Page 70 - U4SSC Blockchain for smart sustainable cities

(5) Privacy importance
The importance of privacy is different from one case to another. It also relates to distinct factors such
as the application area of the case, the type of data stored, the different levels of understanding about
the risks and implications when there is a lack of privacy, the different levels of technical knowledge
about privacy-by-design in the context of blockchain, and the available expertise to implement them.
It depends also on the applied laws and regulations. Governments willing to use the technology for
smart cities need to consider that an in-depth analysis of each project is necessary. The need for
privacy can vary from none (i.e. blockchain for transparency of the public expenses) to indispensable
(i.e. blockchain use-case for the healthcare system). A deeper analysis of this dimension is critical
as privacy is a right (United Nations, 1948). The level of complexity to implement privacy could vary
considerably depending on the type of blockchain and the purpose of use.33 The most sensitive cases
around this topic are the Debt Relief, Digital Democracy and Claim Verification 18+. There are privacy
challenges that may hinder the applications of blockchain, and privacy threats depend on specific
cryptographic defence mechanisms. It is not right to say that blockchain supports or not the privacy
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and data protection of the users. It depends on how the technology is used in each case and on the
type of blockchain implemented. 93

(6) The definition of the governance model

A governance model was defined in 30 per cent of the cases. The lack of governance model is one
of the main barriers to blockchain adoption in the governmental context. The governance model is
especially crucial in the context of smart cities as it generally involves multiple stakeholders, not only
during the project phase (such as in the case of Digital Democracy and Debt Relief) but also during
and after the implementation. The definition of the governance model may facilitate the alignment of
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expectations, the anticipation of possible conflicts of interest and the definition of the main guidelines
around the solution in all the stages of development. Thus, each stakeholder must understand its
role in the life cycle of the solution. The governance model might lead to the transformation of the
governmental body involved to benefit from the distributed nature of the blockchain. It might create
adverse reactions that need to be managed. In all the studied cases, the governance model was
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essential, and its complexity increased with the number of entities involved. The parties involved in
a solution can vary a lot. The more partners are involved, the higher the level of complexity, and the
more critical the governance model becomes.

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f It is possible to define two different types of governance models: governance by blockchain and governance of the blockchain. The first is related to
the use of the technology to implement governmental processes, organizing information exchange and transactions between users. In this way, the
technology is used as a mechanism to implement the governance related to a process. The second type is related to how the life cycle of one specific
solution will be guided, the roles, responsibilities and alignment of expectations between the stakeholders involved (Olnes et al., 2017).

60 U4SSC: Blockchain for smart sustainable cities