Blockchain: A Panacea for Trust Challenges In Public Services? A Socio-technical Perspective

Abstract

Trust in corporations, governments and public services has been steadily declining over the last few decades. Lack of transparency and auditability has been a key driver for this decline. Blockchain technology has been commended as a solution that can help with disintermediation and filling the consistently increasing trust challenges faced by the corporate and public sectors. Public services are seeking solutions that can help establish trust and increase transparency with its citizens and businesses are undertaking extensive business analysis to determine the need and effectiveness of blockchain-like platforms as the basis for transforming their existing platforms. Due to the decisive nature, most of the analysis results thus indicate that if a trusted third party is an option, then blockchain should not be used. Here we highlight the challenges and opportunities of establishing trust and how blockchain technology can help public services bridge the trust gap with its citizens. We argue that all information technology systems rely on a suite of technologies, thus blockchain should be added to the current technology stack rather than taking an 'all or nothing' approach. We also argue that analysing the effectiveness of futuristic technology like blockchain with industrial age methodology and mindset may limit the realisation of its impact on society and economy. Therefore, we propose to take a heuristic approach, where different properties of blockchain technology need to be mapped against different aspects of current business process with a futuristic view in mind. Taking Companies House-a government organisation that holds over 4 million UK-based companies' records-as an example, we demonstrate how certain business processes in Companies House can benefit from adapting a blockchain-based solution.

Trust in blockchain-based systems

“…Instead, it is often said to replace human-based intermediaries by a "system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust" (Nakamoto, 2008, p. 1) i.e., a network in which all interactions between network participants are coordinated by mathematical and cryptographic code instead of human actors (Dodd, 2018, p. 37;Swartz, 2016). As a consequence, the technology takes a major role in the current public and academic discussion on trust and distributed technologies: some see it as a "machine for creating trust" (Berkeley, 2015), as reducing the cost of trust (Shahaab et al, 2020) or as an enabler of new technology-based modes of trust-"trustless trust" (e.g., Werbach, 2018aWerbach, , 2018bHoffmann, 2015) or "distributed trust" (Botsman, 2017)-that might have a revolutionary impact on social coordination even outside the realm of distributed systems.…”

Menciptakan Value Added bagi Ekonomi Lokal dalam Tinjauan Model Rantai Blok dan Konsep Rantai Nilai: Sebuah studi literatur

“…Teknologi blockchain dapat membantu menjembatani kesenjangan kepercayaan antara layanan publik dan warga negara (Shahaab et al, 2020). Dengan menambahkan blockchain ke dalam tumpukan teknologi yang ada saat ini, layanan publik dapat membangun kepercayaan dan meningkatkan transparansi dengan warga negara.…”

The Role of Interdependencies in Blockchain Adoption: The Case of Maritime Trade

“…Achieving blockchain objectives requires a cultural willingness to integrate new practices into existing sociotechnical systems. Use of an "industrial age methodology and mindset" when evaluating blockchain and other advanced technologies may inhibit adoption [49]. In industries considering blockchain adoption, for example, low levels of digitalisation can create further challenges, particularly when long-established process and practices have functioned smoothly.…”