Blockchain in e-governance
Kamlesh Nagware
Co-Founder @ FSV Labs | TEDx Speaker| Co-Chair LF Decentralized Trust| Blockchain TOP VOICE | Hyperledger, Fintech, Digital Assets/Tokenization, CBDC | Driving Blockchain Innovation and Adoption
Amid the debate over the crypto regulations and laws in countries, Governments started using blockchain in e-governance. Blockchain is a governance technology and has the potential to transform how e-governance works.
Over the past few years, governments in several countries have been experimenting with the application of this novel technology to a wide variety of functions and services, including land registration, educational credentialing, health care, procurement, food supply chains, and identity management.
Many governments hoped that blockchain would be a game-changer for issues such as security and operational challenges. Indeed, this technology has the potential to help agencies make improvements in many areas, including accelerating the speed of transactions, such as for land-use registry, digital identity, certificate issuance & verification, and many more e-governance services.
A?blockchain-based digital government?can protect data, streamline processes, and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse while simultaneously increasing trust and accountability. On a blockchain-based government model, individuals, businesses, and governments share resources over a distributed ledger secured using cryptography. This structure eliminates a single point of failure and inherently protects sensitive citizen and government data.
Blockchain technology has the potential to make government operations more efficient. It can improve the delivery of public services and establish greater trust. Most government departments work in silos. The lack of interconnectedness across departments foments a larger concern about data integrity and consistency.
A blockchain-based government has the potential to solve legacy pain points and enable the following advantages:
The distributed ledger format can be leveraged to support an array of government and public sector applications, including?digital currency/payments, land registration, identity management,?supply chain traceability, health care,?corporate registration, taxation,?voting (elections and proxy), and?legal entities management.
Global Implementation & efforts by various Government agencies: -
·??EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum: Accelerating blockchain innovation in Europe
Blockchain in the European Union. An initiative led by the European Commission aiming to support and accelerate the development of the blockchain ecosystem in the EU. https://www.eublockchainforum.eu
·??Smart Dubai: Using blockchain to forge a seamless city experience in the UAE
Blockchain for Smart Cities. Smart Dubai is an initiative spearheaded by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, seeking to make Dubai the happiest city on earth by leveraging blockchain, AI, and IoT technology.
·??British Columbia has pioneered the use of Self-Sovereign Blockchain Identity technologies for streamlining government processes
??The Verifiable Organizations Network (VON) was started by the governments of. British Columbia, Ontario, and Canada. Includes digital IDs for 529,000 companies and 1.4 million credentials
More Use cases from around the world :
China: In April 2020,?China?launched the?Blockchain-based Service Network?(BSN), an operating system for blockchain programs. BSN is conceived as a global infrastructure to support both consortium and public blockchains. “Just as with the internet, the BSN is also a cross-cloud, cross-portal, cross-framework global infrastructure network.
Singapore: The Singapore government has introduced Project Ubin, a blockchain technology-based initiative in the banking industry for inter-bank and cross-currency payment transactions with Canada and Europe. Supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Bank of Canada(BoC), and the Bank of England (BoE), Project Ubin is used for the clearance and settlement of payments and securities.
The US: In 2017, the US FDA signed an agreement with?IBM?Watson Health to work on a blockchain-based system to share patient data safely. Further, in 2018, the Trump government awarded a grant of $192,380 to Factom through the Department of Homeland Security
Seeing the growth of increase in blockchain adoption globally, Indian policymakers too have taken cognizance of its potential and are exploring this distributed ledger technology in multiple domains such as asset registration, recordkeeping, benefit transfers, and so on. State governments are collaborating with start-ups and technology giants to develop a proof of concepts and pilots. Many state governments?like Karnataka, Telangana, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra has been started using technology for applications in e-governance. As this trend continues, the public sector may leapfrog into a new era of digital management.
Why blockchain is important for India's e-governance??
Governance in India has unique challenges due to the scale, diversity, and complexity of processes. Blockchain offers a unique way of solving the governance. Help `self-regulation`, reduce regulatory burden, and improve `Ease of doing business index in India.
Ease of doing business – 79 positions up to 65th position since 2015. Regulatory compliance cost, trust in cross-border transactions are considered the key factors that need improvement. Process efficiency across parties is an inherent property of a blockchain solution.
Tamil Nadu Blockchain Policy of 2020 outlines steps to bring accountability, create awareness among government employees, and creating an ecosystem by involving entrepreneurs and communities. TNeGA aims to setup and maintain a state-wide blockchain infrastructure that can be leveraged by all Government departments and agencies, public sector enterprises and others.
The Karnataka Government initiative is named Kaveri blockchain, and it aims to digitize and validate all land records in the state. The project is taken up by the Centre for Smart Governance (CSG), a Karnataka Government subsidiary that looks after the IT requirements of the government. Each property owner is given a smartcard that stores the land records in their name and a key to secure it. The project makes it easier for property holders to make transactions.
Karnataka CSG also developing a permission-based blockchain network that is intended to work as a decentralized trust and efficiency layer for all e-Government Procurement (e-GP) systems across the country, according to a press release. Be used for validating claims of suppliers along with their identities.?
As per the 2019 NASSCOM Blockchain Report, as many as 50 percent of the states are involved in blockchain technology’s adoption in varying degrees. Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh are at the forefront of the adoption.
In India, various state governments are piloting e-governance use cases.
-???Telangana govt. has set up T-hub, one district to support and build blockchain-based solutions, Tamil Nadu state has its own state-level blockchain strategy. Telangana hosted India’s first blockchain city. Giving subsidies for blockchain companies attracting the presence there.
-??Indian govt. Niti Ayog (Planning commission of India), NISG (National Institute of Smart Governance) initiatives to use blockchain in e-governance.
-??Indian Govt. issued their national blockchain strategy and Centre of Excellence for Blockchain (Apiary by Meity & STPI) to help start-ups and governments to adopt blockchain technology for smart governance.
-??Government announced a national Blockchain strategy, the Blockchain Centre of Excellence by MeitY (Ministry of Electronics & IT), NISG, Election commission, Niti Ayog, C-DAC, TRAI, NASSCOM, and other government bodies/departments are working towards blockchain adoption in India.
-??Niti Ayog did POCs in “track and trace of drugs”, claim verification and approval for fertilizer subsidy, verification of university certificates, transfer of land records.
-???TRAI(Telecom Authority of India) implemented blockchain to combat Pesky calls.
-???PM launches blockchain-based degree transfer tech for digital citations at IIT-Kanpur convocation.
-??CBSE introduces Blockchain to go paperless, secure results - CBSE has established this blockchain network with nodes at Bengaluru, Pune, and Jaipur. Presently, the certificate chain is managed by NIC at its data centers.
-??The STPI?Apiary, a Centre of Entrepreneurship in?Blockchain?Technology is setup in collaboration with MeitY, STPI, Govt. of Haryana. Apiary-CoE aims to incubate 100 start-ups in the field of blockchain technology?.. https://apiary.stpi.in/
-?The?Uttar Pradesh?government has introduced blockchain?technology to the rooftop?solar power?segment, allowing consumers to trade their surplus solar energy
Two state power utilities —?UP Power Corporation Limited?(UPPCL) and UP New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) — have launched the ambitious project as a pilot in select government buildings in Lucknow with installed rooftop?solar power?plants.
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-?Earlier this year Ministry of IT & Telecommunications (Meity) India released national Blockchain strategy and RBI/Govt. of India announced CBDC. https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/National_BCT_Strategy.pdf
-??NPCI also released their Vajra platform to streamline payment settlement using Blockchain.
-???Maharashtra government is using blockchain technology which is said to pave a way for COVID vaccination passports. Source: https://block.dmrr.mahaonline.gov.in/report?id=2e63e5ad7e1ae7f4fa8568e8cdb49dec4ac701f9469e7289ba84d1ddb2dc385b
There are many such blockchain e-governance projects from government bodies like NIC, CDAC, NISG, etc.
What we (Snapper Future Tech) are doing in the e-governance space?
Snapper Future tech also done Land records & registration for AP Government in late 2017. This is published as a case study in Harvard business review.
We also working with the Malaysian govt. to implement a blockchain-based land registry system using Hyperledger Blockchain.
Snapper future tech also has blockchain-based certificate issuance and verification platform called Snapcert(https://snapcert.io/). It enables secure digitization, generation, authentication, sharing, and verification of any kind of certificate and creates value for the entire ecosystem through the Trust as a Service.?
Snapcert is used by Kushal, a social organization that trains unskilled labor under the Indian government's National Skill Development program. The solution solves the problem of misplaced paper credentials and reduces the trust deficit by providing easy access to credible credentials that prove the holder’s construction training. It also helps Kushal manage long-term record-keeping for the skilled workers, connect stakeholders that need the data, and increase transparency and ease of doing business.
Blockchain will play a major role in e-Governance in the near future. It is expected to enable governments to build secure, auditable, and efficient government workflows and processes. These modernized workflows can equip the government to design citizen-centric applications that cater to different verticals of governance. In India, the Central government and State governments started blockchain implementations across verticals certification, land registry, and various e-governance services.?
Blockchain technology has the potential to make government operations more efficient. It can improve the delivery of public services and establish greater trust. Most government departments work in silos. The lack of interconnectedness across departments foments a larger concern about data integrity and consistency.
Reference:
#blockchain #blockchainadoption #e-governance #digitalidentity #government
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CEO at Cygnetise Limited
2 年This is a great article. Cygnetise has been aiding corporate governance for a few years now by using blockchain to manage and share authorised signatories. Adoption across 25 countries.
Thank you Kamlesh Nagware for sharing. Interesting article