DIGITAL DECENTRALIZED TRANSFER OF VALUE FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR: A playing field analysis: how can Distributed Ledger Technologies like blockchain impact public values?

Data, records, and transactions define the structures in our public system. Yet these tools and the bureaucracies to manage these by public institutions operate still much the same way as decades ago. At the same time, governments face challenges in the digital age and must find new ways in how to create trust in their systems while handling new societal challenges. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) of which blockchain is one system has experienced in recent years a lot of attention as it offers new ways of bringing public services to citizens and businesses. Because of this, governments have started experimenting and investing in blockchain and DLT solutions for the public sector. The OECD (2018) found already more than 200 government-led blockchain initiatives in more than 40 different countries.

To understand where applicability of blockchain should be considered, it is important to recognize that DLT can be seen as a form of “general purpose technology”. This is due to the infrastructural character of the technology. This means that whether DLT or blockchain is a solution to a given problem in the public sector and can impact
public value can only be answered on a case-to-case basis. In this report, we present a total of 21 DLT use cases associated to each of the Dutch ministries to show potential
opportunities for application in different public sectors and services in the Netherlands. The use cases analysed build the basis for a new decision-making approach, in which we highlight the different steps that can be taken by the government to identify application possibilities in the future.