Blockchain. It’s the platform that Bitcoin runs on. So what’s the basic premise? It’s a decentralized ledger system that keeps track of data points or “blocks” in real time. Advocates for the emerging platform say it allows for personal transactional control over information shared on the blockchain. The cryptography – or code – underlying the platform is called, by some experts, as ‘unhackable’, as it alerts users to inconsistencies in the ledger.
While blockchain is used in financial markets and has created new possibilities for transferring value, blockchain is also making inroads into other business sectors, medical records, cybersecurity, and government accountability.
Our task on this edition of CoastLine is to begin to understand the implications of this new technology – the challenges for regulatory agencies, traditional financial institutions – and what possibilities advocates for the platform envision.
Guests:
Brennan Bennett, Chief Operating Officer for QBRICS, an enterprise blockchain platform
Gerard Dache, President of the Government Blockchain Association, a non-profit that connects individuals, businesses, and government entities to blockchain applications
Lucas Layman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina Wilmington
Resources:
Government Blockchain Association Working Groups: https://www.gbaglobal.org/working-groups/
What is the blockchain? GBA: https://www.gbaglobal.org/blockchain-basics/
