http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregoryferenstein/2015/07/29/former-obama-tech-advisor-explains-how-bitcoin-could-transform-government-in-5-quotes/:
1. Bitcoin’s Tech Could Have Big Impact On The Most In Need
“Digital currencies have immense potential to improve human welfare by strengthening the capacity of governments to deliver more responsive services and secure the rights of their citizens to property, identity and increase financial inclusion…And because it is an open-source protocol for innovation, a wide range of services and products can be built by entrepreneurs and non-profits on top of it.”
2. Why Is Bitcoin More Than Currency?
“Digital currencies like bitcoin are the network of transactions. If you think bitcoin is just for money transfer, that’s like thinking the internet was only built for email – today we know that internet is used for so many more applications. The true innovation that bitcoin solved was the elimination of the “double-spend.”
3. Example 1: Banks
“More than 2 billion adults around the world do not have access to a bank account. Without a connection to the financial support services that typically accompany formal bank accounts, the unbanked have very limited access to the savings and borrowing mechanisms necessary to drive broad-based economic growth.”
4. Example 2: Security
“Today we practice a lot of authentication theatre. Your government issued identity, for example, starts out in a database of a government agency. It’s then printed out in the form of a social security card, driver’s license, birth certificate or passport…. $24 billion in identity theft occurs annually because corporations treat your social security number as a user name and a password.”
5. Are Senior Folks Taking It Seriously?
“Similar to CEOs of large companies and non-profits, I’ve found officials in governments around the world interested to learning about the technology and how they can apply it to address the social issues affecting people in their communities.”