Dear friend,

Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Property Rights Program at New America. It was a busy week for us at the 2019 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty. FPR hosted an event on property rights in the United States, which was broadcast on C-SPAN. At the Bank, Chris Mellon spoke about his forthcoming report on self-sovereign identity and property rights, while Tim Robustelli presented his paper on the challenges and potential of blockchain for land. Here's what else we've been up to:

What We're Doing

Blockchain For Land: From Flaming Out to Scaling Up

What determines whether blockchain-for-land projects succeed? FPR published its insights and recommendations in a new report, Evaluating the Hype: The Current Potential of Blockchain for Land Registries.

Read the Reuters article, as well as report author Tim Robustelli's companion piece on the hype cycle of blockchain-for-land in the New America Weekly. 

Don't have time to read the report? Skim the one-pager here.

Property is a Fundamental Right Under Threat

Yuliya Panfil wrote an article for The Hill about the millions of Americans who are facing new and unprecedented property rights challenges.

We Want to Hear From You!

FPR is beginning to move in some exciting new directions, and we want to hear from others in the property rights space. Please take our one-question survey and let us know what topics you think we should work on in the future.

What We're Reading

"Georgians uprooted by war stage four-day protest to demand new homes" - Place

Umberto Bacchi reports on widespread frustration among internally displaced Georgians as they wait for homes decades after their country's wars. It has us thinking about the ways technology can accelerate restitution and resettlement processes after conflict. 

"A Key to the Arctic's Oil Riches Lies Hidden in Ohio"

-  The New York Times

Steve Eder and Henry Fountain write about the potential for oil extraction in Alaska as the Trump Administration plans to sell drilling leases in the Arctic Circle. We wonder: do we need new property rights paradigms to better govern the Arctic and other frontiers?

"Louisiana's Disappearing Coast" - The New Yorker

Elizabeth Kolbert discusses dramatic land loss in the Mississippi River Delta. It has us thinking: what happened to the people with sinking homes and businesses? Another example of property rights insecurity in the United States.

Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Feel free to reach out to us at FPR@NewAmerica.org.

Until next month, the FPR Team.

About New America

New America is dedicated to renewing America by continuing the quest to realize our nation's highest ideals. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report. 

The Future of Property Rights Program at New America focuses on bringing together technologists and policymakers to help solve land and property rights challenges around the world.

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