Princeton University News
Experts from a variety of disciplines, including economics, policy, human rights, and law, as well as computer science and engineering, gathered at Princeton on November 30 to help shape the agenda for the University’s new DeCenter, an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the benefits and drawbacks of blockchain technology.
The DeCenter’s co-director Jaswinder Pal (J.P.) Singh stated in his welcome speech that it is “about the decentralization of power using blockchain technology.” For coming together and “helping us create the agenda for the DeCenter and for the role that academia and scholars can play in this crucial subject,” the approximately 60 invited guests, which included CEOs, entrepreneurs, academics, and investors, were praised.
Blockchain technology creates a broadly distributed record of transactions that all parties agree upon using cryptography and the engineering of economic incentives. Without relying on a single source of authority, confidence is to be attained. The technology has most notably been used to generate Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but it also has the potential to disrupt many sectors of industry, government, and society.
In order to assist in the development of the technology and its uses as well as to research it’s societal and policy consequences, Princeton founded the DeCenter, or more formally, the Center for the Decentralization of Power via Blockchain Technologies, this year.
Singh, a professor of computer science, technology, and societal change at Princeton, gave an overview of the new center’s vision before the day-long event began. According to Singh, the fundamental innovation in blockchain technology is the possibility of the decentralization of trust. Singh was speaking to a group that had gathered as the collapse of the FTX exchange rattled the cryptocurrency community.
According to him, the decentralization of power in the right places might not only result in new applications but also ways for people to maintain more influence over larger, more centralized organizations, to which power has gathered in society.
However, he pointed out that current affairs, like the demise of FTX, also illustrated the drawbacks of the technology and its application. According to him, the purpose of DeCenter was to concentrate academic rigor and practical experience on planning a course to avoid such harm while maximizing the potential of the technology.
The essential questions that Princeton and our partners can investigate are what we are here to address today, he said. What are the most significant short- and long-term applications? What effects do the applications have? How can the technology, applications, and policy be properly designed?
According to Singh, it is essential for society to address these issues right away in order to inform the plans and regulations that will shape the region. According to him, this cannot be a solely technical approach; rather, it requires bringing together influential figures, thinkers, and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines.
The DeCenter’s goal, according to Singh, is to be a thought and influential leader in this crucial field and contribute to laying a solid basis for it. Taking a highly interdisciplinary and integrated approach spanning real-world applications, technology, economics, politics, and societal ramifications, as well as adopting a global rather than U.S.-centric approach, are three of Singh’s three distinctive characteristics of the DeCenter’s methodology.
According to Andrea Goldsmith, co-director of the DeCenter and dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University, Princeton Engineering is well-suited to fill that position through programs like the DeCenter.
According to Goldsmith, the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, “The DeCenter is at the intersection of technology, society, policy, and benefits to humanity, and Princeton, given its culture and history, is uniquely poised to bring those important elements together.”
According to Goldsmith, the engineering school has researchers that are at the forefront of blockchain technology and has the benefit of utilizing the resources of a top-notch liberal arts college as well as its alumni network.
The questions in the DeCenter are particularly difficult because they don’t merely involve technology, she claimed. “The questions that touch on society are the most difficult: How does this effect society? What laws are necessary to safeguard users while not stifling innovation?”
Following introductions, the conference’s panel discussions began, which were lively and diverse. They talked about the societal implications of blockchain applications, open problems in creating underlying blockchain technologies, and lessons learned from the FTX crash. The conversations were held under Chatham House Rules, which allowed content to be quoted without identifying specific speakers in order to promote open discourse among participants.
Some attendees announced the impending arrival of new applications, such as decentralized mortgages, dematerialized passports, and improved media and information flow. Others have noted the “huge gap between theoretical value proposition and what we’ve seen have an actual impact,” frequently in the same conversation.
Participants stressed how blockchain has the potential to alter how societies that have historically placed their reliance on powerful, centralized institutions, such as the European Union and the Federal Reserve, distribute trust. Others pointed out that the computer and the internet transformed society in ways that their designers could never have predicted. Now, a different sort of trust might alter everything.
The value that cryptocurrencies and other decentralized systems could provide to people living under autocratic regimes and nations with limited access to banking institutions and stable currencies was covered in one panel discussing the socioeconomic consequences of these technologies.
“Serious, deliberate, and objective conversations”
A public question-and-answer session between Goldsmith and Rostin Behnam, the head of the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission, was held during the day’s session in addition to the panels.
Behnam stated that he anticipated Congress and executive branch officials will make a significant effort to control the cryptocurrency business. Market authorities have received a signal from recent events, such as the FTX crash, that action is needed.
Behnam asserted that in the broader context of blockchain, the entire community must endeavor to comprehend the technology, its uses, and its effects.
With this technology, he remarked, “there are so many possibilities, and I don’t mean that in a good or bad sense.” “I believe it is crucial that we consider the risks and potential as a group, as well as having frank, intelligent, and deliberate discussions about the technology and the role that regulators, agencies, and governments should play.”
The conversations, according to Goldsmith, exceeded her expectations and amply illustrated the DeCenter’s potential for beneficial effects far beyond the University, she remarked after the event.
The DeCenter event, according to her, was one of the most unique academic gatherings of her career. “Energizing breakout sessions for brainstorming around the deep and complex transdisciplinary problems that require Princeton leadership to answer” were available at the conference.
We Are Reaching a Turning Moment and Will Be There Soon
University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said in a speech during the morning session that the conference was perfectly in line with Princeton’s mission to foster innovation and discourse on important societal issues.
Blockchain technology, according to Eisgruber, offers innovative prospects but also carries concerns, some of which have just come to light. “Penn State has a responsibility to shed a light, develop knowledge, and assist direct this technology such that it generally serves humanity,” he said of the intersection of such significant paths.
In her remarks at the conference’s conclusion, Princeton University Provost Deborah Prentice noted that it is unusual to see such a diverse group of academics and practitioners come together to discuss a subject of growing importance, including computer scientists, engineers, political scientists, economists, lawyers, policymakers, business leaders, and technology entrepreneurs. According to her, the research’s eventual form is still up in the air and will be decided by the DeCenter’s participants, making it all the more exciting.
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