The Korean Government is Working on a Blockchain-Based Voting System
Blockchain technology has often been praised for its potential in aiding the creation of smart e-voting systems, usable for both the public and private sectors. It seems like the South Korean Ministry of Science is well-aware of this, hence it has chosen to partner up with ICT for the creation of a blockchain-based voting system.
The platform, which will be designed for the private sector, is already in-works, and beta testing will like start sometime in December. It’s important to keep in mind that the South Korean private sector already had a voting system named K-voting, used by millions of people. Despite this aspect, its users are mostly unhappy with the system due to increased fraud and hacking concerns.
As such, the new platform will leverage blockchain technology for user authentication and data storage purposes. Via the public ledger, transparency, immutability and security will be easily sustainable.
Initially, the system will be made available to the Seoul National University and the Korean Internet & Security Agency, which will both use the voting platform to record results to online surveys. Further on, the blockchain voting platform will be usable by various companies in the private sector. If testing is successful, the National Election Commission (NEC) may choose to utilize the system to facilitate online voting in national and local elections.
The NEC has also mentioned that it will later upgrade the system, by adding several features, such as artificial intelligence, big data and Internet-of-Things tech. However, it hasn’t yet explained how the upgrades will benefit the system, or what their purpose is.
It is believed that the development of the blockchain-based voting platform is sponsored by the country’s $90 million blockchain fund that aims to encourage innovation, and finance blockchain-related start-ups.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, it is inspiring to see that South Korea has chosen to reconsider its attitude towards blockchain technology and digital currencies. For those who do not know, several months ago, the crypto space was surrounded by controversy, as the government reportedly planned to ban crypto trading, and distance itself from this market. Luckily, this hasn’t happened, and the blockchain market in South Korea is booming.