For Wood, the technology ecosystem will enter a phase of mass products next year, with combined service applications.
The creator of Polkadot and co-founder of the cryptocurrency Ethereum, Dr. Gavin Wood, visited Santiago del Estero, delivered a conference at the Forum and shared his vision on the impact blockchain technology will have on daily life, the role of the state, democracy and digital trust.
Considered one of the most influential minds in Web3, Wood affirmed that the world is on the brink of a profound transformation thanks to decentralised systems that are more secure, more efficient and with fewer intermediaries, speaking with Canal 7 and EL LIBERAL.
Polkadot is a decentralised public infrastructure representing a new technological generation that, unlike traditional blockchains, can scale, interoperate and support the critical functions of a modern state. It is the only protocol currently in existence capable of putting a Nation On-Chain, allowing public services, citizen registries, financial systems, social programmes and coordination infrastructures to function on an open, verifiable and sovereign network.
The depth of the changes this blockchain technology can bring is equal to or greater than what the arrival of the internet represented in its time. The web was first used to send emails or documents, but subsequently experienced an explosion of utilities and applications that are used in people’s daily lives. For Wood, we are on the eve of a new transformation. A new turn of the screw on applications and the internet as we know it today.
Blockchain technology points towards a more direct relationship between people and institutions. So much so that it could, for example, introduce a change in the way authorities are elected through voting from a mobile phone at all levels of government, and verify that the person who voted is unique and authentic without exposing their choice. It could also enable virtual demonstrations against an official measure, or collections in favour of a specific cause. In between, there are undoubtedly not only technological challenges to face, but legal and regulatory ones as well.
For now, this approach to what blockchain means is an advance that could be described as evangelising. Closing the distance to understand a little more about what it entails. That is why the first approach was with decision-makers, people connected to technology and a great deal of youth more receptive to change. Because if what is coming arrives with the speed at which technology travels, there is another world just around the corner that is taking shape. One in which people will be immersed, with or without knowledge of how it works. As actors or as consumers. As happens today with the internet. But at a far more amplified level. How much more? It is difficult to quantify.
It suffices to say that the internet began with the exchange of emails just three decades ago. Today it is the digital platform through which practically a large part of our private and public lives is conducted. Social networks, mobile applications, payments. Today, perhaps for that reason, our phones know far more about each of us than our relatives do. That is why the change that is taking shape is significant. Who could have imagined fifteen years ago that the internet would spread as it has? Blockchain will deepen those uses.
Wood argued that blockchain can replace or complement the institutions that today monopolise trust, from governments to public or private companies. “Many of the things we do daily depend on companies whose exact workings we do not know. Blockchain can replace those third parties with more trustworthy, more secure systems at a very low cost,” he explained.
Those companies or public or private institutions “are the third parties we generally do not realise are there in our lives, but they are. The technology we are talking about has the potential to augment or even replace many of those institutions that are the ones we need most.”
“In a sense, we live in a reality in which much of the value, the transactions, will be carried out at a distance, not with the people beside you, but with people living on the other side of the city, in the country or in the world. Today we live in a reality where much of the value we have in our lives comes from transactions we are able to make. Information has a very high value and trust is crucial,” he stated.
But “unfortunately it is something very costly when we remain in the mindset of the 1900s. The good thing about this technology is that it will facilitate those interactions, but at a very low cost. That opens up many opportunities.”
“I do not believe that the products we develop will be the only ones using this technology. As time goes on, more will emerge from different places. Just as happened with the internet. At the beginning the internet was only email, viewing a browser, searching for information, but then other products emerged: TikTok, WhatsApp, and that is what we know today as the internet,” he indicated. He added that “the internet was created for commerce, but it has not really had as much impact there as it has on the daily lives of people, opening up the possibility of creating connections, new friends, making transactions. If we look at the world of law, of real estate, many things have not changed all that much. But in the lives of ordinary people, our lives are very different. Particularly in our interpersonal interactions. The same will happen with this technology.”
What Is Coming
For the scientist, the technology ecosystem will enter a phase of mass products next year, with applications that will combine messaging, digital identity and money transfers.
He assured that these platforms will enable new forms of social organisation such as verifiable digital demonstrations, online political movements and real-time citizen participation mechanisms. Wood emphasised that governments will be able to leverage blockchain technology to issue documents, manage digital identity, automate permits and reduce bureaucracy.
He also proposed digital voting systems in which every citizen can verify their vote and participate from their phone, without compromising privacy.
Regarding Argentina, he highlighted the youthful energy and social understanding of the limitations of traditional institutions. He warned, however, that current regulations respond to a world that no longer exists and must be updated to allow the development of innovations that are key to prosperity.
Finally, he noted that mass adoption depends not only on influential political leaders, but on a social movement that understands the potential of this technology to improve democratic life.
Source: El Liberal