What if the Ministry of the Interior organizes an event around the blockchain? A crazy idea? Surprising to say the least? Well, it’s real! According to one of our sources who was on site (the press was not invited), one of our members with a passion for Web 3 was able to personally attend the event and tells us), the first SBMI, Blockchain Fair of the Ministry of the Interior took place on Friday 25 November.
The event was opened by Mathieu Weill, Digital Director of the Ministry of the Interior and brought together private and public players. Mr. Weill’s question is clear: Is there a place for blockchain in a centralized Jacobean state? Would it be a competitor to the state or could it serve the state to improve its functioning?
What seemed unthinkable until recently – since the image of the blockchain is solely influenced by speculation around cryptocurrencies and sometimes fraud – has happened. A sovereign ministry recognizes the importance of the blockchain. This is also the announcement made today: the French Ministry of the Interior declares to start a thinking process on blockchain technology with a view to a possible construction. We seem to understand that we are even talking about a PoC blockchain (Proof of concept).
If the realization of this idea is not yet tangible, it is still a first step. The Ministry of the Interior thus opens the discussion and brings Web3 pioneers together to think about possible use cases. From the outside, institutions often seem hesitant or even uninformed about the topics of blockchain and Web3 in general. With this event, it becomes clear on the spot that some members of the state apparatus are in fact very aware of these technologies and their possible applications.
In terms of welcoming this outstretched hand to the Web 3 world, the industry seems very receptive. There is indeed a lot of demand for the ministerial initiative. Although the fair only accommodated 250 visitors, more than a thousand people sent requests to participate in just one week.
Notably, guests and attendees included Nicolas Consigny, co-founder of Ledger, Laury Jacot, founder of HEC’s MBA Blockchain Club, Laure Merlin, CEO of Play My Tech, Pierre Person, former deputy for Paris in the National Assembly and pro crypto, several members of Kryptosphere, Isaure Courcenet of Paris Blockchain Week, Jean-Philippe le Normand, Deputy Deputy Director at the Ministry of the Interior and Faustine Fleuret, President of ADAN (Association for the Development of Digital Assets).
The latter reflects the situation well; France has so far been a forerunner in the regulation of blockchain technology. It has therefore been able to inspire harmonized regulations within the European Union. In this respect, the EU is also ahead of North America or Asia, which have less uniformity in their legislation.
Public finance inspector Akli LeCoq points out that while France may have missed the boat when it was at the forefront of the internet, it should not risk not being a frontrunner in blockchain.
The ministerial members present were not only familiar with the topics discussed, but also realistic.
Indeed, to the “classic” and recurring criticisms that so regularly appear on the energy consumption of the blockchain, public actors are aware of the different methods of securing the network (the Proof of stake be less energy intensive Proof of work).
They also know that the most energy-intensive crypto-assets often use excess renewable energy production that is wasted beyond measure because it is not absorbed by other industries. They see the utility of blockchain, its ability to simplify and secure many processes.
That said, public actors are pointing out what appears to be an incompatibility so far: the immutability of the blockchain is inconsistent with the right to be forgotten provided for in the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
The organizer of the event, Jean-Emmanuel Faggianelli, guest project manager and project coordinator in the digital department of the Ministry of the Interior, asks another question. How do you make the blockchain acceptable to a state?
According to Fadila le Turq, from DINUM (Interministerial Digital Department), the first problem is that the blockchain is being explained by technical experts to public decision-makers in a jargon they don’t understand.
The answer is given by Arun Louvois, solutions architect at DINUM, among others, who reminds us of the Estonian case. Indeed, in April 2007, Estonia was hit by a series of cyber-attacks from Russia. This attack shut down both the Estonian state’s computer system and banking system.
In response, Estonia decided from 2011 to protect its administration by integrating Blockchain technology without a central authority called KSI (Keyless Signature Infrastructure). Thanks to this data protection of their citizens, Estonia has survived another recent cyber-attack from Russia without any problems. The Estonian nation is thus an example in the field of digitization of institutions and digital security, and has also ensured that NATO drew inspiration from it.
The Ministry of the Interior therefore understands the issue and is interested in using blockchain where relevant, and in a non-invasive way for citizens.
According to DINUM, the main use case for blockchain remains digital identity. She moderates by saying that all departments work simultaneously and thus different use cases can be implemented at the same time.
For his part, Pierre Person believes that within 10 years an NFT passport could see the light of day to replace the booklet we know today.
The day will conclude with a final panel on the prospects of the blockchain, notably composed of Nancy Gomez, author of “Geopolitics of Crytpomonies”, and Guillaume Fois, defense engineer at DIRESI (Interarmy Directorate of Networks of Infrastructures of Systems of Information ). This underlines the importance of a sovereign cloud and the fact that the data must be hosted in France.
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