How do Governments Benefit from using Blockchain?
Building Trust with Citizens
The Pew Research Center reports that American citizens’ trust in the government is at an all-time low
There are many intricate reasons for this mistrust, but blockchain technology has the potential to help turn this trend around
Transparency through decentralization, which enables involved parties to see and validate data, is a critical component of blockchain-based solutions
Governmental claims could be independently verified with a blockchain solution for some citizen services
For instance, the governments of Sweden, Estonia, and Georgia are testing land registries based on blockchain technology, allowing multiple parties to safely hold copies of the registry
Using this model, property disputes might be quickly settled or avoided altogether
The likelihood of mistrust declines when citizens and governments share access to records
2. Protecting Sensitive Data
In today’s digital world, personal data breaches are now commonplace
Governments are prime targets for hackers because they are the default keeper of society’s records
However, by properly deploying blockchain data structures, these attacks could be mitigated or prevented rather than accepted as an inevitable cost of doing business in the information age
By lowering the risk of a single point of failure, these data structures strengthen network security and can make a breach attempt prohibitively difficult
Government organizations are seriously pursuing blockchain applications in cybersecurity, including the Department of Homeland Security
To carry out research and development and consider fresh perspectives on cybersecurity, DHS is funding blockchain startups
3. Reducing Costs & Improving Efficiency
Governmental organizations must accomplish their goals while prudently allocating limited resources
Blockchain could be a crucial lifeline for officials balancing their budgets on a razor’s edge
Blockchain solutions have the potential to improve security, ensure data integrity, reduce redundancy, simplify processes, and ease the burden of audits
Consider the GSA FAST Lane procedure as an example
The GSA hopes a blockchain solution will help them reach a target time of 10 days for processing incoming proposals from vendors, which currently takes 40 days
The direct costs of analyzing a proposal could be reduced by almost 80%, according to a GSA official who recently made the claimTo further demonstrate how blockchain solutions could improve efficiency, consider the federal government’s ongoing difficulty in reconciling intragovernmental transfers
Trillions of dollars in unreconciled funds are present in the federal budget at any given time
Budget uncertainty is caused by the time-consuming, expensive, and difficult process of reconciling these funds
A blockchain-based payment and accounting system could offer a permanent audit trail and speed up reconciliation
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DISCLOSURE:
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