The emerging scope of Blockchain in public record-keeping and management is gaining currency; it can deliver large-scale benefits of transparency, accountability, immutability to public offices, institutes, corporates, and people at large.  

Key Highlights:

1.     Blockchain technology in record keeping

2.     Scope of Blockchain in record keeping

3.     Countries using Blockchain for record keeping & management

4.     Use cases of Blockchain in record keeping

5.     Blockchain solution providers

As industry interests around Blockchain technology continue to grow, explorations open up new horizons where this emerging technology can be utilized to make operational procedures secure, transparent, reliable and effective. Record-Keeping and Management with Blockchain is one of the initiatives that are being experimented with to make record keeping secure, authentic, cost-effective, and efficient.

 Why Blockchain in Record Keeping?

Blockchain is a decentralised and distributed ledger that records the provenance of a digital asset making the system transparent and accountable to all the entities connected to the network. Blockchain is used to create and store a cryptographic hash that serves as a data reference check against a record, its workflow and signatures. If any of the aforementioned is changed, the hash no longer works and thus Blockchain promises integrity in record keeping. 

The linking of Blockchain certification to public records also provides additional trust and transparency in government processes. Digital licenses that are backed by the Blockchain are more readily transferred across boundaries and can be validated independently of the agency which issued them.

It is being observed that countries and industries are implementing Blockchain-based solutions to target specific challenges of record-keeping and enhance the capabilities of the existing system. Governments across the globe are at different levels of Blockchain maturity, for instance, Estonia leads the way with digital identities and licenses backed by Blockchain. Dubai also hopes to become the first city fully powered by Blockchain soon. The US Department of Homeland Security is looking to Blockchain to issue digital documentation and prevent counterfeiting.

Use cases of Blockchain in Record-Keeping & Management

Civil Certification:  Government bodies, institutes, and offices face huge discrepancies due to forged and duplicate certificates. Through Decentralised Civil Certification, all the certificates like Birth, Domicile, Caste, Marriage, Death certificates can be duly authenticated and can be stored in a blockchain network so that the records can become immutable. It will guide Regulatory Transparency, Trusted timestamping and Auditablity in public records management.

Education Certification: Certificates are a life-long asset for a student, these must be stored in platforms from where they can be conveniently used and at the same time they must be secure so that they cannot be misused by others.
Blockchain-based solutions can provide platforms to validate the authenticity of such documents by making them tamper-proof, immutable, durable, and cost-effective if maintained on the BCT network; moreover, it can securely increase the interoperability of credentials.   

HR Management: Hiring of employees is a long and tedious task, validation of the documents and credential submitted asks for extra caution due to persistent frauds and duplicity in certification.
Blockchain-based Digital Signatures will certify the authenticity of such documents by eliminating misrepresentation, undue cost and time. Verifying previous job history, running background checks, and accessing data will be easy and secure.   

Heritage History Management: With Secure, tamper-proof record and Times Stamping Blockchain can make record one single source of truth. Blockchain enables trusted governed data. It integrates this data across broad networks. It prevents duplication and provides data lineage.

File Storage and Sharing: Data is always prone to vulnerabilities of hacking, particularly today when data is the most valuable asset. With Blockchain, data can be shared and stored in an encrypted manner eliminating the chances of data theft and the high cost of maintaining them. Blockchain is a difficult system to hack, heightens security and privacy, and makes the data tamper-proof.

Corporate Data Storage: Business organisations generate, process, shares, and stores a huge amount of critical data, this data calls for high-security, Blockchain solutions can ensure data ownership to corporates with a customised framework to provide ownership as per necessities. An infrastructure built on Blockchain network will make the complete system transparent, accountable, and easy to audit.

 Blockchain-based records keeping and management would prevent duplicacy, frauds in issuance of various types of documents, ID cards and largely stop such activities. Synchronizing record keeping with Blockchain would not necessarily eliminate all fraudulent activities happening in and around record-keeping, but it would as proven would stop forgeries in record-keeping to a large extent. 

Blockchain technology is one of the secure platforms for securing, storing, and sharing records. It has immense scope for eliminating the existing challenges and transforms the record-keeping management, Blockcube.   

Blockcube caters to the emerging technological needs of various industries and provides them with solutions that can enhance their operational ecosystem. Blockcube provides innovative blockchain-based solutions to industries to manage their records robustly.

Blockcube is providing solutions to existing challenges of civil certification, education certification, HR management, file storage & sharing, corporate data storage, heritage history management, and more. Blockcube is open for blockchain-based consulting and PoC development on other domains and industry-specific needs.