Federal government exploring blockchain for transparency and efficiencies

The Trump administration envisions a government where blockchain delivers efficiency and transparency, unlike the world has ever known.

The digital ledger technology, blockchain, has been a huge focus of FreightWaves because of the transformative nature that it can deliver to any sector or application that it touches. According to Coindesk, White House officials emphasized that one of Trump’s goals was to overhaul government bureaucracy through the implementation of technology, all under the goal of eliminating waste, fraud, and speeding up internal decision making and processes. All of these elements are goals encompassed in a blockchain fabric.

While most early blockchain enthusiasts were members of a community that advocated for less central control, the next generation of blockchain applications will be to enhance enterprises that are inefficient, wasteful, and slow to change- i.e. the Federal government.

The Federal government, including the Defense Department and the NSA, have been building cutting edge technology and exploring blockchain applications, combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning. No one could argue with the need for a robust and agile defense and security apparatus, but the next version will further reach into branches of government that are normally slow adopters of technology, including social services, the IRS, FEMA, and anything that touches healthcare. We recently highlighted the power of this technology deployed during a FEMA disaster relief operation.

Healthcare would certainly benefit from the technology. The runaway costs in healthcare since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act seem to be unstoppable, but there is hope with this new technology. As much as 40% of healthcare expenses go towards administration costs, much of which is providing record keeping, billing, tracking of information, and other elements that blockchain could mitigate. While FreightWaves is a logistics and supply-chain centric publication, our readers certainly understand the cost of healthcare. Trucking is among the most at-risk population for lifestyle centric disease and health care issues. Anything that mitigates these expenses would be applauded by the readers and editors of this publication.  

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