Blockchain has the potential to enable innovation in the public sector. It can increase efficiency through automation, improve transparency by ensuring data integrity, and enhance engagement through greater citizen participation. The document analyzes blockchain use cases in government by reviewing literature, examining case studies, and interviewing experts. It identifies common challenges for government like budget pressure, rising citizen expectations, and lack of trust. Blockchain may help address these by enabling transparent and trustless systems without centralized control. The analysis reveals that efficiency gains currently dominate applications, and that standards and best practices are still lacking despite initiatives in over 40 countries spanning areas such as healthcare, identity management, and voting.

1. BLOCKCHAIN AS AN
INNOVATION ENABLER IN THE
PUBLIC SECTOR
| Samos Summit, 03/07/18Enrico Ferro

2. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 2Samos Summit 2018
WHY BLOCKCHAIN IS RELEVANT?
«What internet did for communications, I think blockchain
will do for trusted transactions»
Ginny Rommetty, CEO of

3. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 3Samos Summit 2018
WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN?
• Blockchain is a Distributed
Ledger plus a Consensus
Algorithm
• Blockchain enables
◦ To run a decentralized
trustless system without a
centralized authority
◦ To avoid the double
spending problem
Revolution of trust

4. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 4Samos Summit 2018
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What role can the blockchain play in the process of
public sector reform?
In which areas is blockchain currently used within
the public sector?
What are the expected benefits and challenges
related to its adoption and implementation?
1
2
3
?

5. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 5Samos Summit 2018
METHODOLOGY
DESK RESEARCH
Review of professional
literature (academic papers, policy
reports, grey literature)
DESK RESEARCH
Examination of shortlisted
exploratory case studies through a
protocol of analysis
CROSS-CASE ANALYSIS
Recognition of enabling and
inhibiting patterns across case
studies
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Interviews with a panel of
external subject matter experts
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Round of interviews with
informants related to case studies
1
2
3
SoTA
review
Case
studies
In-depth
analysis

6. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 6Samos Summit 2018
LONGITUDINAL VIEW OF INNOVATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Adapted from: Yannis Charalabidis <From Government 1.0 to Government 2.0 and Government
key topics, trends and solutions for the Public Sector in a changing society and economy >
SERVICE: two way government-citizen (citizen oriented)
KEY TOOL: social media
KEY ICT AREA: people and data
SERVICE: one way (government oriented)
KEY TOOL: online service (portal)
KEY ICT AREA: infrastructures and organisation
SERVICE: customized government-citizen (individual oriented)
KEY TOOL: devices/apps/ubiquitous smart service
KEY ICT AREA: machine intelligence-IoT
EFFICIENCY
EFFICIENCY
+
ENGAGEMENT
EFFICIENCY
+
ENGAGEMENT
+
TRANSPARENCY
GOVERNMENT
OPENING TO
CITIZENS
GOVERNMENT
WORKING
BETTER
DATA DRIVEN
GOVERNANCE

7. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 7Samos Summit 2018
PUBLIC SECTOR CHALLENGES
TRANSPARENCY LEGITIMACY EFFECTIVENESSBUDGET PRESSURE
INCREASE OF CITIZEN’S
NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS
TRUST DEFICIT
CHALLENGES
TRUST

8. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 8Samos Summit 2018
POSSIBLE ROLES PLAYED BY BLOCKCHAIN
Selected from the reading:
McKinsey, Don and Alex Tapscott, Deloitte, Accenture, KPMG, reports…
EFFICENCY ENGAGEMENT TRANSPARENCY
Smart contract
automation and
enforcement
✔
Auditability ✔ ✔
Disintermediation ✔
Participation ✔
Avoiding fraud and
manipulation
✔ ✔
Distributed power ✔
Data integrity and
higher data quality
✔
Data openness ✔

9. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 11Samos Summit 2018
BLOCKCHAIN IN GOVERNMENT
ALL NATIONS WITH BLOCKCHAIN INITIATIVES
42 NATIONS involved
81 PROJECTS examined
Identification of SHORT-LIST
through mixed sampling
CRITERIA for theoretical sampling:
- Maturity (no mere announcements)
- Cases with an allocated team
- Cases with an allocated budget
- Cases in which the public administration
offers a service to the citizen (excluding
cases concerning central banks)

10. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 12Samos Summit 2018
AREAS OF IMPLEMENTATION – SHORT LIST
LEGEND

11. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 13Samos Summit 2018
CROSS-CASE ANALYSIS

12. Copyright © 2018 ISMB 15Samos Summit 2018
CONCLUSIONS
Blockchain technology can be a catalyst for innovation in the public sector
- Efficiency benefits seem to
dominate
- Skills upgrade required
- PPP dominant approach
- Lack of a standard and best
practice
- Seems to be a useful tool for
GDPR
- User-friendliness not there yet
- It is just the beginning

13. 16Copyright © 2018 ISMBSamos Summit 2018
Enrico Ferro - @egferro – ferro@ismb.it