Identity and social inclusion of refugees through technology: Applying Blockchain to the Rohingya people in Malaysia

departmental bulletin pape

KEY DETERMINANTS OF ACHIEVING TRUST IN APPLYING BLOCKCHAIN TO EMISSION TRADING IN FINLAND

A thesis presented on the critical moment of sustainability transition especially regarding reducing emission of carbon dioxide. The disruption of blockchain application has become one of the innovations that can facilitate this transition. This thesis research focuses on the investigating the most influential trust determinants of applying blockchain to emission trading system (ETS) in the context of Finland. This is exploratory qualitative research which combines grounded theory applied for eight empirical papers and three semi-structured expert interviews. The interviewees include two Finnish ETS experts and two blockchain application experts. Through the qualitative analysis, the author suggested structural assurance trust, knowledge-based familiarity trust and control-based trust to be the most deterministic trust factors in applying blockchain to emission trading. Meanwhile, situational normality trust, peer-based trust and ethnical trust can also be influential. A sequential model and a pyramid model of different trust factors mentioned have been proposed based on the interpretative findings of interviews. Therewith, a consolidated trust model was suggested involving all the relevant trust factors. Finally, the research results can be highly generalisable towards member countries of EU ETS other than Finland

The governance of blockchain systems from an institutional perspective, a matter of trust or control?

Blockchain Technology is considered as a general-purpose technology with far reaching effects. As can be seen from the discussions on blockchain applications, both practitioners and researchers struggle to get to the core of blockchain technology consequences. Especially practitioners in the governmental sector explore adequate responses to this new technology. Therefore, our aim is to provide a conceptualization of the consequences of blockchain systems from an institutional perspective, and to use this conceptualization to provide insights into the governance of blockchain systems. We use a Grounded Theory approach to conceptualize the institutional consequences of blockchain technology. This approach leads to our core category: power transfer in environments with highly institutionalized values. This core category supports the synthetization of the governance issues related to blockchain systems. We conclude that the controlling powers that were formerly vested in highly institutionalized organizations (such as governments and regulators) and institutions (such as legal frameworks and agreements), are no longer automatically part of the governing ecosystem in blockchain systems but are engrained into the technical system itself. Thus, Blockchain technology enables the technological institutionalization of values in environments that are highly dependent on these values. We believe that this is at the core of why existing institutions are being pressured by blockchain technology, and as such increase the difficulty for governments to effectively govern blockchain systems. Using this notion, public and private parties within the blockchain ecosystems can develop regulatory arrangements and strategies that strike a balance between fostering the innovative power and possibilities that blockchain applications offer and to mitigate possible negative effects of blockchain technology.</p

The Authority of Distributed Consensus Systems Trust, Governance, and Normative Perspectives on Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers

The subjects of this dissertation are distributed consensus systems (DCS). These systems gained prominence with the implementation of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. This work aims at understanding the drivers and motives behind the adoption of this class of technologies, and to – consequently – evaluate the social and normative implications of blockchains and distributed ledgers. To do so, a phenomenological account of the field of distributed consensus systems is offered, then the core claims for the adoption of systems are taken into consideration. Accordingly, the relevance of these technologies on trust and governance is examined. It will be argued that the effects on these two elements do not justify the adoption of distributed consensus systems satisfactorily. Against this backdrop, it will be held that blockchains and similar technologies are being adopted because they are regarded as having a valid claim to authority as specified by Max Weber, i.e., herrschaft. Consequently, it will be discussed whether current implementations fall – and to what extent – within the legitimate types of traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal authority. The conclusion is that the conceptualization developed by Weber does not capture the core ideas that appear to establish the belief in the legitimacy of distributed consensus systems. Therefore, this dissertation describes the herrschaft of systems such as blockchains by conceptualizing a computational extension of the pure type of rational-legal authority, qualified as algorithmic authority. The foundational elements of algorithmic authority are then discussed. Particular attention is focused on the idea of normativity cultivated in systems of algorithmic rules as well as the concept of decentralization. Practical suggestions conclude the following dissertation

Exploring Blockchain Governance

Blockchain systems continue to attract significant interest from both practitioners and researchers. What is more, blockchain systems come in various types, such as cryptocurrencies or as inter-organizational systems in business networks. As an example of a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, one of the most prominent blockchain systems to date and born at the time of a major financial crisis, spearheaded the promise of relying on code and computation instead of a central governing entity. Proponents would argue that Bitcoin stood the test of time, as Bitcoin continues to operate to date for over a decade. However, these proponents overlook the never-ending, heated debates “behind the scenes” caused by diverging goals of central actors, which led to numerous alternative systems (forks) of Bitcoin. To accommodate these actors’ interests in the pursuit of their common goal is a tightrope act, and this is where this dissertation commences: blockchain governance. Based on the empirical examples of various types and application domains of blockchain systems, it is the goal of this dissertation to 1) uncover governance patterns by showing, how blockchain systems are governed, 2) derive governance challenges faced or caused by blockchain systems, and, consequently, to 3) contribute to a better understanding to what blockchain governance is. This dissertation includes four parts, each of these covering different thematical areas: In the first part, this dissertation focuses on obtaining a better understanding of blockchain governance’s context of reference by studying blockchain systems from various application domains and system types, for example, led by inter-organizational networks, states, or an independent group of actors. The second part, then, focuses on a blockchain as an inter-organizational system called “cardossier”, a project I was involved in, and its governance as a frame of reference. Hereupon, for one, I report on learnings from my project involvement in the form of managerial guidelines, and, for two, I report on structural problems within cardossier, and problems caused by membership growth and how they can be resolved. The third part focuses on a wider study of blockchains as inter-organizational systems, where I summarize findings of an analysis of 19 blockchain consortia. The findings, for one, answer the question of why blockchain consortia adopt blockchain technology, and, for two, show internal and external challenges these systems faced to derive managerial recommendations. The fourth and last part studies blockchain governance’s evolution and contributes an analysis of blockchain’s governance features and its contrast to established modes of governance. These four parts, altogether, have scientific value as they increase our understanding on blockchain governance. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on modes of governance, distributed system governance, and blockchain governance in general. I do so, by grounding the concept of blockchain governance in empirical detail, showing how these systems are governed on various application domains and system types, and by studying empirical challenges faced or caused by these systems. This approach is relevant and necessary, as blockchain systems in general, but particularly outside of cryptocurrencies, mostly still are in pursuit of a sustainable blockchain governance. As blockchains can be expected to continue to mature, the upcoming years offer very fruitful ground for empirical research along the empirical insights and theoretical lines shown in this dissertation