Blockchain Needs to Work Across Tech Platforms
However, the challenge with blockchain technology is the potential for the development of “walled gardens,” or closed technology platforms that do not support common standards for security, privacy and data exchange.
Leaving the walls in place would limit the growth and availability of a competitive marketplace of diverse, interoperable solutions for government and industry to draw upon to deliver cost-effective and innovative services based on blockchain and distributed-ledger technologies.
The Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the science adviser and research and development arm of the Department of Homeland Security, is pursuing two broad courses of action to encourage an open and inclusive future for blockchain technology, and paths that can be followed by any agency:
We actively work with and support DHS component agencies to understand their potential use cases and help them achieve their outcomes with the necessary research and development expertise and technologies.
And we support the development of globally available specifications that are open, royalty-free and free to implement to ensure interoperability across systems and prevent vendor lock-in.