"Blockchain in government: toward an evaluation framework"

The adoption of a new technology such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in government is a complex process with numerous potential benefits, but also costs and risks. Early pilots introducing DLT into the public sector show that its potential impact will likely vary depending on the context, in...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Cagigas Castro, Diego|||0000-0002-4974-6335, Clifton, Judith|||0000-0001-6081-6800, Díaz Fuentes, Daniel|||0000-0002-6290-2363, Fernández Gutiérrez, Marcos|||0000-0002-4000-9283, Harpes, Carlo
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repository:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/32303
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10902/32303
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Distributed ledger technology
Blockchain
Government
Innovation policy
Evaluation framework
Public services
Description
Summary:The adoption of a new technology such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in government is a complex process with numerous potential benefits, but also costs and risks. Early pilots introducing DLT into the public sector show that its potential impact will likely vary depending on the context, including, the type of public service. Even within the same public service, the impact of DLT might be distinct for each of the stakeholders involved (the government, civil servants and citizens, among others). As the public sector is diverse, it is critical to get a proper analysis and understanding of the process of introduction of this technology, which encompasses the different dimensions that play a role in the process. This paper presents an original and multi-dimensional evaluation framework to analyze and compare the benefits, costs and risks of the introduction of DLT in the public sector. It considers a comprehensive set of factors, identified and extracted after conducting a systematic review of the literature, representing potential benefits, costs and risks of DLT in the public sector. These are categorized into four separate dimensions: technological, socio-economic, organizational-cultural, and institutional (legal and political). This evaluation framework has been designed to be used by policy-makers interested in analyzing and comparing the benefits and risks of the introduction of DLT in real-world applications of this technology in the public sector.