Hello World!

Hello fellow steemitians, we are a group of individuals from the Caribbean and we have launched the Caribbean Blockchain Network (CBN). CBN recognizes the social potential that blockchain technology could have on societies and we think this movement is especially relevant for small island nations like the ones we come from (Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba).

Why?

There seems to be a knowledge gap when in comes to understanding and adopting new technologies like e.x. Bitcoin. This is attributed to many factors, one of which is the fact that the social and technological context in the caribbean is much more different than most of the developed countries in which blockchain is currently developing. For example, it is known that there is a gap when it comes to the adoption of innovation in ICT services in the many of the developing nations and islands in Latin America and the Caribbean (1).

For a large part this is because of the lack of infrastructure, resources, or political will to update legacy systems. Another one is the fact that many Caribbean islands are isolated from the outside world and don’t experience, first hand, the technological developments that are happening in the blockchain space. Also, because blockchain tech is a relatively new technology with a steep learning curve, it becomes difficult to fully grasp the potential of blockchain technologies in the context of its socio-economic potential in the Caribbean.

We believe it is necessary to understand the true potential of blockchain technology before actually creating and implementing ideas that will actually solve social problems like the ones some communities are attempting to solve.

The understanding of this situation is the driving force for starting this network. And for the same reasons we have also devised a set of core principles on top of which the network is founded upon e.g. Educate, Inform, Connect, Create and Implement.

How!

Firstly EDUCATE, this is one of the five pillars that is the foundation of the #CBN. Our mission is to educate people (and thus ourselves) about the fundamentals and the social potential that blockchain technology can bring for us. We chose this principle because we understand there is a gap between knowledge and understanding in the blockchain space, especially when thinking about blockchain technology in the context of the caribbean. That is why we believe, that through the creation of educative content (interviews, articles, tutorials), we can contribute to constructing the bridge that will connect knowledge and understanding.

The second pillar is #INFORM. Next to being educated we also need to be informed about blockchain so that the awareness about the technology increases. Since many of the developments are not contextualized for the Caribbean. We aim to facilitate this by sharing information in the form of news updates, case studies, and important updates.

The third pillar is #CONNECT. A well informed and educated cannot be effective in solving problems if he is not able to share experiences and ideas, cooperate with others and learn from others. Therefore by applying this principle, we aim to share, connect and grow together. We are trying to achieve this by giving people a voice through: organizing events, managing groups on social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Telegram) and building a social platform for interacting with eachother. And for the long term we are creating a website and forum. The goal is to grow together in knowledge and in understanding of all of the aspects of blockchain technology.

The final two foundational pillars of CBN are #CREATE and #IMPLEMENT. Currently, human wellbeing and prosperity is organized in an rather unsustainable manner. Institutions, even the ones that are supposed to be democratic (governments) and provide democracy, are generally designed by applying organizational models of hierarchy. The problem is that in these models of organization, power is distributed among a few while the responsibility (including the consequences) of the organization is carried by the many. This creates environments in which individuals are subjected to the wills of others and basically have to become wage slaves because of pure necessity (everyone needs to eat). And often enough the wills of others are based on principles of individualism, competition and profit. Now, these values are proving to be a detriment to e.x. human health, environmental sustainability and social awareness. Furthermore, it appears that these environments manifest themselves in all plutocracies, liberal societies or any society that organizes its economy by applying free market logic, competition, individualism and egocentrism. And they are really bad at it, take the banking systems for example, they are inefficient and unproductive when it comes facilitating financial transactions. It is still expensive to send money across continents and can take days before a transaction is completed.

However there is light, by adopting the principles that blockchain provides this outdated organizational model can be challenged. Now organizations, institutions or whatever you want to call them, can become more productive and efficient by automating administration. Second, they can become much more innovative by reaping the fruits of open source collaboration. And finally, they can become much more democratic, transparent and equal if they apply decentralized governance and distributed ledger technology.

Our aim is to create and implement projects that adhere to these values, that in our opinion are the foundational principles of blockchain.

What’s next!

The stip on the horizon for us is becoming the network that will help connect players in this space to cooperatively implement blockchain projects in the Caribbean region for the benefit of those societies. So that together, we can transform the Caribbean region into a prosperous and interconnected environment in which the human well being of everyone is protected, preserved and multiplied.

THE TIME HAS NEVER BEEN MORE RIPE FOR CHANGE, THE PANDORA'S BOX IS OPEN. ARE YOU WILLING TO SEE WHAT IS IN IT ?

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References

(1)