Rethinking Information Technology Services as Incentive Driven Collaborative Systems
With the introduction of Bitcoin and blockchain technology, we also witnessed the first example of an
information technology service deployed via open and incentive driven participation.
Viewed in this light, the service emerges out of the self-interest of computer node operators
that enroll themselves to support the system’s operation in exchange of rewards that
are provided in the system’s digital currency. In this talk, I will flesh out this approach
as a novel paradigm for deploying general purpose information technology services and discuss
design challenges and use-cases beyond financial transactions, such as
anonymous communications and supply chain management.