Where is India on the stage of Blockchain Adoption?

“Blockchain is absolutely here to stay. If you can’t see that at this point, it’s time to learn more about it.”

― Joel McLeod

Governments worldwide are hurrying to leverage blockchain technology for reasons like cybersecurity, process optimization, and integrate hyper-connected services, all while reinforcing trust and accountability. Using distributed ledger solutions, governments can facilitate multiple public sector applications, such as land registrations, identity management, digital currency/payments, supply chain management & traceability, Insurtech, and the list.

Purely for comparable comparison, we are only going to use initiatives from some of the more prominent blockchain using countries. By listing out some of the highlights across all these countries, we will be able to gauge how much of a difference is there between India and the rest of the world in terms of using blockchain.

China

As China has over 500 reported blockchain projects registered, many being government-led,

So we are only going to stick to honorable mentions.

• Led by the State Information Center, the Blockchain Service Network (BSN) is poised to launch for domestic, commercial use to help companies and software developers to plug into the BSN and build blockchain-based applications as quickly as assembling Lego sets.
• They have an online platform based on blockchain, big data, and other high-tech traces and manages the lifecycle of the trees.
• The Management Committee of Xiong’an New District officially announced the introduction of blockchain technology in government managed to establish a clean, transparent, and efficient government through comprehensive supervision.
• The State Information Center, Union Pay, China Mobile, and three other organizations launched the Blockchain Services Network (BSN), a nationwide blockchain infrastructure project envisioned as the “Android or Apple’s IOS system” for the blockchain.
• Blockchain technology appeared in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan for the development of information technology.

United States

• The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is creating a blockchain-based platform to transmit secure messages or process transactions that can be traced through numerous channels. The application will be used in different to facilitate communication between units and headquarters and transmitting information between intelligence officers and the Pentagon.
• The Naval Air Systems’ Fleet Readiness Center is working on a permissioned blockchain prototype to track aviation parts throughout their life cycles.
• The U.S. Air Force implemented the Blockchain Approach for Supply Chain Additive Manufacturing Parts (BASECAMP) project to secure long value chains with distributed ledger technology.
• The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) invested $49 million to build A.I. and blockchain solutions to reduce operational backlog and costs.
• The Blockchain Trust Accelerator (BTA) at New America launched a two-year collaborative endeavor to pilot a blockchain-powered system to track factory workers’ health and well-being.
• The United States Postal Service (USPS) filed a patent to incorporate blockchain technology and digital certificates to authenticate user information.
• The Department of Homeland Security issued a series of grants to explore innovative solutions that utilize blockchain technology to secure digital identity management.
• The Food and Drug Administration(FDA) launched a pilot project that explores the utility of blockchain in the secure tracking and verification of prescription drugs.

United Kingdom

• In partnership with ConsenSys Codefi, Her Majesty’s Land Registry set up a digital asset management platform to explore the potential of blockchain technology in the U.K. real estate industry.
• The U.K.’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) completed a pilot to track meat distribution in a cattle slaughterhouse using blockchain. This trial marked the first time that blockchain technology has been used as a regulatory tool to ensure compliance in the food industry.
• The largest port operator in the United Kingdom, Associated British Ports (ABP), is testing the use of blockchain to facilitate trade through its marine terminals.

Australia

• Australia’s Commonwealth Bank issued a crypto bond for Queensland Treasury Corporation.
• The Morrison government-backed Australia’s national blockchain strategy and roadmap, with a boost of AU$100,000 in funding.
• Queensland government awarded $100,000 in funding to install a cryptocurrency point-of-sale system in dozens of local companies in the City of Bundaberg.
• Australian government cloud infrastructure provider AUCloud integrated a blockchain-based O.S. into their SaaS. The AUCloud platform is currently used by major Australian government departments, including the Defense Department.
• The South Australian government conducted an official election using a blockchain-based voting system.
• Australia’s Perth Mint launched a gold-backed Ethereum token guaranteed by the government of Western Australia.

And, finally, let’s look at some highlights of how India is doing.

India

• The Maharashtra Government and the Dept. of Revenue partnered with an open-source hybrid blockchain platform to complete a proof of concept for land records.
• Agtech startup Agri10x is working with the Indian Govt to better connect small-scale farmers to global buyers by using blockchain to cut out the middleman.
• The UP government is using Power Ledger, a Peer-to-peer solar power trading project between government buildings with solar rooftops in Lucknow.
• T-Block, an Indian government-led blockchain accelerator program by the State Government of Telangana and Tech Mahindra, has partnered with blockchain companies Matic Network, Harmony, and Aeternity to support the growth of blockchain startups across the state.
• Like other more prominent blockchain using countries, many initiatives are progressing in India. However, we are still progressing at a much slower pace than the rest of the competition. Implementation of Blockchain-based services from a government level is one of the fastest ways of providing services that directly impact the people of India.

As a company, we have been working towards adding value to India’s blockchain ecosystem by contributing not only through our enterprise solutions work but also through our learning and development division. We have built platforms to accommodate multiple use cases and deliver our solutions through robust partnerships with industry leaders.

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This is a post in our on Medium blog, ‘Blockchain for Everyone’.

Sign up here to discuss any use cases. Thanks to Rohit Taneja for reflections and feedback.

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