Creating a government blockchain strategy with user protection
at the forefront.
The Government of Colombia created a Blockchain Reference Guide
for the adoption and implementation of blockchain technology for
the Colombian State.
The Opportunity
As governments grapple with the opportunities and challenges
that blockchain technology brings, consumer protection is top
of mind. The Ministry of Information Technology and
Communications and the Presidential Council for Economic
Affairs & Digital Transformation in Colombia created a
Blockchain Reference Guide to equip government entities with
best practices related to the technology.
This way, Ministries and other government entities can build
and evaluate projects with a clear understanding of how it
would affect end-users – and what tradeoffs may be involved in
various technical decisions.
The guide aims to provide public entities inputs and tools
that allow them to understand what blockchain technology may
be used for and how they can implement simple use cases of
blockchain. This unified strategy will support digital
transformation and position Colombia as a pioneer and leader
in the region for the implementation of initiatives with the
use of emerging technologies.
Implementation of the guide is helping reduce
barriers that may slow down or prevent the advancement of
blockchain in the public sector. It seeks to transcend
theoretical concepts and alleviate conceptual, cultural, and
technological barriers or gaps. It does so by:
(1) Providing concrete principles that should govern how
blockchain technology is developed in the public sector
(within which the Presidio Principles is included)
(2) Establishing how blockchain technology should be
implemented for the State, including technical and qualitative
systemic-level guidance
How we used the Presidio Principles:
The Principles were included in Section 5 of the Reference
Guide, “Implementing Blockchain.” This section described how
public entities could get their projects off the ground, with
a particular emphasis on “starting from those benefits that
would be obtained by the user, and putting the user and the
citizen at the centre of the design.” The Principles were
included as a reference point for minimum standards that the
technology providers might consider to align with this vision.
Public entities of the national order must develop their
blockchain projects in accordance with the reference guideline
provided by the government. In this regard, entities must
carry out a review of each of the dimensions by the Presidio
Principles.
The government will develop virtual socialization spaces for
the Guide, likewise, it will have a virtual space to promote,
test and experiment with blockchain in a safe and agile way.