Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution in 2014 was a cry from the people to have a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”, so it’s fitting that this Eastern European country is about to become the first in the world to realise the full potential of blockchain technology to revolutionise the way that government works.
The Bitfury Group, a global company that is a leader in providing technological solutions based on blockchain, the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, tells bne IntelliNews that it’s working with Ukraine on finalising the timeline for rolling out the first full-scale “Blockchain eGovernance program” – a memorandum for which was signed by the two sides on April 13 – which will look to put a sweeping range of government data and services on blockchain systems.
“We believe we have identified suitable pilot projects that will demonstrate the transformative power and unmatched security of our blockchain solutions, and we are looking forward to our partnership with the government of Ukraine,” Valery Vavilov, CEO and co-founder of Bitfury, tells bne IntelliNews.
The fundamental principles behind blockchain technology explain its attraction to countries like Ukraine that are looking to make government and the services it provides more transparent and secure. A blockchain is essentially a “distributed ledger” showing all the members of a particular network every transaction that was verified on it. The transactions are collected in blocks, which are then secured approximately every 10 minutes in a mathematical process called “mining”, and must be verified by other members in the network before they are confirmed. Given no central authority or potentially malicious third party can tamper with it, experts believe everything from land registries, to stock markets to financial services could use this technology to limit fraud and corruption, improve efficiency and maximize economic benefits to a broader section of society.
Vavilov says Bitfury and the Ukrainian government are looking at a number of areas and government services in which blockchain solutions could “enhance security and improve the lives of the people of Ukraine”, such as digital platforms like state registers, public services, social security, public health and energy. “Given our successful pilot program in the Republic of Georgia, where we successfully began the move to register land titles on the blockchain, we are considering that as well,” he adds.
Bitfury began working on a project with Georgia’s National Agency of Public Registry in 2016 to design and pilot a blockchain land titling project. Renowned Peruvian economist and president of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy (ILD) Hernando de Soto, who is advising on the project, has said that proper land titling on blockchains could help save globalisation by allowing much of humanity to participate effectively in their national economies.
