By Constance de Leusse, Paul Fehlinger, Sarah Nicole
In an important move towards fostering responsible and ethical governance within the Web3 ecosystem, Project Liberty’s Institute and BlockchainGov have embarked on a collaborative research and governance initiative. This joint endeavor aims to explore and document best governance practices across multiple major Web3 infrastructure projects such as blockchains.
These insights will benefit all ecosystem key stakeholders, ranging from developers, academics, business, investors, to governments and civil society, in constructing a responsible and sustainable decentralized environment.As the digital world becomes increasingly interconnected, the outcomes of this endeavor will shape the responsible development of the Web3 ecosystem.
“I joined this group because I want to contribute to the development of a true Web3, which is not a centralized top down, but a decentralized bottom up Web3”
- Joachim Schwerin, European Commission
The inaugural meeting of the Multistakeholder Council marked the launch of this ambitious initiative. Comprising 12 experts hailing from diverse backgrounds such as technical community, government, investors, civil society, business and academia, this Council will share their valuable advice and viewpoints to help shape the future of Web3 good governance.
“Because we have a deep belief in community stewardship of public goods, I'm very much looking forward to bringing some of Paradigms expertise to the Council” - Brendan Malone, Paradigm
This Council will serve as a hub of knowledge and experience, steering the initiative’s trajectory and providing invaluable inputs throughout the research and development phases. Their collective expertise ensures a holistic approach to devising governance principles for the dynamic and complex nature of the Web3 landscape. Together, they will help Project Liberty’s Institute and BlockchainGov develop the final deliverable of this initiative, a manual on Web3 governance, which will be unveiled in the first half of 2024.
“My biggest concern right now is Internet fragmentation, as an Internet volunteer for the last 30 years I am curious to act in the development of Web3 governance”
- Pindar Wong, first licensed Internet Service Provider in Hong-Kong
The journey towards responsible Web3 governance has begun, setting the stage for a future where innovation harmonizes with ethics, and technology paves the way for a more inclusive and equitable digital economy and society.
Members include:
Eric Alston is a Scholar in Residence in the Finance Division at University of Colorado Boulder. Eric’s research applies methodologies and concepts from institutional & organizational analysis and law & economics to studies of constitutions, economic rights on frontiers, and digital governance. Eric is also currently engaged in governance design for several distributed network projects.
Federico Ast graduated in economics and philosophy and holds a PhD in management. He is passionate about the use of technology for social innovation. He is founder of Kleros, a protocol using game theory and blockchain technology in dispute resolution.
Kaitlin Beegle is the Head of Protocol Governance at the Filecoin Foundation. She holds an MSc in Politics and Technology from the Technical University of Munich, where her research focused on on the political theory of 'openness' in democracies and open-source technologies. Prior to this, she was a researcher in innovation policies for various agencies in both the US and UK governments, as well as an activist and community organizer. She lives in San Francisco.
Laura E. DeNardis is a Professor of Technology, Ethics and Society at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. With a background in information engineering and a doctorate in Science and Technology Studies, she has published seven books and numerous articles on the political and social implications of Internet technical architecture and governance. Dr. DeNardis is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an affiliated Fellow (and previously Executive Director) at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. Her book The Internet in Everything: Freedom and Security in a World with No Off Switch (Yale University Press) was recognized as a Financial Times Top Technology Book of 2020.
PhilH is a DAOist, a commoner, and a former entrepreneur. As the Governance Lead at Mangrove DAO, he drives the design and the implementation of novel participation and governance mechanisms. PhilH is also part of dOrg (collective of Web3 builders), a board member of Ethereum France (organizer of the main European crypto conference), and an advisor at Morpho and Usual.
Pierre Noro is a researcher and lecturer in decentralized governance, blockchain technologies and digital ethics.
After several years designing innovative blockchain-based public services for France's main public finance institution, Pierre is now building impact-oriented decentralized projects with startups and Web3 communities, such as decentralized voting (Pebble.vote), decentralized social networks (Frequency.xyz) or Regenerative Finance.
Pierre is a lecturer at SciencesPo Paris and at the Learning Planet Institute (Université Paris-Cité).
Sarah Roth-Gaudette, Executive Director, Fight for the Future. Over the past 25 years, Sarah has managed campaigns with some of the largest grassroots mobilizing groups in the country, including U.S. PIRG and MoveOn PAC, and understands how to stimulate grassroots engagement and convert it into effective political results using the best technology, communications, and alliance building. She now heads the digital rights advocacy organization, Fight for the Future. The group developed the strategy and online tools that have shaped policies to protect net neutrality, stop online censorship and surveillance, and defend alternatives to Big Tech and Big Banks. Known for its massively viral effort at dontkillcrypto.com that drove 40,000+ calls to senators to oppose last minute additions to the infrastructure bill, Fight has emerged as a leading human rights advocate in the crypto space, opposing financial surveillance, defending the right to code, and ensuring that lawmakers and consumers alike understand the stakes of these complex technologies.
Dr. Joachim Schwerin is Principal Economist in the unit responsible for the Digital Transformation of Industry within the Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) of the European Commission. He is responsible for developing the policy approach of DG GROW towards the Token Economy and Distributed-Ledger Technologies as well as their applications for industry and SMEs, with a current focus on supporting the emergence of DAOs and a truly decentralised Web3. In 2020, he contributed to the Digital Finance Strategy, including the MiCA Regulation. Joachim holds a PhD in economics from Dresden University of Technology and was Post-Doc Research Fellow at the Economic History Department of the London School of Economist before he joined the European Commission in 2001.
Dr. Paolo Tasca is a globally renowned blockchain economist and Professor at University College London, with a specialization in distributed systems. He is also the esteemed founder of the award-winning UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies. Complementing his academic accomplishments, Dr. Tasca boasts an impressive track record as a seasoned blockchain entrepreneur, with multiple successful exits. His extensive expertise in blockchain technologies has led him to serve as a special advisor for an array of international stakeholders, including the United Nations, central banks, and various governmental and industry entities.
David Tomchak is the founder of the Web3 and AI coalition "Cogency", whose work focuses on digital identity, trust and media. He is a multi-award-winning journalist, editor and technology leader whose experience over the last 20 + years has ranged from organisations such as the BBC and the London Evening Standard to start-ups and the likes of JP Morgan. His career has also included a spell in government where he was the Head of Digital and Deputy Director of Communications for Downing Street in the UK. David founded the AI In Media (AIIM) working group in 2016 which has now been included in Cogency. David is also a Visiting Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
E. Glen Weyl is Founder and Research Lead of Microsoft Research’s Special Project the Plural Technology Collaboratory, Founder of the Plurality Institute and RadicalxChange Foundation and co-author with Audrey Tang of the forthcoming open, collaborative book project, Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy, and with Eric Posner of Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for Just Society.
Pindar Wong is an Internet pioneer, who co-founded the first licensed Internet Service Provider in Hong Kong in 1993. Previously, Pindar was the first Vice-Chairman of ICANN, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Internet Association, alternate Chairman of Asia Pacific Network Information Center, Co-Public Lead of Creative Commons Hong Kong, Chairman of APRICOT, Commissioner on the Global Commission on Internet Governance and elected Trustee of the Internet Society. He organised Asia's first Blockchainworkshops.org and ScalingBitcoin.org
Sheila Warren is the CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation - the premier global alliance for advancing the promise of this new technology through research, education and advocacy. Sheila founded the World Economic Forum’s blockchain and digital assets team and was a member of the Executive Leadership Team for the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. She oversaw tech policy strategy across 14 countries and regularly briefed ministers, CEOs of the Fortune 100 and Heads of State.