The following article is an exclusive contribution to CoinDesk’s 2017 in Review.

Eva A. Kaili is a member of the European Parliament, where she chairs the Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) panel aimed at assessing AI, fintech and blockchain.

 

From the article by Eva Kaili at coindesk.com:

“The internet is once more in a period of transition.

The “cloud era” that served consumers and firms so well so far, little by little, gives its place to the “era of decentralization,” or the era wherein the end-users of computers will not only own and manage their hardware in a decentralized way, but also own and manage their own data in a decentralized way.

DLT is the technology that will enable this transition.

Neither an infant nor an adult, the technology is like a teenager who has already shown strong potential and raised great expectations. But, as it happens with all the teenagers, in order to materialize their potential, they need a disciplined framework, some boost of confidence, a feeling of certainty and the wisest possible direction when necessary.

In the case of a technology, this role is played by the enthusiasts who adopt it and those who resist it. Resistance to the technology is not bad or negative. Historical experience has proved that in the course of time resistance was undeniably essential in advancing a technology and making it useful.

In the case of DLTs, we see real enthusiasm, but we also see resistance coming from incumbents and traditional players and business models.

We can see the potential in every sector for the users both in their capacity as consumers, but also as citizens. I will not repeat the benefits of DLTs here. The market has already unveiled a lot of them, and many more are yet to come.

Moreover, it is not necessary to stress the disruptive impact of disintermediation. Emerging business models democratize the value chains, remove transaction costs, optimize the allocation of resources and risks, expand the social inclusion and improve the quality of services and products we receive as customers and as citizens.

We, as “blockchain evangelists” contaminate our enthusiasm and faith, while startupers all over the world tirelessly produce fantastic white papers and make radical value propositions and more and more governmental institutions respond to the new challenges, sometimes reluctantly and sometimes bravely.”

 

Original Image Credit:  Shutterstock

Recent News