The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has made significant recommendations on responsible innovation and the adoption of the blockchain, national policy and international co-operation. The OECD adopted 2022 Recommendation from Council on Blockchain and Other Distributed Ledger Technologies (OECD / LEGAL / 0470) at the OECD Council of Ministers meeting in 2022.
What are the OECD recommendations?
According to the OECD, the recommendation is primarily aimed at the authorities, but it is also intended to provide guidance to other stakeholders such as industry, academia and civil society in general.
Responsible innovation and adoption of blockchain
The OECD recommended adopting an ethical and responsible approach to blockchain innovation and adoption that exploits opportunities and minimizes risk. In implementing this Recommendation, the OECD encouraged relevant stakeholders to:
- put in place mechanisms to ensure and assess compliance and coherence between blockchain applications (including cross-border applications) with guidelines, legal and regulatory requirements;
- ensure that governance frameworks for blockchain and blockchain applications are transparent, clearly defined and in compliance with legal and regulatory obligations;
- facilitate interoperability between blockchains, with non-blockchains and with existing IT systems to support the flow of data and the protection of personal data;
- provide digital security and safeguard privacy through the use of blockchains;
- promote blockchain-related education and skills and support displaced people by using blockchain applications; and
- support environmentally sustainable use of blockchain.
National politics and international cooperation
The OECD also made recommendations to governments in establishing or implementing policy measures related to blockchain innovation and adoption. These recommendations were to:
- develop coordinated policy approaches, including coordination across governmental and international levels;
- promote an environment that supports technological innovations such as blockchain research and development, and that will encourage the use of blockchain technology;
- strive to build human capacity by supporting blockchain-related education and training, including supporting those whose jobs are disrupted by the use of blockchain technologies;
- support a policy environment that enables technological innovation, including by ensuring that the design of blockchain – related public policy is transparent and inclusive, and that there is an institutional capacity to regulate blockchain technologies properly; and
- collaborate internationally in relation to blockchain innovation and adoption.
What does this mean?
The OECD represents a working group of 38 member countries, and the adoption of recommendations from the OECD reflects an obligation and expectation that the principles and policy recommendations adopted in this way will be implemented. On that basis, we see the adoption and dissemination of the recommendation as an important step towards global harmonization in the regulation of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies.
