Blockchain Technology Is All Set To Be The Great Equalizer For American Cities

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What Is The Status Of Blockchain Technology In American Cities?

Currently, in the city of Austin, a pilot program with 2000 homeless residents being given a unique identifier safely and securely recorded on the blockchain is underway. Helping individuals, this identifier consolidates their records and seek out crucial services. Those service providers will also be able to access information. In case it is successful, there is a new more efficient way to communicate and ensure the right people are at the table helping the homeless.

Blockchain technology in Austin and around the country is opening a range of opportunities or city service delivery and operations. With a secure inalterable electronic register at its core, the blockchain serves as a shared database or the distributed ledger that is located permanently online and which represented digitally such as the rights, goods, and property. Blockchain brings widespread decentralization to transactions through enhanced trust, consensus, and autonomy. 

How Does Blockchain Affect The Rich And The Poor?

Blockchain comes with the potential to create countless smart networks and grids at the municipal level, as also altering how we do everything from voting and building credit to receiving energy. To circumvent outdated systems and build long-lasting solutions for cities, in many ways it could be a crucial component. 

Reported as the rich getting richer situation, it’s good enough for the wealthy but why can’t it be adequate to help poorer, more vulnerable members of the population. In the more inclusive future we’ve always wanted, consider that it may be a major player. 

There is arguably a lot to do as according to new research, 43 percent of families are struggling to afford basics like food and housing and perhaps the ones who stand to gain the most from blockchain, the Internet of Things, and the advent of smart cities in case done right.

In the US and around the world, smart city technology is growing ever more common and the research shows 66 percent cities invest in some sort of smart city technological infrastructure enabling them to collect, aggregate and analyze real-time data improving the lives of residents. As already showing great promise in many ways, smart cities improve the lives of the people who live in cities.

As an example, take the case of electricity for instance. As Blockchain helps turn microgrids into a reality on a macro scale, this enables communities more easily embrace solar power and other more sustainable sources, which in turn results in fewer emissions and lower healthcare costs and rates of disease. Blockchain-enabled microgrids in the more immediate future allow consumers to join a power exchange that can sell their surplus energy. The consumer’s bills in many scenarios would either significantly drop or they’d earn money.

The next hurdle is the question of building credit. Not surprisingly the poor are the most likely to have debt and unpaid bills and therefore bad credit. Being the most likely to be unbanked they don’t use banks at all. Seven percent of Americans don’t use banks but with blockchain, it is possible to design alternative ways to build and track transactions.

The next issue is, of course, that of voting which more than ever is vital to a thriving democracy. The voter turnout in the US is lower than just about every other developed country. It is not that we talk enough about important civic engagement whereby holding politicians accountable makes the playing field fairer. Talking about it would be like to be able to email the votes from the comfort of our home computer or smartphone. It isn’t nearly secure enough to select our leaders through emails, but being able to vote from home is something we could and should aim to do. 

How Is Blockchain Providing A Secure System?

To be a secure enough system to make this a reality, blockchain is proving itself with the result that more youth, communities of color, and disabled voters show up to the polls. Another contemporary concern is that these online polls would be more hack-proof with votes being counted in real-time. In this case, you needn’t go to bed thinking one candidate has won the race but waking up to find it was someone else.  

What is the future of Blockchain and how can it be a powerful new tool for cities? The recent research not only explores how cities use blockchain now but also how it will be used in the future to enable technology like autonomous vehicles that talk to each other. The use cases of this type plus existing opportunities from Blockchain could potentially be transformative for municipal operations. 

A Few Words To Wrap Up The Discussion

Blockchain being more than just cryptocurrency, in time it could turn the American society on its head and at the same time making our major institutions and the places we live more inclusive. In some cases, cities, as well as states, are the places where it will be piloted. Developing smart cities and utilizing blockchain as a secure resource, the city leaders provide community members with tools needed for success.