Blockchain makes cities smarter and more innovative

This article takes stock of the smart city applications of blockchain from eight major areas: health, education, public safety, agriculture, civil registration, national defense, government affairs, and energy.

Blockchain is not a one-stop solution to all problems in data and asset transactions. It cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution for digital use cases. You must understand blockchain and its properties and identify targeted solutions. Only when three or more of the following five criteria are met can the project be considered to need blockchain technology (not all digital transactions need to use it):

1. There is a need for multiple parties to update data, that is, when the operations performed by multiple parties need to be recorded.
2. There is a need for verification, i.e. when it is necessary to build trust between parties and make them understand that their actions are being recorded.
3. The project requires one or more intermediaries, which adds cost and complexity.
4. Transactions are time-sensitive, meaning that any delay will have an impact on the business.
5. Transactions require interaction, i.e. items are created by multiple participants and depend on their interaction.

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Global Blockchain Initiative

The Internet has had a huge impact on the public sector: the government's need to store important information (public records) has shifted from physical to digital carriers, creating information and communication technology (ICT) platforms to connect people in various regions, and transforming manual services into efficient digital services. Blockchain technology, as a new type of "value Internet", may have a transformative impact on government services and functions, just like Internet technology.

How countries are using blockchain to change public affairs

Currently, countries such as Estonia, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom have taken the lead in applying blockchain in government and public sectors.

Dubai recently pledged to move all government transactions to blockchain by 2020, which is expected to save nearly 100 million pages of paperwork, 25.1 million hours of work, and 411 million kilometers of citizen travel each year.

Many states in India are also discussing the application of blockchain, such as Andhra Pradesh’s collaboration with Swedish company ChromaWay on blockchain-based citizen data, while also exploring its applications in smart cities, transportation and other fields.

The following are the possibilities for blockchain technology to be applied in eight areas:

1. Health

The digitization of health records has had a significant impact on public health departments, but centralization, complexity, and ethical issues pose challenges. Blockchain technology can create a secure and flexible electronic health record (EHR), thereby subverting existing public health management. This technology can also create key sources of drugs, blood, and organs to make public health more transparent. In addition, by putting all medical licenses on the blockchain, fake doctors can be prevented.

2. Education

Student records, faculty records, educational certificates, etc. are important assets in the education sector. These records need to be shared with multiple stakeholders and need to be ensured to be trustworthy. In fact, these records can be maintained through the application of blockchain technology, which can also simplify certificate authentication and verification. It can even lead to a more inclusive approach to education by bringing basic uniformity in tracking national indicators.

3. Public safety and justice

Blockchain can make the delivery of public safety more efficient by providing a unified source of truth to solve the coordination problem between departments, with each department assigned an independent interface with predefined conditions. Establishing a key evidence chain of custody is often an important prerequisite for evidence to be accepted, and blockchain technology can help establish the source of the chain of custody of such evidence.

4. Agriculture

Blockchain technology can achieve supply chain tracking from farmers to consumers, that is, reliable sources and traceability, improve transparency, and reduce the complexity and cost of the food value chain. Other possible blockchain applications include recording and managing agricultural land, agricultural insurance, etc.

5. Civil registration

By applying blockchain technology, civil registration procedures can be simplified, a distributed citizen registration platform can be created, and even major events such as birth and death can be registered. This can help citizens keep records tamper-proof, resilient, secure, and private, thus providing a wide range of conveniences for all stakeholders.

6. National Defense

Information about defense infrastructure and computer systems is critical to national security. For this reason, defense information is often distributed across different locations to prevent unauthorized access and modification. Blockchain technology can provide consensus-based access to modify data and distribute access rights across multiple system resources such as networks, data centers, and hardware devices.

7. Government Affairs

Government departments have interdependent functions, but they operate independently, which affects the availability of services and worsens the experience of citizens. Blockchain technology can be used to break down information silos, check government corruption (if any), and improve efficiency and transparency. Linking files and data movement between departments through blockchain can improve process visibility and ensure that data/files are updated in real time.

8. Energy

Blockchain technology can be deployed in the electricity supply market, i.e. a transparent, hassle-free and efficient smart grid. Micro-generation through household power generation using solar energy supplements the traditional electricity supply and promotes the use of renewable energy. Using smart meters, the records of electricity produced and consumed by each user in the grid can be maintained in the blockchain, and the credits/currencies allocated to users are used for surplus electricity supply and exchanged for credits used for electricity consumption.

Blockchain is not just Bitcoin, it will also change these 8 major fields

• Smart city applications of blockchain (economy and employment, health, identity and culture, education, land use, housing, transportation, smart government, energy and waste management, public safety, urban citizen activity)
• Prioritization of blockchain initiatives (based on benefit/impact → complexity → government needs)

Smart cities can be seen as advanced modern urbanization, which uses existing technologies and planned infrastructure investments to provide residents with a higher quality of life, create a favorable investment environment for businesses, and maximize resource utilization and transparency for governments.

It can be thought of as the organic integration of IT infrastructure, physical infrastructure, and social and business infrastructure, where these systems work together to provide intelligent and actionable information to decision makers.

Blockchain can provide more secure, transparent and efficient solutions for smart cities. The following are potential use cases of blockchain for smart cities:

The convenience brought by blockchain to social economy/delivery

1. Citizen participation

Urban resident activity refers to the integration of citizen views to improve urban efficiency and vitality. Blockchain technology can be used in citizen loyalty reward and punishment platforms (recognizing and rewarding their contributions to smart city planning and development), local elections and legislative issues (enabling secure, anonymous and effective voting), and citizen satisfaction management/feedback (creating a trustworthy feedback and dissatisfaction email system).

2. Economy and employment

A smart city requires a strong, resilient economic foundation and growth strategy that increases employment opportunities for the majority of citizens. Blockchain technology can be used for local business registries (to effectively manage the life cycle and operation of local businesses), trade finance and logistics (to create sustainable value chains, reduce costs, increase transparency, and effectively leverage), and skills training/research learning certification (blockchain-based employment registries can increase transparency and trust).

3. Health

Smart cities provide healthcare services to all citizens. Blockchain technology can be used for electronic health records (providing citizens with a secure, flexible and trustworthy EHR that does not need to be carried), controlling key drugs (improving drug availability and avoiding abuse), medical staff registration (improving new doctors and patients, better medical practice and medical cooperation), visibility of the drug supply chain (especially for important drugs and organs), and processing insurance claims (smart contracts can be used to manage insurance claims, achieving irrefutable, fast response, and automation).

4. Identity and culture

The geographical location, climate, industrial layout, and cultural cuisine of a smart city are all its unique identity cards. Blockchain technology can be used for registration centers (only authorized institutions can provide services to maintain scenic spots), scenic spot tickets (ensuring the delivery of tickets to monuments and events, avoiding scalpers and second-hand tickets, etc.), and marginalized group management (providing group recognition and identity protection for groups such as AIDS patients and donors).

5. Education

Smart cities provide educational opportunities for all children. Blockchain technology can be used for comprehensive management of students (education record management to achieve literacy goals) and child welfare (grant management system for relevant children ensures transparent and efficient process).

6. Land use

Smart cities have a rich variety of land uses, including clustered offices, residences, and shops. Blockchain technology can be used for land and property registration and life cycle management (automated property registration based on blockchain can save time and eliminate costs), building design and construction qualification approval and review (covering all approvals, inspection reports and certifications).

7. Housing(Housing and inclusiveness)

Smart cities have enough housing for all income groups and promote social inclusion. Blockchain technology can be used for housing allocation (ensuring that houses are allocated to the right people).

8. Transportation

Residents of smart cities need more flexible and fulfilling transportation options. Blockchain technology can be used for car sharing (reducing private cars and thus promoting decentralized public transportation) and vehicle registries (providing life cycle records for vehicles to ensure that only qualified vehicles are driving on smart city roads).

9. Intelligent government services

Smart cities can easily facilitate interactions between citizens and the government (including online and telephone services). Blockchain technology can be used for resident ID cards (including biometrics and attributes such as health, education, and taxation) and civil registration (to improve citizen trust in issuance and reduce fraud).

10. Energy and waste management (Energy)

Smart cities mean uninterrupted power supply all day, all week (24/7) and more environmentally friendly and efficient energy and resource applications. Blockchain technology can be used for smart meters (planning electricity and implementing real-time differential pricing models), renewable energy (power distribution based on micro-distributed renewable energy generation points), energy taxes/subsidies (using billing systems to encourage residents to invest in renewable energy), electric vehicles (optimizing charging point distribution), water distribution networks (automating water supply management to avoid water waste), emission management based on corporate reputation (verifiable and transparent corporate reputation management system, regular tracking of emissions), and waste management combined with blockchain and the Internet of Things (providing more efficient and better products).

11. Safety

The public safety index of smart cities is very high, protecting women, children, and the elderly, and men and women of all ages feel safe on the streets. Blockchain technology can be used for criminal behavior records (providing the court with a clear chain of criminal evidence, reducing evidence disputes, handling cases faster, and reducing the burden on law enforcement agencies), evidence and case management (all relevant evidence of the case can be registered on a blockchain, minimizing the tampering of evidence), and information security (using distribution to eliminate the risk of single point failure, providing end-to-end privacy encryption, and ensuring user convenience).