Relations between the authorities and the blockchain have warmed since the beginning of the year

The basis of the functioning of our international payment service Wirex is the blockchain, so the government’s development strategy for a service within a particular country may depend on government regulation of a distributed registry technology. The author of the publication notes the thaw in relations with the blockchain on the part of the authorities of a number of states since the beginning of this year.

The first month of 2017 was surprisingly rich in government blockchain initiatives, given the traditionally cautious approach of the public sector to any ambiguous phenomena. Previously, its representatives preferred to rather watch projects appearing like mushrooms after the rain in the private sector, but now, in less than a month, progressive international and governmental organizations and central banks have taken a whole series of measures to bring the technology of distributed registries closer to society.

Absolute Leader - Estonia

Let's take a closer look at the projects of the national authorities of some countries in the field of decentralized distributed registries. Here the undisputed, but not received, however, due attention, the leader - Estonia. A year has passed since the joint project of the Republic of Estonia and Nasdaq was announced, under which shareholders of companies listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange Nasdaq - the country's only regulated securities market - were given the opportunity to vote at shareholders' meetings using the Estonian digital residency platform. The program is the second official blockchain project from Nasdaq. It was preceded by the successful issuance of shares by the private company Chain.com with the help of the Nasdaq Linq proprietary platform based on the blockchain.

And now, at the beginning of 2017, the Republic of Estonia took another step towards blockchain. The Swiss startup Procivis helped her in this, announcing a few days ago at a Microsoft- related event in Bern about his plans to present to the public a confirmation of the concept of the digital government platform based on the blockchain. Currently, the company is busy collecting seed investments and will work closely with Estonian experts in the organization of e-government operations when designing its services.
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Company founder Daniel Gastaiger commented on the plans of his company:

“Familiarity with the scale of digitalization of the Estonian public sector deeply impressed me, especially when compared with the similar level of transition to digital technology in Western Europe, including Switzerland. By inviting leading Estonian experts in building e-government and combining their experience with our blockchain expertise, we set ourselves the goal of creating a platform that could become the future digital core for democracies around the world. ”

Russia turns its attention to the blockchain, as a tool for identification and exchange of assets

In the meantime, Russia is also changing its attitude towards distributed registry technologies. The Financial Innovations Association (API) has prepared a roadmap, a document containing a plan for improving the regulation of the National Payment System, including the idea of ​​practical implementation of blockchain technology to identify customers. Quote from the document:

“Along with the expansion in the short term of the possibility of carrying out operations within the framework of simplified customer identification, develop an approach and introduce a single identifier (possibly using blockchain technology).”

It took the country a long time to get going in the direction of Fintech. However, now it is impossible not to note the serious intention of the authorities of the country and the Central Bank to explore the potential of innovative technologies. Even before the news about the "road map" for the NPS, the Central Bank announced that its representatives together with the financial market participants had approved the decision on the establishment of the Fintech Financial Technologies Development Association. Olga Skorobogatova, deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, commented on this decision:

"The main objectives of the association will be the development and introduction of new technological solutions to ensure the development of the Russian financial market, as well as the creation of conditions for the digitization of the economy of the Russian Federation."

Moreover, in November 2015, Central Depository began to cooperate with a technology startup to test the exchange and transfer capabilities of blockchain assets. According to Coindesk, the project is part of a broader Fintech initiative, launched in partnership between the National Settlement Depository (NSD) and the National Research University Higher School of Economics. In general, 10 startups took part in the project. NSD, in turn, also collaborates with a startup called iCoinSoft , which offers clients the service of launching their own branded cryptocurrency exchanges based on the company's proprietary technology.

Sweden, Ghana and Georgia advocate for transparency in land tenure

Sweden has a serious interest in the non-financial case of using decentralized distributed registries. According to Coindesk , in March a joint initiative of the National Land Surveillance and the blockchain of the startup ChromaWay will be launched in the country in the public testing mode. The project that allows you to record information about the ownership of land in the blockchain, announced in June last year, from the very beginning enlisted the support of the consulting firm Kairos Future and the Telia telephone operator. To date, according to the publication, he has since managed to acquire two more partners in the person of mortgage banks Landshypotek and SBAB. As the CEO of ChromaWay Henrik Khelte shared with Coindesk, the purpose of the test release is to test the system for its relevance in terms of business processes, security and legal aspects and at the same time give the general public the opportunity to try the interface and test the back-end.

A similar project is under construction in Georgia. The national agency of the public registry of the country is developing a land blockchain registry. The aim of the project is to demonstrate the anti-corruption orientation, modernity and transparency of the activities of the government of the country. According to the Cointelegraph , Georgian Justice Minister Teya Tsulukiani announced earlier that government development agencies and information agencies have already accumulated the necessary technological and personnel potential and are ready to successfully use the blockchain to protect the property rights of millions of their citizens.

“Thanks to the efforts of the State Registry staff, Georgia is ready to use this system. We assume that in 2017 the first stage of document entry will take place, within which we will begin to store real estate data in the system. Our citizens will receive detailed information about this. The main thing is that we have achieved technical compatibility. As a result, Georgia will be one of the first countries in our region and western Europe to start using this technology, ” commented the initiative of Tsulukiani.

Another project to create a land blockchain registry, which began last year, is gradually gaining momentum in Ghana. On the territory of 28 administrative territories of the country, it is planned to introduce a burglar-resistant property rights accounting system. And again, the main driving force behind the project is the desire to show the inconsistency of the current image of Ghana as a country with a high level of corruption, and the initiative itself is used as a signal to attract foreign investors.

Nigeria and cryptocurrency leap

Another African country is also supporting research into the use of blockchain in the public sector. A few days ago, the Cointelegraph publication reported that the blockchain industry in Nigeria made a serious leap forward: government agencies joined forces with the non-governmental organization Initiative for the Development of Niperia's Cryptographic Technologies (IRCTN) to raise the general level of technology awareness and promote its implementation. IRKTN will play the role of a platform that attracts interested players united by common interests to fill gaps in cryptographic developments, including such areas as cryptocurrency and the fight against extortionists-cryptographers.

Another Nigerian organization, the National Forum on Combating Electronic Fraud (NFEM), has already offered its support to IRCTN. In a letter signed by the Chairman of the NFBEM Deepo Fatokun said the following:

“We wish to inform you that NFBEM will be happy to start cooperation with IRKTN and is ready to help with technical expertise and speakers at the proposed on the blockchain conference in 2017. I also ask you to note that as our cooperation develops, the NFEM will also count on your support. ”

In addition, the president of IRKTN, Adelu Fadele, shared with the Cointelegraph information that the organization is currently in talks with BitLand on effective partnership.

Blockchain at the service of the US healthcare industry

In early January, IBM Watson Health signed an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration on a collaborative research project aimed at finding a safe, effective and scalable solution for sharing patient health data using blockchain technology. IBM will explore with the agency the exchange of data between several centralized data sources, such as electronic medical records, clinical trials, genomic data, and health information from mobile, wearable, and other network-connected devices. Initially, the focus will be on cancer data.

According to an official press release , partners will explore the potential benefits of using blockchain systems for public health purposes in important cases of information exchange between a wide range of data types, including clinical trials and evidence from actual medical practice. Cooperation will also be aimed at developing new ways of efficiently processing large volumes of various information that is in the circulation of modern biomedicine and health care industries. The creation of such a system of secure exchange of information between various data sources opens up prospects for new medical discoveries and a general increase in the level of public health.

The activity around the blockchain in early 2017 was not limited to the cases listed here. It is very likely that in the coming year, blockchain professionals and start-ups will receive more and more deserved attention from national authorities and international corporations. We see how, after passing through the stages of research and discussion of the possibilities of blockchains, organizations and authorities are moving to official statements and speeding up the implementation of decentralized distributed registries in practice.