U.S. Department of State to Hold Blockchain Forum on October 10

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by Andy Watson · 3 min read
U.S. Department of State to Hold Blockchain Forum on October 10
Photo: Ian Britton / Flickr

The US State Department and interagency partners will hold a forum on Blockchain on October 10, 2017.

The event will take place in Washington D.C. at the George C. Marshall Center. Various offices like the State Department and other parts of the US government will join the one-day workshop organized by the Blockchain@State initiative to explore both the policy implications and potential applications of distributed ledger technologies advancing U.S. diplomacy and development goals.

According to the information provided on Eventribe, the forum aims to:

“Educate our colleagues in U.S. foreign policy agencies with a focus on current use cases; Foster dialogue with private sector partners working in this field; and Inspire partnerships for future demonstration and experimentation of this transformative technology.”

The mission of the event is to “explore both the policy implications and potential applications of the tech within the context of US diplomatic efforts.” The group was launched earlier this year.

Making a report to Thomas Debass, the director for innovation and the acting special representative for global partnerships, the group will monitor developments in Blockchain and prepare bi-weekly briefings to keep the initiative informed of new applications in the field.

The Blockchain@State Forum is powered by the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships; the Secretary’s Office of Policy and Planning; the Bureau of Information Resource Management; the Bureau of Consular Affairs; the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues; the Office of the Science and Technology Advisor; the Office of Management, Rightsizing, and Innovation; the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs; the USAID Development Credit Authority; and the USAID’s U.S. Global Developemnt Lab’s Center for Digital Development.

In particular, the forum will be dedicated to blockchain use cases. Also the workshop will lecture about how Blockchain can assist with various global issues, including humanitarian crises.

IBM, Microsoft, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), ConsenSys and many others is expected to participate in the discussion.

It is known that the opening keynote speaker is identified as a “High-Level U.S. Government Official”, per EventBrite – confirmed speakers include Toomas Ilves, former president of Estonia, and State Department chief information officer Frontis Wiggins.

“Blockchain is not just for Bitcoin. And it’s not just for the private sector. Nations and cities around the world are actively utilizing this technology to transform the work of government. This is happening now. And the Department of State cannot afford to wait to explore applications of this technology to the work of international development and diplomacy”, according to the Project’s description.

After an inter-agency event held in July, it will be the second Blockchain-related forum involving the State Department this year.

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