Blockchain has come to e-Government

E-government is the dream of all those who are annoyed by bureaucracy, are afraid of state corruption, and would like to live in a predictable world with transparent management. For many, it still looks like an unrealizable goal. However, while some doubt and others hope, the idea is gradually being implemented.

The first among the first

Georgia. They are the first country that implemented blockchain in their real estate system. It works simply. The extract of the rights to real estate is entered in the distributed register and each citizen receives a copy of the register in which this data is recorded. Such a system completely excludes paper, red tape, and standing in lines. It is transparent so there can be no fraudulent schemes when conducting transactions. In addition, it works 24 hours a day.

Estonia. About 95% of all citizens of this country have an electronic certificate. More than 4,000 services are provided online. This allows you to save huge amounts of money on doing paperwork.

Estonians have been getting used to using online services since childhood, and not by chance. Back in the early 2000's, Estonia equated access to the Internet to basic human rights. No country in the world had decided on this before. The results are obvious. By 2017, you could open a company in Estonia in 20 minutes without ever leaving your home. You can also pay your taxes online from anywhere in the world. And many other services are also provided in electronic form.

In 2005 Estonians were the first to take part in elections with the help of the Internet. And it is quite natural that the country began using blockchain in its document management. A huge number of startups based on distributed registry technology are now being tested by time and are being introduced into the system of the "oldest" e-government in the world. It is blockchain that makes it possible to strengthen data encryption, which in turn makes it possible for Estonians to be proud of the security of their Internet system.

Russia and blockchain

On behalf of the federal government, Moscow introduced blockchain technology into the city's management system. This was done by the mayor of the city, Sergei Sobyanin. First of all, we are talking about the real estate registration system. Sobyanin is confident that this will help to exclude criminal schemes in this complex area of life of the city and the country as a whole. Blockchain will help to create a system in which all transactions will be transparent and lawful.

Also, blockchain will be implemented into the city portal "Active citizen". In this case, the mayor is sure no one will be able to accuse the authorities of cheating. (Muscovites often blame the city authorities for voting on the portal to make the right decision).

It is also reported that the country's legislation will be changed by blockchain. With the help of an electronic algorithm, Russian laws will be analyzed and, in a case of contradiction, they will be reduced to uniform norms.

Thus, after signing the agreement on the development and implementation of blockchain between the Association of FinTech and VneshEconomBank the question of Russia's accession to the number of countries already using a distributed registry is answered.

Blockchain forever

Blockchain has changed the world very quickly and very noticeably. Sometimes it seems that this invention of mankind is comparable to the invention of the wheel. Soon there will be no industry in which the distributed registry has not been applied.

According to polls, 25% of companies are ready to apply blockchain in the near future. This in fact gives a lot of advantages. Less costly business models are created or companies receive more reliable data about their financial flows and deals with partners.

A vivid example of the use of blockchain is the English company Everledger. They register diamonds to prevent theft. Another example is the company Walmart. When you buy a turkey for Christmas at one of their stores you always know where it was grown and what it was fed, etc. And the same is true with any product in their network.

In the UK, they intend to use a money blockchain to distribute social benefits. Meanwhile the Singapore authorities are preparing to decide on using a distributed registry to prevent fraudulent activities with invoices.

So, in 2017, we entered a new era - the era of the implementation of blockchain technology into e-Government. The fact that the blockchain is able to create the prerequisites for a single digital system in a country is hardly doubted. But still there are questions. How soon will the revolution take place? What type of blockchain will win? Or will we deal with something different? How will the legislative system react to these innovations?

The coming year of 2018 will provide answers to these and many other questions. But today one thing is already clear: the spread of blockchain can not be stopped!