Governments can reduce time, cost & risk in regulatory compliance, voting transparency, identity management and citizen services.

Budgetary pressures arising from economic stagnation and aging populations have severely constrained resources government resources, including the ability to access and analyse data to create greater economic value. By facilitating the secure sharing of data between institutions and individuals, blockchain technology can help relieve those pressures.

Governments also hold and are responsible for securing enormous amounts of personal data — voting records, tax information, and property details. Securing data and protecting against cyber hacks is one of the core values of blockchain technology. But security isn’t enough. Transactions occur and records change. The blockchain allows governments to create irrefutable logs all parties can trust.

The ability to verify transactions, track funds, and create a single source of truth is driving the public sector toward blockchain technology to cut waste and stop corruption. Decentralization also removes single points of failure and makes it harder for bad actors to obtain valuable information or interrupt valuable services.

Spending money with accountability is a classic challenge that governments face. One study found a third of government assets were tied to federal entities unable to issue audited statements. This lack of accountability leads to misuse of funds. The distributed ledger creates a public record that is traceable and transparent.

The U.S. government, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, spends $18.4 billion annually on administrative costs. Some charitable organizations spend as much as 35 percent of funds on administration. What public good is possible if less money is spent on the maintenance of files and more on real programs? With blockchain, the public sector gains irrefutable traceability and removes human error.

The following are some of the many immediate benefits that scalable Blockchain technology can bring to supply chain partners across the globe:

1. Public Health & Safety: We’ve talked about the benefits of blockchain in healthcare and how it can help modernize supply chains. These same principles apply to public health. Imagine more efficient aid distribution, digital birth certificates and vaccination records, and undisputed voter registries. Blockchain technology is a tool that can help build trust via consensus, then efficiently deliver immutable information to citizens..
2. Education: Much like with health records, the blockchain allows students to own and transfer personal records between institutions, maintaining their academic identity. Similarly, the qualifications of a teacher, established and verified by a board in one state, can be shared across systems. Grants and loans may be accurately allocated, then monitored and made accountable, as a distributed ledger brings traceability to our school systems.
3. Tax & Customs: Blockchain-powered tax documents give authorities and collectors a shared source of truth, while citizens get a simply accessible log of their financial history. How many fraudsters might the government foil if rebates always landed in the correct account? In one year alone, the government sent $30 billion dollars in rebates to scammers—then deployed agents to reclaim every wrong check. Ledgered payments create accountability—accountability that in a globalized world works across borders and along generations..
4. A Common Verifiable Truth of Ownership: Proof of ownership is a key function of government. Deeds, documentation, and historical transactions used to be paper artifacts. Digital copies are easier to store, but introduce points of failure. Moving proof of ownership and financial transactions to the blockchain allows the government to create and share vital records with discretion. Unemployment benefits distributed via the blockchain may eliminate waste and abuse. Patents can be issued and shared. The list goes on.