note on DAO UTokyo (2024.2.6-7)

For the past two days, I participated in DAO UTokyo, a conference held at the University of Tokyo. Scholars from many fields and prominent business figures in Web3 gathered from around the world (mainly from North America, Taiwan, and Korea?) to discuss the opportunities and challenges of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). Previously hosted at Stanford, Harvard, and Toronto, this was the first time it was held in Asia. I was kindly invited by @hiroThamadaJP, one of the organizers.

DAO UTokyo 2024 Conference

To be honest, I felt quite unqualified for the event, lacking expertise and experience in DAO/Web3. However, I had significant interest in the topic, mainly due to my metascientific concerns. Can DAOs, or ideas related to them, be utilized in revitalizing the research ecosystem? I seized this opportunity to gain insight into this field.

The conference was predominantly academic, with some parts beyond my comprehension. Between talks, there were “breakout sessions” that allowed participants to engage in small group discussions, fostering serendipitous conversations. The people I spoke with were kind, and I learned a lot. Below is a very basic summary of what I learned about the topic. It is intentionally abstract, as my understanding of the details is limited. These are merely rough-sketch impressions.

So, what is a DAO? Why are people excited about it? And why are academics interested in it? Having heard from and spoken with enthusiasts in this field, I find it useful to consider various perspectives such as:

• DAO as an alternative: With the advent of blockchain technology, traditional constraints on the structures and operations of organizations can be bypassed, opening up possibilities for more decentralized structures and operations (e.g., decision-making through “governance tokens”). DAOs can serve as alternatives to traditional organizations in many ways, resulting in various types of DAOs. Professor Takagi of Tokyo University spoke about this diversity in the DAO movement, with each aspiring to “de-frame” traditional organizations in their own ways.

• DAO as a solution: Some DAOs are more concrete in their objectives, aiming to solve specific problems. From what I gathered at the conference, rural Japan and the Taiwanese government may be pioneers in using DAOs as solutions.

• DAO as a thought experiment: DAOs can also be used as conceptual tools to expand our imagination. For example, what if national monetary policy were managed by DAOs instead of central governments? What problems would this solve, and what new problems might arise? Such thought experiments are not only intellectually stimulating but could also inspire new solutions to significant problems.

• DAO as a new phenomenon: Legal professionals at the conference discussed the potential conflicts between DAOs and existing legal systems. However, their approach was not pessimistic; instead, they are studying DAOs as a new phenomenon within their respective fields. DAOs pose many interesting research questions in law, economics, organizational theory, and more.

• DAO as a problem to solve: And, of course, like any new technology, engineers may view DAOs as an engineering challenge.

This is just a layperson's perspective on how DAOs can be both practically and theoretically interesting. I am so thankful to the organizers, and I hope the community continues to grow.