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Gov. Greg Abbott recently appointed four people to the Work Group on Blockchain Matters. The goal of this group is to develop a high-level master plan for blockchain technology in Texas and recommend state policies and investments in the technology. The four appointees are Carla Reyes, William Henning, Jennifer Buaas and Dan Teczar.
Blockchain technology is most simply defined as a decentralized, distributed ledger that records the provenance of a digital asset,” according to BuiltIn.com. “By inherent design, the data on a blockchain is unable to be modified, which makes it a legitimate disruptor for industries like payments, cybersecurity and health care.”
The work group was created when H.B. 1576 passed the state House and Senate and was signed by Abbott to begin functioning as of Sept. 1.
Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher said there is a lot of interest in serving on the work group.
“We do have several of our members who are actively applying for the work group with the speaker's office and the lieutenant governor's office,” Bratcher told Houston Daily. “We are hopeful that some of our members get selected.”
He said his association was not involved in the initial four appointments.
“We did not play a role in the selection of appointees to the working group,” Bratcher said. “In fact, the speaker of the House and the lieutenant governor have not yet made their appointments. The governor made his appointments of course last week.”
The Texas Blockchain Council was instrumental in getting a bill passed that resulted in Gov. Abbott’s recent appointees. They also have two other bills currently in the Legislature that would create another working group that would investigate “the benefits of digital identity for Texas” and make digital signatures on the blockchain valid in Texas.
Bratcher said it’s clear this panel will play a key role.
“The working group will be creating a road map for how Texas can become the jurisdiction of choice for blockchain innovation,” he said. “This will include recommendations for various educational initiatives and infrastructure investments but in the end, these will be recommendations made in a report that goes to the Legislature and the governor's office.”
Bratcher, who also serves as executive director of the Institute for Global Engagement at Dallas Baptist University, said he was still “coming up for air” after the inaugural Texas Block Chain Summit, held Aug. 8 in Austin.
Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming were among the speakers.
Amid the increased focus on blockchain technology in Texas, two Houston-based blockchain companies recently announced a collaborative partnership on the ESG space. ESG stands for environmental social, and governance.
The two companies, Data Gumbo and Topl, plan to offer public-private ESG reporting that will be accomplished through the following process, according to a press release.
“The collaborative solution from Data Gumbo and Topl gathers data from business operations and transactions, uses that data to inform calculations based on defined standards, then enables the complete review and certification of ESG metrics by auditors using GumboNet ESG,” it states. “Once environmental impact is determined, a company can easily share data recorded on Topl’s public-facing blockchain, offering proof of progress on ESG metrics, and that compliance measures and upcoming SEC mandates have been met.”
“As companies today face mounting pressure to report timely and accurate ESG data, including performance and progress, they need the right tools to collect, standardize and automate reporting while preserving security for sensitive data,” said Andrew Bruce, CEO and founder of Data Gumbo. “For the first time, this partnership offers companies total control of their accurate ESG data, allowing them to publish and report metrics in whatever manner best suits them satisfying investors,’ regulator agencies’ and other stakeholders’ desires.”
“This partnership combines the power of our two complementary solutions to support a new level of transparency for companies that desire to showcase their fully verifiable progress on crucial ESG metrics,” said Kim Raath, founder and CEO of Topl.