A report delivered to the French National Assembly advocated transforming France into the “Blockchain Nation.”
According to MP Jean Michel Mis, the goal is to pursue three objectives (translated):
- to make pedagogical work, by presenting the state of the art and its possible uses;
- to measure its impact on economic activities and the organization of social life, including the vitality of our institutions and the good functioning of public services;
- allow France to approach in full awareness what could constitute, as well as the Internet, artificial intelligence, a new technological break and society that it is important for Europe to seize this time all the virtualities to assert a model and preserve the sovereignty of our country.
La #blockchain, un secteur stratégique pour la France et sa souveraineté ! @BrunoLeMaire @mounir https://t.co/5i3SclenpM
— Jean-Michel MIS (@JeanMichelMIS) December 17, 2018
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It has been widely reported that France may commit up to €500 million to promote and develop a robust blockchain ecosystem. There is concern that France may make the same error as the Minitel – the dirigiste vision of the future of the internet launched by France in the 1980’s.
The Minitel, a simple monitor that provided a service similar to the early days of Compuserve, the initiative has since become more of a cautionary saga as opposed to a high point of innovation. At its peak, there were 9 million Minitels in use in France. The service was discontinued in 2012 with some critics saying the Minitel slowed the development of the far more workable world wide web thus dimming digital innovation.
France is already working on bespoke legislation to create new rules for initial coin offerings.
The Report, available below, presents 20 different recommendations.
The MP believes 2019 will be the year of the blockchain as experiment moves into widespread utilization.