Digital Sovereignty to Rebuild Ukraine
The European Decentralisation Institute, Bentley University
Max SemenchukKey Ideas:
- Context:
- Tomorrow publishing policy brief on digital sovereignty through decentralization
- Bentley University (Boston) and European Decentralisation Institute
- Ukraine's reconstruction = opportunity to rebuild institutional trust and technological foundations
- Core Principle: Sovereignty by Design
- Critical infrastructure must be resilient, transparent, under sovereign control
- Not dependent on single foreign provider or vulnerable central hub
- Distributed control across many nodes and stakeholders
- No single point of failure that external actor can switch off
- Digital Sovereignty Definition:
- Ability for citizens and governments to act independently in digital realm
- Especially vital when critical functions are at stake
- Backbone of political and economic independence
- War demonstrated risks of over-reliance on centralized systems
- Decentralization as Defense:
- Closes vulnerability gap from hackable/controllable centralized systems
- "Keys, code, control planes must be within reach of our own institutions"
- Build on open distributed platforms (distributed ledgers)
- Control shared among trusted nodes in Ukraine and allied nations
- Not locked in single data center or vendor
- Europe's Governance-First Approach:
- Focus on how digital platforms change rules, not just policing misconduct
- Built-in checks and balances
- Protection of digital sovereignty as enforceable requirement
- Transparent rules for change from outset
- Key Questions for Ukraine's Procurement:
- Who holds the keys and makes the rules?
- Can system be independently audited and recovered if something goes wrong?
- Are we free from dependencies that could be used as leverage against us?
- Total Cost of Centralization:
- Hidden costs of relying on centralized blackbox systems
- Includes: Lack of portability, high exit costs, vulnerability to outages/attacks, loss of oversight
- EDI Scorecard tracks: Exit costs, switching time, key custody, operational control, auditability, concentration risks, emergency steering rights
- Example: Germany's dependence on Nord Stream (speaker personally opposed it)
- Design Principles for Ukraine:
- Low exit costs: Not locked into vendor/technology
- Key custody: Ukraine retains cryptographic keys and operational control in jurisdiction
- Auditability: Transparent, can inspect what happens under hood
- No kill switch: Decentralized ledgers/P2P continue operating if node fails
- Resilience = Digital Civil Defense: Government continues under stress
- Identity Systems:
- As critical as roads and schools
- Enable citizens to access services and exercise rights
- Decentralized/Self-Sovereign Identity Model:
- Citizens hold own verified credentials
- Decide when to share information
- No giant governmental silo
- Government/trusted institutions attest (e.g., "licensed doctor," "property owner")
- Attestations anchored on blockchain for independent verification
- Benefits:
- Mitigates risk of single database compromise
- Authenticity proven by consensus and cryptography
- Extends trust beyond borders (compatible with EU eID 2.0)
- Portable for displaced citizens abroad
- Examples: Student proving qualifications, family accessing aid
- European Examples:
- Catalonia: Self-sovereign identity pilot for students
- EBSI Vector: Consortium for blockchain diploma verification
- Ukraine's Position:
- Observer status in EBSI (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure)
- Should leverage this for identity systems
- Energy Infrastructure:
- Largest investment in Ukraine's history
- Opportunity to reimagine as decentralized, renewable, community-driven
- Prevents enemy from taking critical infrastructure hostage (like Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant)
- Blockchain Role:
- Enable local energy markets
- Peer-to-peer trading
- Transparent resource management
- Example: Austria's Wien Energie + MyPower:
- Tokenizes solar energy assets
- Citizens invest in solar panel installation portions
- Receive tokens representing energy production share
- Transforms consumers into "prosumers"
- Spreads ownership and resilience
- Benefits:
- Attracts international investment (donors/development banks more confident with built-in transparency)
- Engages public (communities protect infrastructure they have stake in)
- Empowering communities = aspect of sovereignty
- Public Finance & Procurement:
- Enormous investments and international aid needed
- Blockchain = open ledger for transparent, auditable, immutable records
- Ukraine's Prozorro (post-2014):
- E-procurement system fighting corruption
- Not blockchain-based but proved power of transparency
- Motto: "Everyone sees everything"
- Saved taxpayer money by exposing corrupt practices
- Blockchain Enhancement:
- Immutable, tamper-proof lock on spending and bidding
- Further reduce fraud
- Speed up contracting
- World Bank and EU could be nodes on ledgers, reinforcing trust
- Recommendation: Blockchain-based registries for reconstruction projects
- Track funding, contracting, progress reports
- Policy Recommendations:
- Privacy-preserving AI: Zero-knowledge proofs minimum
- Mandate audit trails for sensitive AI deployments
- Make traceability of AI reasoning steps immutable on-chain
- Co-creation: With NGOs, regulators, survivors
- Embed sovereignty into code and hardware when rebuilding
- EU Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox:
- Running third cohort (20 companies each round)
- Not just for finance - healthcare, supply chain management, etc.
- Unique features:
- Brings regulators from different countries together
- Companies become regulatory sound across Europe
- Regulators learn from each other and use cases
- Helps with EU passporting (registration in one country → access to all EU markets)
- Learnings:
- Quality of business cases significantly improved over years
- 80-100 applications per cohort for 20 positions
- Almost evenly distributed across Europe
- Success examples in DeFi and other sectors (under NDA)
- Recent trends: Combination of AI + blockchain (deterministic + non-deterministic smart contracts)
- Uncertainty: Future funding unknown after current cohort ends early next year
- Ukraine's opportunity: Companies can participate even from outside EU
- US Competition:
- Current US administration (Trump) providing regulatory certainty
- GENIUS Act + Deploying American Blockchain Act
- Gives US blockchain industry significant push
- Europe must respond with similarly supportive regulation
- Regulatory sandbox is positive step toward embracing (not preventing) blockchain
- Vision for Ukraine:
- Don't just restore old systems - build better ones
- Embed sovereignty into very architecture
- Open distributed rails with rules that don't break under pressure
- Turn structural dependency into strategic autonomy
- Pilot sovereign decentralized rails in critical sectors
Join us in welcoming Prof. Dr. Roman Beck, Chester B. Slade Endowed Chair at Bentley University and Director of The European Decentralisation Institute, as a featured speaker at the IEEE 2nd Ukrainian DLT Forum: REBUIDL.
Prof. Dr. Roman Beck will share insights on blockchain economics, distributed ledger technologies, and their transformative impact on economic systems and governance. As the Chester B. Slade Endowed Chair in the Computer Information Systems Department at Bentley University, Dr. Beck has established himself as a leading authority on how blockchain technologies reshape organizational structures, business models, and regulatory frameworks.
With extensive research experience spanning blockchain economics, digital transformation, and information systems, Dr. Beck has published groundbreaking work on the economic implications of distributed ledger technologies. He serves as Senior Editor for prestigious journals including the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), MIS Quarterly Executive (MISQE), and Business & Information Systems Engineering (BISE). His academic rigor is complemented by practical experience advising corporations and government organizations on blockchain strategy and implementation.
As Director of The European Decentralisation Institute, Dr. Beck bridges academic research with real-world applications, fostering dialogue between researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders. His work examines how blockchain technologies can enable new forms of economic coordination, governance mechanisms, and value creation in decentralized systems.
His presentation will provide valuable perspectives on the economic foundations of blockchain technologies, the evolution of distributed ledger systems, and emerging governance models — drawing from his extensive research and advisory work at the intersection of technology, economics, and policy.
Sign up: https://luma.com/ophiykvy
Full agenda: https://luma.com/dltforum