Emmie Osselaere
I work as a policy adviser for the climate policy department of the City of Ghent. My job focuses on financing the climate objectives. With my law and economics background, I support my colleagues with the development and implementation of the policies for energy transition in neighborhoods and companies. My role in this project is to coordinate the project team working of energy loan pilot. This policy instrument helps citizens finance their home renovation for energy measures.
1. How is the city of Ghent involved in blockchain; can you tell us a bit about your (latest) developments?
This project gave us the opportunity to gain insights in the potential of blockchain technology for developing services for citizen and also for the organization. The proof of concept of the Energy loan is (almost) ready for simulation. Next to that we’ve gained insights in the potential of the applicability of blockchain in cases for the energy transition. This will be further explored for other complex projects.
2. Which blockchain topics do you find the most interesting or promising?
We’ve developed a concept with a wallet system that works with self-sovereign identity. From my law and economics background, I found it interesting that it’s technically possible to organize on a decentral way a transaction and interaction via a wallet system without any storage of data. The new pattern for sharing information via verifiable credentials was really an eye opener.
3. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned so far by working together with international partners in this European project?
We are working on a local level and mainly tend to focus on what is happening right here in our own city. Sharing the experiences, not only about success stories, but also about the learnings was for me a valuable lesson. When we are working on similar challenges and solutions, we can make those solutions more robust.