Renske Stumpel
Renske Stumpel is EU project manager in the municipality in Groningen and is specialized in Interreg North Sea Region projects, she is currently working on her fourth Interreg project. She is the Lead Manager of the BLING project.1. What are Groningen municipality’s experiences so far with the blockchain technology?
Groningen is one of the earliest cities in the Netherlands to use blockchain for their public services delivery. A few years back we were really triggered by the technology and we were looking into several options to use the tech. I think the Stadjerspas (a voucher for lower income groups) was back then a very good example. That service had 15.000 users! However blockchain has its challenges one might say and after the initial enthusiasm it hasn’t been easy to get new pilots going in Groningen municipality. That being said we are now looking into the possibilities for energy poverty in households and are working on a food value platform (together with a H2020 project called Food Trails).
2. Which blockchain topics do you find the most interesting or promising?
What triggers me most is the opportunities it offers for public service delivery, that is off course what the BLING project is all about. We are now some years into the project and we are proud of the work that is going on in the project, we have developed several mature pilots already.
3. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned so far by working together with international partners in this European project?
The most valuable lesson is I would say that this working together on the blockchain topic is super valuable for local government. You have all this knowledge and experiences at your disposal in these projects. That is why I love these kind of projects. We still have a lot to do however before we finish the project in June 2023, we will do our best to get all learning out in a way that is useful for lots of people outside of our project.