New York City Launches First Blockchain Initiatives

https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/new-york-city-launches-first-blockchain-initiatives

by edwinksl • 8 years ago

49 37 8 years ago

I couldn't be happier that my tax dollars are going to harness the power of the blockchain to solve the problems of "food deserts" and gentrification.

--edit--

In case you are wondering if this is sarcastic, let me clarify. I fully expect the blockchain to revolutionize the delivery of government services the same way Bitcoin will revolutionize grocery shopping, and the same way Etherium will revolutionize legal contracts.

--edit 2--

Since people still don't get it, let me elaborate:

Imagine a world where you could use Bitcoin to transfer money anywhere in the world with the same ease as making a Bitcoin micropayment, simply, safely, instantly, with no fees.

Imagine a world where people use Etherium smart contracts to control everything from marriages to college diplomas to corporate governance.

Now imagine the same revolutionary ideas applied across NYC to everything from garbage collection to city ordinances!

The power of the blockchain is bounded only by your imagination.

lainga• 8 years ago

De Blasio: Blockchain to Stop Manhattan From Capsizing

SlowRobotAhead2• 8 years ago

"As part of Blockchain Week NYC, NYCEDC and GrowNYC co-sponsored a hackathon on May 12-13, challenging technologists to use blockchain technologies to create solutions that improve trackability and transparency of the City’s GrowNYC food supply chain, tracking food from farm, to warehouse, to retail outlet, to consumers, especially those in our underserved neighborhoods. "

That's definitely not what a decentralized database is needed for. Any centralized SQL database could this much better and efficiently.

If you need to look for a use, it's not useful for you.

Someone12345• 8 years ago

I fully expect the blockchain to revolutionize the delivery of government services the same way Bitcoin will revolutionize grocery shopping, and the same way Etherium will revolutionize legal contracts.

Through what technical mechanism? Or to rephase how does a distributed ledger help you shop for groceries or government services? Because without the distributed ledger, there's no blockchain.

Frankly who is even signing the ledger? If there's only two interested parties, why would third parties agree to literally burn money/electricity signing the ledger to verify?

Someone12345• 8 years ago

That's a complete waste of tax payer money. Per the article this money will be used to actually find a use of blockchain, rather than funding existing ideas for how blockchain could improve "security, efficiency, and turn-around-times for government services."

In other words, NYC is blowing $200M to chase a fad that they nor many in the press even seem to grasp. This is one of those schemes they look back on with shame and embarrassment.

I'm still waiting on the edge of my seat for the other uses for blockchain than pseudo currency. But I've been on the edge of my seat for three years now, and other than perhaps DNS I've not heard much.

Most of the proposals ignore the fact that the ledger gets larger and more costly [by design] which limits the growth potential. That's why nothing has ever come on tap (except currency/investments where increased cost is a benefit, not a drawback).

CPLX2• 8 years ago

Read the press release again, NYC isn't spending $200MM on blockchain, that would literally be insane.

They're just doing some of the usual EDC stuff, announcing some partnerships, opening some kind of coworking space for blockchain people or similar, the usual.

JumpCrisscross• 8 years ago

I’m a blockchain bear, but I think this is a sensible move. Once the whole thing crashes we’ll have entrepreneurial engineers who have relocated to New York City.

claytonjy2• 8 years ago

A couple weeks ago I saw an RFP (request for proposal) from a small midwestern town looking for blockchain solutions:

The purpose of this process is to solicit proposals from qualified vendors to provide a technology solution leveraging blockchain technology to overcome information sharing barriers, facilitate continuity of care, flag at-risk individuals, and serve as a communication and referral mechanism to appropriate services

I wonder how widespread this is?

Max_aaa2• 8 years ago

How can this even be solved by the "blockchain"?

lawn4• 8 years ago

Like usual with these hyped technologies people use them and search for a problem.

That said I take issue with "pseudo currency". In many ways it's a better currency.

An ever increasing ledger isn't that big of a deal either as technology improves and not everyone needs to store the whole ledger.

nbeleski• 8 years ago

It is not a better currency in any reasonable way besides illicit uses. To be honest, it would even be hard to classify it as a currency.

It is not a currency, neither a store of value. The blockchain technology is also not really technologically relevant.

frockington3• 8 years ago

A deflationary currency is about as bad as currency can get

mfarris2• 8 years ago

That is an awful lot of words to say "Hey anybody got any ideas how to make 'blockchain' useful to people not interested in bilking cryptocurrency speculators? Sure, we've got homeless on the streets but ALSO $200 million burning a hole in our city's pockets, and saying 'blockchain' is much cooler than 'hunger' or 'poverty' or 'infrastructure.' Ooh look, blockchain!"

Please somebody suggest an even remotely plausible way that "blockchain" could possibly improve "turn-around times for government services."

etherael4• 8 years ago

Instead of waiting for a bureaucratic notary to update a centralised government database 9am to midday Monday to Friday except public holidays, strikes, or other unforeseen circumstances, you interact with a distributed app hosted on a blockchain 24/7/365 which does exactly the same thing, except immediately and with no other human in the loop to slow it down or add errors.

In fact, all of the above plus all the benefits of just destroying the state completely and interacting with all the functions it used to compulsorily provide terribly only by voluntary smart contracts, much more efficiently.

mfarris2• 8 years ago

Ah, so "blockchain" is a Libertarian Trojan horse that will obviate government. Man, "blockchain" can do ANYTHING.

"voluntary smart contracts"... more buzzwords that sound great but mean nothing. What's so smart about contracts that lose hundreds of millions of dollars because someone put a semicolon in the wrong place? I'm not volunteering for that.

Can't wait for the first time the soon-to-be-obsolete government has to "fork" the Social Security "blockchain" because a few $$$BILLION "went missing" when some 25-year-old, third-tier programmer/consultant screwed up the "smart" contract. Oops.

SlowRobotAhead2• 8 years ago

Replace blockchain with "mathy database" is the use case still cool? No? Ok then.

dnomad• 8 years ago

NYC is a high-tax, high-growth region. It should use a blockchain to distribute tax credits to those people who need it most. Those people can then take the tax credits and spend them at city businesses. The great thing is that it could defer these tax credits... that is disallow them to be resolved for N years. Experience growth now and pay for it in the future. It would be an interest-free loan (though in reality, the credits would be discounted) ... in other words it would be currency. It could easily transform welfare within the city.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17041697

jnbiche• 8 years ago

I know there's a lot of pooh-poohing of the blockchain here, and for good reason. However, I can think of an excellent use case for blockchain in government that couldn't (verifiably) be done with a normal database: tracking grants, contracts, misc spending, etc.

With a public blockchain, grants and other government spending (which are sometimes otherwise misspent or stolen) could be verifiably tracked and published. This could be a great asset to state and local governments that are prone to corruption.

wepple• 8 years ago

But shouldn’t that be solved by identifying which services need improvement, followed by a rigorous process to seek an optimal solution, then implementation?

If block chain is the answer, awesome! If anything is the answer, awesome!

Do we need some kind of special department to run competitions to try and find a use for blockchain? Probably not.

frockington3• 8 years ago

Living in a that city prides itself on being "slightly less corrupt than Cleveland", I can guarantee you that no corrupt local politician would ever support this. They can't even regulate dogs on restauraunt patios without the state having to come in due to excessive bribery

etherael4• 8 years ago

Taxi companies would never support ride sharing services, either. But the end result is inevitable regardless.

rajacombinator• 8 years ago

Without reading sounds like free money for whatever “friend of NYC” sold them this load of crap! Even better than ICO free money.

New York City Launches First Blockchain Initiatives

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