Jerry Cuomo, IBM Vice President, Blockchain Technologies is calling for the US Government to get more involved in the Blockchain movement in a recent blog post titled, “Blockchain: Securing the Financial Systems of the Future“.
Noting that IBM helped the United States government create the Social Security system, which, at the time, was the most complex financial system ever developed.
At IBM, we believe that blockchain technology is becoming an essential tool as business and society navigate this shift–with the potential for transforming commerce and the interactions between governments and individuals. Blockchain has inherent qualities that provide trust and security, but, to fulfill its promise, the core technology must be further developed using an open source governance model to make it deployable on a grand scale.
There’s a critical role for government here—both to enhance national competitiveness and national security. The federal government must invest in scientific research to accelerate progress. The National Institute of Standards and Technology can help shape standards for interoperability, privacy and security. And government agencies can become early adopters of blockchain applications. In addition, government has a key role to play in certifying the identities of participants in blockchain-based systems.
He does add that government should not try to control these new financial systems, but they do have an important role to play in helping them to take off and in safeguarding them.
We need to create a new social compact, where business, with input from government, architects the future of financial services. We at IBM look forward to working with our partners in government, industry and academia to get this done.
