Digital solutions for vehicle titling and registration are transforming how DMVs operate, replacing slow bureaucratic processes with efficient blockchain-based systems. Through successful partnerships with state governments, companies offering these digital services have demonstrated significant time and cost savings in vehicle-related transactions. This proven track record in modernizing DMV operations creates opportunities to expand similar technological solutions across other government functions, streamlining services beyond the transportation sector.

In today’s episode of Explain to Shane, Shane interviews Shane Bigelow, CEO of Champ Titles, a company that specializes in digitizing government and business processes. Under Bigelow‘s leadership, Champ Titles has focused on transforming traditional vehicle titling systems with blockchain technology, aiming to reduce costs and improve efficiency in government operations. Before founding Champ Titles, Bigelow gained valuable insights into blockchain’s potential for societal impact while serving as senior vice president and managing director at AllianceBernstein.

The United States faces a critical drug shortage crisis every day that jeopardizes patient care across medical specialties. The problem is staggering: 83 percent of oncologists cannot prescribe their preferred chemotherapy treatments, and a shocking 96 percent of these drug shortages stem from human manufacturing issues. In 2023, drug shortages reached a 10-year high, with 309 critical medications in short supply.

These shortages have profound real-world consequences, affecting thousands of patients annually. For Laura Bray, the issue became intensely personal when her nine-year-old daughter was unable to receive her doctor’s recommended medicine after being diagnosed with leukemia. Drawing on her personal experience and business management background, Laura was motivated to take action. She founded and is the chief changemaker at Angels for Change, a nonprofit organization committed to ensuring access to lifesaving medications by ending drug shortages. Laura is also an adjunct business professor at Hillsborough Community College. Before academia, Laura worked in marketing strategy and small-business management and consulting.

As India's economic landscape evolves amid population growth, crafting regulations that foster progress is critical. But how can India leverage its advanced digital infrastructure and young workforce to drive innovation and create sustainable job opportunities? What regulatory reforms could help create an environment that encourages start-up growth and technological entrepreneurship? And how do proposed reforms like the draft Digital Competition Bill shape up?

In this conversation, Shane Tews is joined by Shruti Rajagopalan and Shreyas Narla. Shruti is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and a fellow at the Classical Liberal Institute at the New York University School of Law. She leads the India Political Economy program and Emergent Ventures India at Mercatus. Shreyas is a research scholar with the India Political Economy program at Mercatus.

Join us as they explore the challenges regulatory frameworks pose, the importance of digital infrastructure, and the need for reforms to foster innovation and growth in India's economy.