The Dutch Blockchain Coalition (DBC) is a cooperative association of affiliates from governmental authorities, centres of expertise and the commercial sector. Its mission is to increase both knowledge and use of blockchain in the Netherlands, thereby speeding up the decentralisation of digital infrastructure. In that context, the DBC is primarily a catalyst and a facilitator, activating and connecting an extensive public-private network.
Blockchain makes a better digital society possible
Fake news, data leaks and stagnating supply chains are making it clearer by the day that digital systems are in many cases also critical systems that need to be inclusive, verifiable and robust while remaining flexible and agile. Systems with such characteristics tend to be decentralised, particularly as they become more complex, and such a decentralised organisation of digital systems at larger scales has been made possible by blockchain technology. A decentralised digital system presents an alternative to the centrally organised digital services of e.g. large tech companies that operate as monopolies, which fall short in transparency and are not very democratic.
This development is also known as Web 3.0. Decentralised systems are also a fundamental underpinning for scalable cooperation in complex issues such as the energy transition, safety or mobility. This makes decentralised organisation of digital systems desirable in many cases, and blockchain is an important enabling technology in this respect.
The DBC’s vision is therefore that decentralisation of digital systems is a logical next step in the digitalisation of society. The Netherlands can play an important role in Europe in that regard. This vision is in line with the 'Blockchain for Good' principle adopted by the DBC.
That’s exactly what we are committed to
The DBC’s role is proactive and facilitating. In other words, the DBC helps its partners not only by providing clarification and direction but also by enabling interaction – always aiming to achieve real-world results. Our mission is to increase knowledge about blockchain and its use, accelerating the decentralisation of digital infrastructure in the Netherlands. We focus on the following social and economic themes; the DBC’s affiliates can continuously tweak the focus in terms of content through the DBC's existing governance structure.
Furthermore, the DBC focuses on new and further development of crucial building blocks – including ones that run horizontally through the themes – such as crypto-economics, self-sovereign identity (SSI) and issues relating to upscaling, standardisation and human capital. These building blocks are fleshed out together with our partners.
We focus on three core tasks
Active ecosystem
The Dutch Blockchain Coalition is the place where governmental bodies, the commercial sector and centres of expertise involved in the decentralised organisation of digital infrastructure and services meet up; either to carry out research and set the strategic agenda, or to develop and scale up use cases together, or just to exchange knowledge and experience. At the same time, this will create the foundations for developing blockchain talent in the Netherlands. Our goals for the ecosystem:
- Bringing organisations together, both physically and digitally;
- Facilitating both a physical and digital meeting places through meetups, events and a digital environment for interaction;
- DBC partners can take part in working groups and activities.
Strategic dialogue
- We are doing more in terms of creating a vision and will proactively start a dialogue with policymakers, managers and politicians.
- Within the focal areas and the crucial building blocks, we will draw up a vision and promote it along with our partners.
- The vision will be created and underpinned by research and backed up by use cases.
Use cases with an impact
- We are focusing on use cases that have an impact within the theme and on the overarching mission of accelerating the implementation of decentralised digital systems.
- The approach we have adopted is a ‘funnel’ in which we have defined various phases, each with its own requirements for progressing on to the subsequent phase.