About The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Blockchain Technologies [APPG]
Background:
Blockchain has transformed the societal fabric of our lives. While supporting Blockchain innovation, policymakers must ensure that policies are safe, cost-effective, consumer centred, business-friendly, and based on trustworthy, reliable, and reproducible evidence. Blockchain exists at the junction of technical, social, legal, and political paradigms; thus, there is a strong need for interdisciplinary harmony among all stakeholders of Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The APPG for Blockchain Technologies provides a holistic and cross-disciplinary forum for parliamentarians, regulators, government, public services and industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities relating to the Blockchain sector, and to learn, educate, inform and advise on the evidence-based applications of Blockchain and Web3 Technologies.
In 2021, UK published its National Blockchain Roadmap (UK NBR), authored by The BBA in collaboration with UK Parliamentarians. The roadmap put forward several recommendations to position the UK as a Centre of Excellence in Distributed Ledger Technologies. The Blockchain APPG aims to bring together industry stakeholders and policymakers to discuss evidence-based exploration and solutions to the major challenges faced by the Web3 industry in the UK, and beyond.
Objectives of the APPG:
- Inform the narrative and policy debate around Blockchain and Web3 technologies, ensuring a truthful and timely explanation of the technologies themselves and their national impacts, both domestic and abroad. The group’s collective aspiration is to build a progressive and resilient Web3 ecosystem in the UK in which the policymakers are well informed, stakeholders are engaged, and communities are thriving.
- Improve Parliament’s understanding of Blockchain and Web3 technologies and its ecosystems.The APPG will hold regular meetings in Parliament with a futuristic, evidence-based agenda comprises of a wide range of exploratory domains.
- Bring parliamentarians together along with stakeholders from industry, public services, academia and society to facilitate informed discussions about critical issues and identify solutions that could be implemented by the government of the day.
- Establish UK as a Global Centre of Excellence in Blockchain and Web3 Technologies. The group aims to provide clarity, inspiration and guidance to build a world-class, dynamic and responsive blockchain ecosystem in the United Kingdom.The APPG will seek to make a strong collective case to further and enhance UK’s standing in the Blockchain and Web3 sector.
Parliamentary Leadership:
The group is chaired by Natalie Elphicke OBE MP and supported by Vice-chairs and officers from the UK’s House of Commons and House of Lords.
Secretariat
The BBA provides the secretariat for the APPG for Blockchain Technologies. Established in 2017, The British Blockchain Association (BBA) is the world’s leading industry think-tank advancing evidence-based adoption of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT). BBA has authored the UK’s National Blockchain Roadmap and is home to The JBBA – Journal of The British Blockchain Association, the Centre for Evidence-Based Blockchain (CEBB), BAF – The Blockchain Associations Forum, BBA Fellowships (FBBA), Blockchain International Scientific Conferences (ISCs), and other world-class blockchain initiatives. BBA also has its headquarters in the Metaverse. BBA president has been awarded UK’s most prestigious National Honour (King’s Honour) for services to Blockchain, in New Year’s Honours 2023. The BBA works constructively with Parliamentarians, Government, Regulators and the wider sector towards an evidence-based adoption of Blockchain Technologies in the United Kingdom, and beyond.
The inaugural meeting of the APPG was held in parliament on 13 September 2023. The meeting minutes can be found here.
Disclaimer:
All-Party Parliamentary Groups are informal groups of Members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues. The views and updates expressed on APPG web pages are by the group, the Secretariat (The BBA) or its Advisory Board, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the UK Government unless otherwise explicitly stated. This is not an official website of the House of Commons or the House of Lords. It has not been approved by either House or its committees.
APPG for Blockchain Technologies fully complies with the rules and regulations for such groups, as set out in the “Guide to the Rules on APPGs” published by the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The Group’s mission is to provide a mechanism for MPs and Peers to obtain a balanced industry view on topical issues or matters which they may be required to consider as part of their parliamentary responsibilities.
