The blockchain is not only influencing the decision-making processes in governments but also has the potential to change the voting mechanism.
The numerous application of the blockchain makes its adoption by governments across the globe inevitable. The governments are using the blockchain technology in the tax department, motor registry, land and titles, business registration and registration of births, deaths and marriages. There are yet other horizons to explore versatile applications of the blockchain technology.
The USA – Blockchain has gained regional success and acceptance in the USA, but there still lie hurdles in implementation of blockchain in the larger USA.
The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, in its report, stated that the regulatory responses to emerging technologies, and to the blockchain, in particular, range from excitement to suspicion to indifference.
In June 2015, the New York state became the first state in the U.S. to regulate virtual currency companies through state agency rulemaking, although it did not enact state-wide legislation to recognize blockchain for record-keeping purposes.
2017 saw more than 8 U.S. states work on bills accepting or promoting the use of Bitcoin and blockchain technology, while a couple of them have already passed them into law.
The most significant developments for blockchain’s regulation and implementation in the U.S. occurred in Arizona (recognition of smart contracts), Vermont (blockchain as evidence), and Chicago (real estate records).
May 2018, witnessed the historic regulation in the Delaware House that allows registration of businesses and trading on blockchain platforms. In light of the bill, Delaware State awarded IBM the contract to design the Distributed ledger. To ensure cooperates enlisted in the state enjoy smart contracts, the state is all set to launch a proof of stake concept.
The UK – On August 3rd, 2016, UK’s Government, launched an application Blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) up for purchase which was used for paying welfare checks and disbursing student loans. The platform can be bought by any government agency in the UK, and then it can build services and deploy to the general public.
Switzerland – On November 15th, 2017, the government of Zug province of Switzerland launched the issuance of digital IDs based on ETH. The involvements in the blockchain world have earned Switzerland the status of ‘cryptovalley’.
Australia -The Queensland state in Australia has been using blockchain efficiently to boost tourism. The government has granted TravelbyBit, a start-up to lead the act by allowing easy payments of services and good through crypto.
The Queensland Innovation Minister Kate Jones said in his statement, “Tourism is one of Queensland’s most important industries. TravelByBit has devised a clever way to make it easier for visitors to our state to pay for their purchases with a growing number of local businesses accepting cryptocurrency payments.”
The state has even allocated AUD $100,000 to TravelByBit for capacity improvement and expansion within the state.
Dubai – The UAE government has a long-term relationship with the blockchain. It has laid an objective of being the capital for blockchain technologies and has plans to implement blockchain use cases in all government departments.
In conciliation with the Global Blockchain Council, the Dubai government plans to roll out blockchain supported initiatives in this year. The projects will be in cooperated in many government departments like:
• Education
• Energy
• Healthcare
• Road and Transport
The government of Dubai has already partnered with IBM in the trade and logistics field to give a boost to its ambitious project.
European Union – The European Union has been very positive towards transformations due to the blockchain. It has been encouraging the exploration of use cases to test impact and laws and giving entrepreneurs’ confidence that their “approved” applications will be more trusted by their target markets.
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