ULTRA-NICHE AND ÜBER-COOL WHITE HOT INNOVATION

August 2017 – article for BUSINESS FOR SCOTLAND

http://www.businessforscotland.com – BfS Twitter

Business for Scotland is our country’s largest campaigning business network and think tank, passionate about unlocking Scotland’s potential. A most sincere thanks to BfS Rhona Middler and Tonie McKay.

SCOTLAND’S POTENTIAL #BLOCKCHAIN FUTURE

By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain technology has created the scope of a new type of internet. Originally devised for the digital currency, Bitcoin, the tech community is now finding many other potential uses for the technology. With relevance to Scotland, this includes capability to measure desire for Independence, and additionally, ability to be used for all future voting.

Twitter: @YesDayScotland established 3 years ago, with an educational focus point of discussing how modern technology can peacefully resolve mass conflicts.

The scope of conversation has been completely aspirational, to a collective desired level of assisting organisation such as the Nobel Peace Prize committee, United Nations HQ, and The Graduate Institute, Geneva (CCDP) Centre on Control, Development and Peacebuilding.

Soon after starting out, we realised that the technology mix and application could resolve a matter which had troubled the legacy of Scotland’s Adam Smith, Kirkcaldy’s moral philosopher, for 256 years. Specifically, ‘the need for actions based on universal values which go far beyond the profit motive – and indeed which must provide the framework for the market to work effectively’.

To date, #Blockchain #ElectronicDemocracy in Scotland has been such an ultra-niche subject matter, and despite rapidly accelerating worldwide prevalence, there’s still no Scottish mainstream media coverage.

We’ve had two main ongoing project themes:

1. Technology within modernising any referendum process
2. Accelerated voter participation, via digitalisation

In our context, the consideration was fully initiated in February 2016, with a conceptual of ‘multiple mirrored servers with indelible records for UN inspectors’ – and that desire remains the same today.

It’s been a quickly-evolving discussion across a worldwide span of academics, technologists, coders and digitalised revolutionaries, together with so many Scots who very obviously, plainly and simply wish for an end to current division.

What has been delivered in scope, via this ongoing progressive community discussion, is the conceptual of the world’s most advanced and pioneering, mathematically-flawless, asymmetric cryptography voting system, based upon blockchain’s distributed transaction ledgers. Twitter concludes, the conceptual of indelible digital records on mirrored servers, appears über-cool, brimming with white hot innovation.

If using blockchain, each vote is a digital block adding to a chain, based upon the technology that underpins bitcoin. With accumulating structure, the chain cannot be broken. Identical de-centralised records maintain across a network of thousands of computers.

We’re looking at a bastion of modern era electronic democracy, impervious to fraud, immutable and tamper-proof, manipulation of voting database eliminated.

We’ve made a 2 min film clip, and whilst it’s #YouTube GENESIS for Scotland #Blockchain voting, the scope is aligned to be very quickly and easily understood by any citizen: CLICK THROUGH VIA: #Youtube #Blockchain #GENESIS Sincere thanks from Scotland, to Fleetwood Mac, for the use of THE CHAIN for the backing track.

Bitcoin blockchain has apparently never been hacked. The only aspect deemed ‘hackable’, has only occurred at wallet (browser transfer) stage. Secure enough for transfering a billion pounds, secure enough for accepting other processes.

So fast forward, here we are in Scotland in late summer 2017, with some slightly out of touch politicians still talking of another paper slip referendum? Who wants another archaic referendum anyway? In those previous terms, we’d once again be 21st century citizens, now interacting with 19th century institutions, based on 15th century information technology.

Others elsewhere have stated what seems to be a completely compelling case for methodology for politicians alone, to create an Independent Scotland using straightforward modern procedures, repeating the routes previously taken by other countries elsewhere. (link below)

But what happens if THERE HAS TO BE some form of further referendum? If there is absolutely no choice in that matter? There’s certainly a worthy view, that a defined population YES majority would be more beneficial for ongoing and future population harmony?

IF a population majority is indeed categorically required, we believe the best way to proceed would be via government-led Blockchain Online Register. Enabled and perhaps operational for accepting citizen input, over a few weeks? After the implications of Brexit are more fully understood?

And what happens if an Online Register delivers a No to Independence? In that context, simply park it for a few years, then ask again. The matter is always up to the people of Scotland, as every nation’s population has an ongoing UN right to self-determination.

Meanwhile, in the newly-announced and quite incredible scope of the 2017 Scottish government #DigitalRevolution £36M funding package, there’s confirmation of intended plans for digitalised voting. When that digital voting is introduced, instead of setting up on a questionable centralised government digital network, it would be great to see the future fully established upon de-centralised blockchain platforms. That, is what Scotland’s citizens should now demand. There is now no reason for anyone in Scotland to settle for anything less.

Blockchain can help transform Scotland into becoming the global 21st century leader, it is destined to become.

And regarding the de-centralised nature of blockchain itself, if Scotland’s government doesn’t act quickly to establish methodology to measure the desire for Independence anyway, the option of taking the opportunity to ‘support and manage that process’ is already verging on being physically lost to the authorities, due to the cutting-edge acceleration of technology itself.

We appear to be very close indeed to seeing blockchain’s capability to create individual identities for citizens, indeed that project’s particular genesis moment has already occurred. This will primarily have implications for worldwide human rights, with virtual nil cost Smartphones enabling ID’s to be created for the 1 in 6 people in the world, who don’t have any ID.

Self-certified Sovereign ID’s translated into Scotland’s Indy question? Well, that could truly be a digital revolution to behold, a Scottish digital volcano erupting into a digital YES tornado.

Other potential uses for blockchain, in addition to our niche of electronic democracy? Mind-boggling. To name a few: electronic cash, smartcard payments, supply chains, tracking taxpayer money, financial instruments, records of trade, land registries, smart contracts, cloud storage, music payment and licensing, communities built free of hierarchy, destroyal of fake news.

And so on. For democracy, this is a new beginning. The end of deference appears to be ushering in a new pursuit of trust, truth and change.

Sincere thanks to all who have input into YesDayScotland conceptuals, wherever you are in the world, electronic democracy has an amazing future within the fourth technological revolution.

ZUG – SUMMARY SWISS CASE STUDY:

CONCEPTUALS PROVEN, SWITZERLAND NAILS BLOCKCHAIN FIRST:

Over recent weeks, something expected happened, a worldwide pioneering #Blockchain first was delivered, but unfortunately (LOL) it wasn’t in Scotland. The city of Zug in Switzerland’s crypto-valley, has now introduced blockchain to create citizen ID’s for all their citizens! And where they’ve gone with that digital blueprint, we reckon Scotland can perhaps follow. Many aspects we’ve discussed on Twitter, now appear to be progressing at full tilt in Zug, and all the rest.

The Zug software has immediately come to be seen as a potential technology to revolutionize the Swiss voting system, replacing the ludicrously archaic voting system which today, similarly to Scotland, still relies on ballot papers and hand-counted results.

The individual ID’s for citizens aren’t centralised within government. The authorities only verify and confirm the identity of each person. Capisch?

And in what appears to be the same modernised voting system we’ve concluded upon in our discussions, guess what? Zug say they will be using their own blockchain voting starting in Spring 2018. Bingo!

Zug leads the way! – worldwide pioneering #Blockchain first

(NB, pronounced Zoog)

MEANWHILE IN SCOTLAND

• Launched February 2017. The University of Edinburgh has now established Scotland’s Blockchain Technology Laboratory. What an incredible scope: Blockchain Laboratory
• There are already more than 700 people involved with Scottish Blockchain. Bill Buchanan is a Professor in the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours, for services to cyber security. Scottish Blockchain Meetup

Article links:

1 Via Twitter: YesDayScotland  – ADAM SMITH SOLUTION

2 What is Blockchain? Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

3 What is Blockchain Technology? BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

4 Professor Alf Baird on UDI, via #BellaCaledonia IT IS NOW TIME FOR MP’S TO DECLARE INDEPENDENCE

5 20.5.2017 Via Twitter: YesDayScotland – #Blockchain Online Register ScotGov submission This submission has also input into SNP Policy Unit, we await responses. Across the entire span of social media, all we’ve seen are continually recurring sentiments of Love, Happiness, Wow, and Share. Our Facebook presence is only via a 500 follower portal, conceptual at source 2 posts over 20,000 views: YesDay Facebook – in conjunction we streamed video explaining conceptual: Indy via #ElectronicDemocracy

6 Zug – BITCOIN MAGAZINE ON ETHEREUM BLOCKCHAIN

7 Zug – The Blockchain and Us, interview with Dolfi Mueller, mayor of Zug JUST DO IT!

8 ScotGov £36M Digital Revolution – ‘Realising Scotland’s full potential in a digital world: a digital strategy for Scotland’ – digital vote trials confirmed on page 17 – download via SCOTLAND #DigitalRevolution

9 #SovrinID – Project Indy #SovrinID This is: THE GENESIS BLOCK ON THE SOVRIN LEDGER – Perhaps, the birth of the mechanism which can nail Scotland’s Independence majority.

10 World Bank ID’s 1 in 6 people have no ID

11 Uses for Blockchain? In addition to the ultra-niche of voting (listed at 26), here’s a further 83 implications BEHOLD, THE FUTURE!

12 Uses for Blockchain? GOLDMAN SACHS ‘Blockchain can change … well everything’

New Scotland-based technology website: http://digitalscot.news

UPDATE AS AT 18.8.2017: On YesDayScotland Twitter Twitter feed … Dear Scotland, Switzerland’s #CryptoValley @BouleCoin have this afternoon offered to create a #Blockchain demo, for Scotland. 

 

‘Blockchain will empower us to take control over the polls with iron-written transactions that are very hard to be hacked’ – Say hello to BouleCoin

And worth noting #BouleCoin is in partnership with #CryptoValley Switzerland leads the way

 

Many thanks for your time, and sincere gratitude as always, to all who have contributed to the twitter conversation thus far.

Pulling all info together for this article, well … it really underlines how amazing the future potentials are for Scotland.

Nicholas Russell