4: Blockchain Democracy

THIS WAS OUR 2018 TREND FORECAST: As dissatisfaction of political institutions worldwide continues to accelerate, Direct Democracy will increase and gain momentum in 2018, as Blockchain Democracy becomes recognized as a global standard.

One criticism of Direct Democracy is that “We The People” are too stupid to think for ourselves. Want a bigger military budget? Want to go to war? Like the current U.S. tax bill? Who do you trust to make those decisions? Yourself or politicians and special interest groups?

The only obstacle to online voting is the people’s current lack of will to make it happen.

MID-YEAR UPDATE: Trends are born, they grow, mature, reach old age and die. The Blockchain trend has just been born, and throughout society, from young to old, many are still unfamiliar with this trend, what it means and where it is going.

However, whether society likes it, understands it or trusts it, Blockchain technology over the next few years will replace and dominate a number of current transactional systems.

Thus, in identifying Blockchain Democracy as a Top Trend for 2018, we forecast that this technology, exploding across a range of different fields, will prove a secure, accurate system for online voting.

Indeed, Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrency, is being embraced by the biggest banks and financial institutions, insurance giants, new technology companies, major industries and an increasing number of governments worldwide.

Trust in the technology is growing across myriad fields because Blockchain encrypts data, thus preventing the record of transactions from being hacked or altered.

And that makes Blockchain the engine to drive Democracy directly to “We The People”.

GROWING ACCEPTANCE

Online voting has yet to build major traction worldwide, because it is believed to be unsecure and unreliable. Even though we can bank online, the longstanding mindset has been that electronic voting systems are unsafe and can be easily hacked, ignoring the fact that current voting systems are antiquated, unreliable, inconvenient and “hanging chad” hackable.

Despite global demands to make it happen, what is fundamentally slowing the growth of online voting is that politicians and vested interests control an election process that is inefficient and entrenched.

Ripe for destruction, what Blockchain Democracy will do is make politicians and the current election process obsolete by cutting out the middlemen… politicians… and putting the power in the hands of the people.

Confirming our forecast that Direct Democracy is on the way, Tech Radar, a global digital technology information publication, identified online voting as one of the top 10 emerging sectors that “Blockchain will disrupt forever.”

Given the ability to vote online, not only for candidates but on major issues affecting citizens, ranging from municipal budgets to referendums, countries worldwide can follow the Switzerland model. There the most advanced model of Direct Democracy is practiced, giving citizens a direct say in how their public servants carry out the will of the voters.

Also as forecast, a number of Blockchain products and services to support online voting are rolling out this year.

Global IT service provider Luxoft Holding, Inc., for example, has partnered with the City of Zug and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland, to test the world’s first Blockchain-based e-voting system to be used in a major city.

In May, West Virginia became the first U.S. state to test online voting using Blockchain technology. Designed as a pilot initiative, the voting option was made available only to a small group of military personnel based overseas who were able to e-vote on mobile devices.

And Follow My Vote has emerged as global promoter of Blockchain-based online voting programs that are being tested in small markets worldwide.