智慧城市的人工智能和区块链

ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCEANDBLOCKCHAINFORSMARTCITY

SabinaKAUF

InstytutNaukoZarządzaniuiJakości,UniwersytetOpolski,Poland;

skauf@uni.opole.pl,

ORCID:0000-0002-5978-4490

Introduction/background:Inthisarticle,wewanttofocusontwoveryimportantaspectsofaSmartCity,whichistheuseofartificialintelligenceandBlockchaininthefunctioningofcities.

Aimofthepaper:Theaimofthearticleistoassessthepossibilitiesofusingthosetechnologiesimplementationofpublictasksandineverydaycontactsofthepublicsectorwithstakeholders.Materialsandmethods:ThearticleistheoreticalandisbasedonareviewoftheliteratureandexamplesintheimplementationofArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchaintechnologyinasmartcity.

Resultsandconclusions:ArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchainhavegreatpotentialtosupportthedevelopmentofsmartcity.ThedisseminationofthesetechnologiesisindicatedbytheGartnercurveforDigitalGovernmentTechnology.AI(AutonomusVehicles)andBlockchainarethemostimpacttechnologiesongovernmentorganizationsoverthenext5to10yearsAIandBlockchaincanprovidesignificantbenefitstomanyareasofthecity'sfunctioning:itisahugedatabaseforcollectingandanalyzing.Blockchainconsensusmethodsallowgreatertransparencyandlesssusceptibilitytomanipulation,theyincreasethetendencyofstakeholderstoparticipateandintensifysocialinitiatives.

Keywords:smartcity,artificialintelligence,blockchain.

Introduction

Smartcityaretechnologicallyadvancedcitieswhereintelligentsubsystemsconnectpeopleandorganizations.Thesecitiesareabletouselargedatasetstoofferstakeholdersreal-timeaccesstohigh-qualitypublicservicesandthusimprovethequalityoflifeinthecity.Economicgrowthissupportedbyinformationandcommunicationtechnologies.Theynotonlyimprovecitymanagement,butalso(andmaybeaboveall)stimulatedsocialparticipationandthesharingidea(Kitchin,2015).Smartcitiesareoftencalleddigitalcitiesbasedonnewtechnologies,whereICTsolutions,internetofthings,bigdata,cloudcomputingandIndustry4.0becomereality(Washburnetal.,2010;Albinoetal.,2015;Klein,Kaefer,2008).Omnipresentsensorsarechangingthewayofmovementinurbanspace,increasesafetyandallowthecollectionof

ScientificQuarterly“OrganizationandManagement”,2021,Vol.3,No.55;DOI:10.29119/1899-6116.2021.55.4

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largedatasetsthatcanbeanalysedusingArtificialIntelligence(AI)algorithms.Theyallowthecitytocommunicatewithitsowninfrastructure,monitorthemovementofitsresidentsandrespondtoit.Asaresult,thecity'sconditionscanbeoptimized.AIhasbeendesignedtoefficientlycollect,analyseandcorrectlyinterpretdataandrespondtoitwithoutanyhumaninteraction.AlthoughArtificialIntelligenceisfarfromindependencefornow,butitcanlearnandconstantlyimproveitsactivitiesbycollectingandanalysingnewdatathatrequiresappropriatestorageandtransmission.Blockchaintechnologyishelpfulinthisregard,asitsdistributedregistryarchitecturemeansthatdataisstoredsimultaneouslyonallnetworknodes.Thisallowsforcompletedecentralizationofdata,makingaccesstothemmoreefficientandmore"democratic".

Overthepast10years,ArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchainhavebecometechnologiesthatpromisesignificantandevenground-breakinginnovations.Theideaofcombiningthesetwotechnologiesincreatingasmartcityisparticularlyintriguing.Itengagesintelligenthumancapital(Shapiro,2006;Giffingeret.al.,2007;Lombardietal.,2012),becauseonlypeopleareabletocreateanduseintelligentsolutionsforthebenefitofthegeneralpublic.Italsoindicatestheneedtodevelopsmartgovernance,whosetaskistocreatetheenvironmentofcooperationandcreationofconditionsforparticipatoryperformanceofpublictasks.

Accordingtoforecasts,thepotentialbenefitsofcombiningArtificialIntelligencewithBlockchaincanbecountedinbillionsinthenearfuture.Thesetwotechnologiescandevelopseparately,buttogethertheyhavebiggerpotential.Ascomplementarytechnologies,theycanprovidesignificantbenefitsforallareasofsmartcity,fromBigDataanalyzes,throughhealthcareandfinancialservices,tosocialparticipationandpublic-privatepartnership.Blockchainoffersartificialintelligenceahugedatabaseforcollectingandanalysingdatathatremainssafeandunchangeableevenincaseoffailure.Blockchainconsensusmethodsallowgreatertransparencyofrelationsbetweenstakeholders.Theyalsoguaranteetheconfidentialityofdatatransferswithoutcompromisingprivacyandsecurity,andlesssusceptibletomanipulation.

Giventheabove,thepurposeofthisarticleistopresenttheroleandsignificanceofArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchainincreatingofsmartcity(Fig.1).ThefirstpartpresentstheconceptofsmartcityfromtheperspectiveofICTtechnologydevelopment,whichgaveimpetustothedevelopmentofArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchain.InthesecondpartAIfunctionalitiessupportingthecreationofsmartcitywillbepresented.Subsequently,thepotentialofBlockchaintechnologyanditsareasofapplicationinsmartcitywaspointedout.ThesummarypresentstheproblemsthatAIandBlockchaincansolveandthechallengesthatintegrationofbothtechnologiesface.

ArtificialIntelligence

Blockchain

support

Smartcity

Figure1.AIandBlockchainaselementssupportingSmartCitydevelopment.Source:ownwork.

Literaturereview–smartcityinthecontextofICTTechnologies

Althoughtheconceptof"smartcity"isbecomingmoreandmorepopular,thusagenerallyaccepteddefinitionhasnotyetdeveloped.Analysisoftheliteratureinthisareaallowstodistinguishtwodescriptionways:1.citybasedonICT(Hollands,2008;Komninos,2008),

2.anewparadigminthecity'sdevelopment,wherethekeyroleisplayedbyhumanandsocialcapital,educationandtheenvironment(Neirotti,DeMarco,2014;Giffinger,Fertneretal.,2007;Lombardi,Giordanoetal.,2012;Caragliu,DelBo,Nijkamp,2009).Thetechnologicalsmartcitytrendisreflected,amongothersinthedefinitionofT.Bakici,E.Almiralland

J.Wareham(2013),accordingtowhich„smartcityasahigh-techintensiveandadvancedcitythatconnectspeople,informationandcityelementsusingnewtechnologiesinordertocreateasustainable,greenercity,competitiveandinnovativecommerce,andanincreasedlifequality”.Similarly,IBMdefinesasmartcity:„Acityisaninterconnectedsystemofsystems.Adynamicworkinprogress,withprogressasitswatchword.Atripod[infrastructure,operations,people]thatreliesonstrongsupportforandamongeachofitspillars,tobecomeasmartercityforall”(IBM,2015).Thisdefinitionincludesthreekeyfeaturesofsmartcity:

instrumentedi.e.thepresenceofICTsolutionsinthecity(sensors,mobiledevices),

connected,i.e.theavailabilityofconnectionsbetweentherealandvirtualworld,usinginstrumentationand(3)intelligent,meaningtheabilitytousenewtechnologiesinthecity'sdevelopmentprocess(Harrison,Eckman,Hamilton,Hartswick,Kalagnanam,ParaszczakandWilliams,2010).

Proponentsofthisapproachsaythatcitieswillbeonthevergeofarevolutionarybreakthroughandwillbecomecitiesofdreams.Eachsphereoflifewillbedigitized,andapplications,algorithmsandartificialintelligencewillreducecongestion,preventcrimeandcreatefreepublicservices(Giffinger,Fertneretal.,2012).Butwillitreallybelikethat?Isthereconfigurationofthecityintotechnologicalproblemsenoughtomakeusfeelgoodinthecity?Probablynot.

Thereconstructionofthebasicsofurbanlifeandcitymanagementtakingintoaccountonlythetechnologicalperspectivewillratherleadtothefactthatcitieswillbesuperficiallyintelligent,anddeeplyfullofinjusticesandinequalities.Thatiswhyinlocalgovernmentpracticeandscientificdiscourse,thesecondtrendofunderstandingsmartcity,whichgoesfarbeyonditstechnocraticperception,increasinglydominates.Inthisapproach,technologicalsolutionsonlysupportsmartcity.Thankstothem,itiseasiertocombineinformationandpoliticalvisionintoacoherentprogramofimprovingthecityanditsservices.Newtechnologiesareaninstrumentforcreatingcitiesthatareabletocombinephysicalandsocialcapital,providebetterservicesandgoodqualityinfrastructure.Thisapproachisreflectedinthedefinitionsof

A.Caragliu,Ch.DelBoandP.Nijkamp(2011),whowrite:“Webelieveacitytobesmartwheninvestmentsinhumanandsocialcapitalandtraditional(transport)andmodern(ICT)communicationinfrastructurefuelsustainableeconomicgrowthandahighqualityoflife,withawisemanagementofnaturalresources,throughparticipatorygovernance”.AlsoN.Komninos(2008),whowrite„(Smart)citiesasterritorieswithhighcapacityforlearningandinnovation,whichisbuilt-inthecreativityoftheirpopulation,theirinstitutionsofknowledgecreation,andtheirdigitalinfrastructureforcommunicationandknowledgemanagement”1.Fromtheperspectiveoftheconsiderationsinthisstudy,thisapproachtosmartcityseemsthemostjustified.Itcombinesthesocialandeconomicdimension,takesintoaccounttheneedtodevelopthecitywhilemaintainingtheprinciplesofsustainabledevelopment.

InthecontextofusingICT,smartcitycanbedefinedas“informationtechnologycombinedwithinfrastructure,architecture,everydayobjects,andevenourbodiestoaddresssocial,economic,andenvironmentalproblems”(Towsend,2013).AsmartcityisdefinedasacityinwhichICTismergedwithclassicinfrastructures,coordinatedandintegratedusingnewdigitaltechnologies(Batty,Axhausenetal.,2012).MitchellM.definessmartcityas“intelligencebasedontheincreasinglyeffectivecombinationofdigitaltelecommunicationnetworks(thenerves),ubiquitouslyembeddedintelligence(thebrains),sensorsandtags(thesensoryorgans),andsoftware(theknowledgeandcognitivecompetence)”(Mitchell,2007).Thisdoesnotexistinisolationfromotherurbansystemsorconnectedtothemonlythroughhumanintermediaries.

1Awiderreviewofthedefinitionofsmartcitypresents:(Albino,Berardi,Dangelico,2015).

ThankstotheuseofICT,allelementsofthecity(economy,transport,living,management,education,medicine)canbecomesmarter;canimprovethefunctioningofexistinginfrastructureandchangetheapproachtoplanningandurbandesign.CreatingasmartcityusingArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchainwillsolvesomeofthecity'sproblems,e.g.,intermsofenergyefficiency,reducingthearduousnessofproductionprocessesfortheurbanenvironment,makingbetteruseofcityresources,regulatingcongestionthroughanintelligenttransportnetwork,increasingthescopeofsocialparticipationandtransparencybetweenstakeholdersprovidingpublicservices.

ArtificialIntelligenceofthefutureofsmartcity

Artificialintelligenceisafieldofcomputersciencethatdealswiththecreationofintelligentdevicesandmachinesthatwillhavetheabilitytorespondjustlikehuman.Althoughitshistorydatesbacktothe50softhelastcenturies(McCarthy,Minsky,Rochester,Shannon,2006;Kar,Dash,2018),itwasonlytheprogressindesigningcomputingpowertostoreandprocesslargedatasetsandthepotentialoftheInternetallowedAItobecomeoneofthemostpowerfultechnologiesofthecentury.Inartificialintelligence,so-calledmachinelearningplaysanimportantrole,becauseitisthebasisforthedevelopmentoflearningsystems.Itisthankstothemthatrationalandlogicalreasoningofmachinesthatareabletoadapttochangingsituationsispossible.Importantly,thedevelopmentofartificialintelligenceisparalleltothedevelopmentofcognitivescience,i.e.,researchonintelligenceandthefunctioningofthehumanbrain.Thisallowstoexplorethepossibilitiesofcomputer-humancooperation.Moderncomputers,likethehumanbrain,relyonneuralnetworksthatdealwiththeenormityofdata,skillfullytransformingit.Forthisreason,theyusemachinelearning,imagerecognitionandnaturallanguageprocessing.Thus,machinesequippedwiththeAIplatform2areabletocollectinformationfromtheenvironmentandusinglogicidentifyactionswiththehighestprobabilityofsuccess(Mnih,Kavukcuogluetal.,2015;Bughin,Hzanetal.,2017).

ArtificialIntelligencefindsapplicationinmanyareasoflife,includingincreasinglyinsmartcity,determiningitsdevelopmentinallfunctionalareas(smarteconomy,smartmobility,smartenvironment,smartpeople,smartliving,smartgovernance).ExamplesofsmartcitysupportbyartificialintelligencealgorithmsispresentedinTable1.TheuseofAIiskeyfromthepointofviewofstrivingforsustainableurbandevelopment.ThankstoAIapplicationsitispossibletooptimizethecitysystem,e.g.,bymonitoringenergyconsumption(Adio-Moses,Asaolu,2016)orcreatingefficientandintelligenttransportsystems(Agarwaetal.,2016).Infrastructuresolutionsarealreadyemergingthatarecapableofintroducingautomated

2ExamplesareNetflixandAmazon,whichuseAItopersonalizerecommendationsformillionsofsubscribersaroundtheworld.

operationofurbansystems.ThankstoAIplatformsitwillbepossibletointroduceautonomouscarstothestreets,trackthelevelofairpollution,aswellasmoreefficientandeasiermanagementoftheurbanlightingsystem.Argawaetal.(2015)emphasizethatAIisnotonlyasolutionthatfacilitatesthedesignofurbansystems,alongwiththeschedulingofthecity'stransportorenergysystembutcanalsobeusedtooptimizeflows.ArtificialIntelligencewillallowthepredictionofroadconditionsandcongestions,generatereportsinrealtimeonaccidentsandotherroadincidents.Thismakesiteasiertotakeroutinedecisionsinthefieldofcontrolandincreasetrafficflow,especiallyinthoseareasofthecitythatareindangerofcongestion.

Table1.

ExamplesofsmartcitysupportbyArtificialIntelligenceAlgorithms

Smartcitydimensions

ExamplesofAIpossibilities

Smarteconomy

Optimizationofcityinfrastructure,energyandwatersaving,editingofbuilding

maintenancecosts,sharingeconomy

Smartmobility

Autonomousvehicles,predictionoftrafficparameters,trafficlightcontrol,

Informationaboutfreeparkingspaces,reductionofexternaltransportcosts,reductionofcongestion

Smartenvironment

pollutionreduction,reductionofwaterandenergyconsumption,smartbins

Smartpeople

CreateArtificiaIntelligence,participationinthepubliclife

Smartliving

Smartbuildings,intelligenthealthcare,preventionofhospitalization,virtual

assistance,crimeprevention,increasingresidents'safety

Smartgovernance

Participateindecisionmaking,public-private-partnership,Chatbotsandautomatic

replies,e-consultations,crowdfunding

Source:ownwork.

ThankstoAI,trafficmanagementsystemsinthecitywilltransformfromstatictodynamicsystems.Theywillallowtoadapttocurrentconditionsinrealtime,takingintoaccountdifferenttypesoftransport.TheintroductionofArtificialIntelligencetoe.g.,atrafficlightcontrolsystemandbuildingaplatformforprocessinginteractivedatawillallowmonitoringandpredictingtrafficbehaviour.Itwillalsodevelopcommunicationplansfordifferentscenarios,allowingforasmoothadaptationtochangingconditions.AIcanalsobeabasisforthedevelopmentofnewsystemsofcooperationforfleetoperatorsandmanagementofcities,enablinge.g.sharinginformationinrealtimeabouttrafficcongestionorairpollution.Asaresult,thesystemwillpreventbuild-upofproblemsbeforetheyoccur.AmodeloftrafficmanagementusingAIbasedonneuralnetworkspreparesdecisionsbasedonthereceivedinputdataandselectsthemostappropriatesolutionforthetrafficsituation(Fig.2).Moreover,trafficmanagementsystemsbasedonAIcancreatetimeplansforintersections,reducingthephenomenonofcongestionproblemsandsuggestalternativeroutes(DeOliviera,Neto,2013).Theycanevenplancompulsorytraveltimes(towork,school)byactivatingthealarmclockearly.TheuseofAIinvehicleswillallowthemtocommunicatedirectlywiththeinfrastructure,whichwillsmoothoutjourneysinurbanareas.

…

InputData

ArtificialIntelligence

Informationabouttrafficparametersviaamobileapplication

OutputData

predictionoftrafficparameters

Traffic

users

Weatherandpollutionmonitoring

Trafficdisruptioninformation

Informationfromtheroadadministration

Parkingsensors

sensorsatroadjunctions

…

Publictransport

Navigationsystems

Informationaboutfreeparkingspaces

Variablecontenttables

Trafficlights

Figure2.ModeloftrafficmanagementusingArtificialIntelligence.Source:ownwork.

ArtificialIntelligence'scapabilitiesarenotlimitedtotrafficmanagementandcontrol.Theycoverawiderangeofapplications,frommedicaldiagnostics,throughcontrollingrobotsandchatbots,tovirtualassistance.Anexamplecouldbepredictingplacesandperiodsofincreasedcrime,allowingformoreefficientplanningofcityguardandpoliceinterventions.Ongoingmonitoringoftheinternetcanbeaninstrumentofpreventionagainstattacksonthesafetyofresidents.BigDataanalysisandAIpredictivecapabilitiesallowbettermanagementofoperationsduringemergencies.What'smore,AIallowstopreventbreakdownsandoverloadsofenergy,watersupply,etc.infrastructureandoptimizeitsmaintenance.TheuseofAIinsmartbuildingsallowstoimplementhundredsofsensorsthatmonitorourpreferencesandhabits.Itcombinesseveraldutiesintoonecontrolcentre-withoneremotecontrolorapplication,whichallowstocontroltheoperationofairconditioning,ventilation,centralheating,lighting,alarm,doorlocksandhomemonitoring.Thismakesiteasiertomanageandreduceenergyconsumption.Afterinstallingtheappropriatesensors(e.g.,movement,humidity,light,gas),thesystemcanautomaticallylowerthetemperatureinsidethehouse,e.g.,afteropeningthewindow,turnoffthelightbyitselfordisconnectunuseddevicesfromthepowersupply,whileinformingusofanyadverseevents(Skoubyet.al.,2014).

ArtificialIntelligencealsosupportsthefunctioningofthepublicsectorandsmartgovernance.Facilitatescontactswithstakeholdersandimprovesserviceforresidents.Chatbotsandautomaticrepliesallowtoredirectmatterstotheappropriatedepartmentsandcreatedocumentsinrepetitivematters.Theissuingofofficialdocumentswillbemonitored.Toexcluderacistaspects,origin,education,age,genderorbeliefsAIcanmonitortheissuanceofdecisionsonissuesofsocialwelfare,aswellassearchfordocumentsfrommunicipaldatabasesandseemrepetitiveadministrativedecisions.Itcanalsousethedataprovidedby

residents,increasingtheirreadinessforsocialparticipation.Fromtheperspectiveofsmartgovernance, citizen participation is key. AI by sharing administrative decisions,

e.g.inBlockchain,cansignificantlyincreasethetransparencyofrelationsbetweenstackeholders,andthustheinvolvementofcitizensincitymanagement.

Blockchaininthedevelopmentofsmartcity

Blockchainisaninnovativetechnologybasedonadistributedandwidelyavailabledataregister,whichisacollectivebookofaccounts.Itallowstosaveinformationabouteachtransactionintheformofdatablocksthatcombineintoanintegralchain.Eachblockhasauniquesignature,impossibletoforge,andeachactionmustbeconfirmedbyaprivatekey,

i.e.astringofcharactersknownonlytoentitiesdirectlyinvolvedinthetransaction.Onlytheprivatekeyownercaninitiatechanges(Iansiti,Lakhani,2017).Blockchainisconsideredthesafesttechnologyfordatarecordingandstorage.Itallowstoassociatetransactionswithcomputationallogic(userscanconfigureit).Itisusedtorecordofinformationabouteconomiceventsandallfinancialoperationscarriedoutbetweentransactionpartners.Blockchaintechnologyusescryptographicmethodstopreventmakingcorrectionsonceenteredinformationwithouttheknowledgeofotherparticipantsinthesystem(Pilkington,2016).Thatmeans(Kauf,2019):

transactiontransparency–everytransactionandallitscontentsarevisibletoeveryonewhohasaccesstothedomainofanetworkparticipant.Eachnode(user)hasauniquealphanumericcharacterthatidentifiesit.Userscanremainanonymousoriftransactionsoccurbetweenblockaddresses–revealtheiridentity;

recordsirreversibility–oncethetransactionhasbeenenteredintothedatabase,nochangescanbemade,anymodificationsarevisibletoothernetworkparticipants.Thedataenteredischronologicallyandavailabletoeveryone.

Blockchainallowsthedevelopmentofrelationsbetweenentitiesinadistributedmanner,withoutinvolvingmiddlemen,coordinatorsorplanners.Itdoesnotallowfalsificationofdataandisresistanttomanipulation.Blockchaintechnologysupportsthefunctioningofsmartcityinallitsdimensions.Specificimplementationsofblockchaintechnology,suchassmartcontract,smartassetsordigitalidentityfacilitatenotonlythecontractsagreementswithcontractors,butalsocontroloftaskperformance.BasedonSmartContractsandblockchains,decisionmakingsystemscanoptimizetheactivitiesofentitiesinvolvedincreatingpublicvalue,andpublice-procurementcanpromptthepublicsectortousenegotiatedtenderingproceduresmoreoften.Transactiontransparencyisasourceofbenefitsforthepublicsector;allowstoincreasetheefficiencyandeffectivenessofrelationshipswithcontractorsandoptimizethedistributionofSmartAssets.SmartContractsandBlockchain-basedvoting,decision,and

negotiationsupportsystemsenhanceandoptimizetheoperationoftheSmartCommunity(

Nasulea,

Mic,2018).Smartcitybenefitsfromincreasedproductivitythankstoautomatedinteractionswithe-CitizenandoptimizeddistributionofSmartAssets.Fig.3presentedBlockchainTechnologyasanintegratorofsmartcityentities.Blockchainallowsaccesstotheregistryforallmembersofthecommunity.Everyonehasitsownsynchronizedcopyofacommonbook(Blockchainregister).

publicprocurement

Vote

GroupDecisio

Smart

Cotracts

SmartIdentity

SmartAssets

SmartCity

Partizipation

Blockchain SmartEntities

Figure3.BlockchainTechnologyasanintegratorofsmartcityentities.Source:ownwork.

Blockchaintechnologyguaranteeshighresistancetodatamanipulation.Itsecuresallstakeholders'accesstorealandcurrentinformation.BytransformingresourcesintoSmartAssets,smartcitiescantracktheoriginandmovementofgoods(e.g.,pharmaceuticals)throughoutthevaluechainforCitizens.Thisreducesfraudinthedistributionofgoodsandthereactionalmostimmediatelyafterthedetectionoftheirregularity.Blockchainallowsthemeasurementandrecordingparameters,whicharestoredandtransportedgoods,andthisisparticularlyimportantinthecaseofsensitivegoods(thosepharmaceuticals).Storedvaluesareunmodifiable.Thus,Blockchainisaneffectivetoolforsupplierverificationbysmartgovernance.

Becausethechoiceofsupplierintheimplementationofpublictasksisbasedonpublicprocurement,itisworthtopointoutthebenefitsthatBlockchaintechnologycanbringinthisarea.Thistechnologycancontributeto:1.increasingtheirefficiencyandtransparency,

2.reducingfragmentation,andthusthebenefitsofeconomiesofscale,byimplementingaunifiedelectronicplatform.Itcanbeassumedthatonlinepublicprocurementprocessingwillbecomeacommonpracticeinthenextdecade,notonlyonalocalbutalsoonaglobalscale.Theextensionofthenetworkwillallow,amongotherbankslocatedinvariousplacesaroundtheworldtoeasilysendcertifiedelectronicguaranteesonbehalfofthesupplier.Blockchaintechnologywillchangetheconditionsforparticipationintenderprocedures.Everyonewhowantstoparticipateintheimplementationofpublictaskswillhavetouseelectronicmeansofcommunication3.Thiswillallowfasterandmoretransparentverificationofsubmitted

3FromOctober2018,alltenderproceduresfromtheso-calledEUthresholdsareimplementedusingelectronicmeansofcommunication.

applications.Itwillcreateasignificantbarriertosubmittingdiscountedoffers,asonceentereddatacannotbechanged.Eachmodificationwillbevisibleandwillrequiretheapprovalofotherstakeholders.

Participationinpublice-procurementwillforcesupplierstohaveaDigitalIdentity.TheonecreatedusingtheBlockchainprotocolcanbeusedasanelectronicsignature.Currently,themostinterestingapplicationistheEstoniane-Residencyprogram,enablingtheusertocreateadigitalidentity.Itcanbeused,amongotherstosetupabusinessbycitizensoutsidetheEuropeanUnion.Thecombinationofdigitalidentitywithintelligentassetsalsoopensupthepossibilityofauthorizingresourcesthatareownedbytheindividual.ThoseregisteredintheBlockchainprotocolcanbeusedtoinitiatetransactionsonourbehalf.Inpractice,thismeans,forexample,automaticplanningoftechnicalinspectionsbypublictransportvehicles.

Blockchainalsoagreestoauthenticatethedigitalidentityofcitizens,andthiscreatestheopportunitytoparticipateinlocal,regionalornationalelections,withoutleavinghome.Blockchainguaranteesbothvoicesecrecyandverifiabilityofthenumberandlegalityofvoters.Thechainofblockswillalloweverycitizentocontrolthevote.InBlockchain,thecitizenremainsanonymous,andhisvoiceispublic.Duetothedispersionofthedatabase,itcannotbehacked,anditisnotthreatenedbyanyITsystemfailures.Thevotercanvotefromanyplacewherehegainsaccesstothenetworkpracticallyfromanydevicethathasthecharacterofacomputer–whicheliminatestheriskofextortionofvotes,addingthemtopolls,creatingfalseidentities,etc.Thiswayofvotingensuresgreaterconfidenceintheelectoralprocess,reducescostsandenablesdecisionstobetakendirectlybytheconstituency.

Blockc