tree concept has been around since the late 1970's, governments and businesses have had the opportunity to use very accountable record keeping for such a long time, and yet strangely never found that interesting.



Are you schizophrenic? Remember the opaque and unaccountable assholes from the 1st half of your post? And you're actually hanging on their every word, waiting to hear how they're going to "help" you to "clarify" the rules about your own money? Maybe I should be saying "your" money, as it seems you're one of many so-called Bitcoiners that are only a government announcement away from giving them as much as they like 

I can't really imagine any government welcoming full and transparent accountability. That's going to be a rod for their back that'll never go away.

It would be rather nice to hear something, anything, from the government regarding crypto regulation. I know they're busy bees but everyone else is cracking on while they're busy squabbling over that boring B word.

It's very interesting that Kazakhstan, which by many westerners was seen as the far away country where people's lives didn't change much since the fall of the Soviet Union is making such progress. It can lead to some interesting changes regarding the balance of power in 5-10 years as small, relatively insignificant countries, like Malta or Estonia are slowly becoming crypto giants. If this technology prevails they will gain some financial advantage over their neighbors.

It's good that obvious things like advantages of blockchain technology are finally came to notice to a member of the British Parliament and it's even more good that at the recommendation of British Prime Minister Theresa May, a copy of the report will be sent to all members of British Parliament for their consideration, but unfortunately most of them will not read it because of having more "interesting" things to do, like coke, hookers, tax evasion etc. If governments were really concerned about the inefficiency of their institutions, blockchain technology would be implemented already in most countries.

Speaking at the Blockchain Alternative Investment Conference Grant Shapps MP said he had set up an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) because there had been little engagement by the UK Government or MPs with the subject.

Ironically Shapps added that while in 2010 in the previous administration David Cameron had spoken publicly on subjects such as IoT, the current government was “too busy with Brexit” to have time to focus on such weighty matters!

While Shapp's APPG on Blockchain holds meetings which cover a comprehensive range of topics for evidence gathering, from my perspective what’s missing is a review of the importance of blockchain to the telecom sector. Indeed at the recent AI event CogX while British Telecom was showing off its impressive cybersecurity solutions, there was no mention of blockchain-related innovation.

In comparison during a recent trip to the Republic of Kazakhstan I discovered a joined-up blockchain-led strategy including key players ranging from the Astana International Financial Centre to Kazakhstan Telecom. Hopefully I'll get chance to mention it in the more informal setting of the APPG’s forthcoming summer reception!  

Conservative member of the British Parliament Eddie Hughes has said that the British government needs a Chief Blockchain Officer to enable social freedom, increase efficiency and rebuild societal trust.

In a report issued today entitled ‘Unlocking Blockchain,’ MP Hughes  made a number of other recommendations including an international blockchain competition to encourage talented blockchain developers and proposed a UK blockchain developmental target described as “a longterm aim for government departments to make a 1 percent efficiency by embracing blockchain and other associated technologies.”

The 1 percent saving would amount to £8 billion or $10.5 billion and would be achieved by the chief officer overseeing the application of blockchain technology to UK public services databases.

The report was published by Freer, a think-tank connected with the British Tory conservative party, and suggests that businesses standing to benefit from increased adoption of blockchain technology could fund the international blockchain competition and benefit both themselves and the national economy as a whole.

It also discusses what Hughes calls a “trust deficit,” a lack of public trust in government institutions created after the 2008 financial crisis and “a series of serious public scandals ranging from the illegal misuse of parliamentary expense accounts to claims of harassment and abuse against charity workers.”


Hughes identifies DLT and blockchain technology as a way in which the government can increase transparency in government institutions and grow public faith and trust once more.


Hughes goes on to discuss the other applications of blockchain technology, stating that the retail industry had explored and positively identified the capacity to greatly increase operational efficiency through the automation of labor-intensive processes with 82 percent of retail professionals sharing that sentiment in a global survey.

He then cited a Santander Fintech report stating that banks could greatly reduce costs associated with cross-border payments, regulatory compliance, and securities trading through the application of DLT with a cost reduction of up to $20 billion by 2022. Sweden is predicted to save $100 million through the use of the technology in their national land registry by automating the processes involved in fraud prevention.

The report also details the environmental benefits – a report from the Dubai Blochain Strategy predicts that 25.1 million economically productive hours can be reallocated through reduced document processing times and 114 MTons of C02 emissions eliminated through reduced trips.

The report is particularly comprehensive in drawing on multiple sources citing the social and environmental benefits of blockchain application on government systems and databases, perhaps a significant indicator in the shifting tide of opinion towards the emerging technology.

At the recommendation of British Prime Minister Theresa May, a digital copy of the report will be sent to every member of British Parliament for their consideration.

https://www.ccn.com/british-mp-says-blockchain-technology-can-save-uk-8-billion/