The government of Canada is not done yet with blockchain technology. Apart from providing an enabling environment for blockchain to thrive, the government is keen to incorporate it in its operations. According to reports, the National Research Council (NRC) announced that it has built an Ethereum-based explorer.
The NRC is a government body that is tasked with managing research programs funded by the Canadian government. Dubbed the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), the initiative is the central player in this drive. The program will play host to the Ethereum blockchain explorer.
Accessibility and immutability
According to a news release, NRC said the explorer was developed by Bitaccess. The explorer, dubbed Catena, will be hosted on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). The file system enables the data stored on it to always be accessible and immutable. The release details that this property enables the data to be universally available even in the event of site failure.
As per Moe Adham, co-founder of Bitaccess, “the explorer application is similar to a search engine, and it allows users to instantly search the Ethereum blockchain for published grants and contribution data stored on the network through Catena.”
The Bitaccess co-founder details that the Catena Blockchain Suite is very user friendly. The simplistic and low risk nature of the application allows even the less tech-savvy people to use it well.
Adham goes on to say that users of the platform will be afforded a “peer-to-peer method of storing and sharing data.” More importantly, the data will be stored in a distributed manner and can be accessed far into the future.
Transparent administration of government grants and contributions
Initially, the government of Canada was reported to be launching a live trial of the blockchain. The aim was to build a transparent administration of government grants and contributions.
Less than eight months later, the government is onto bigger things. However, the NRC still insists that these are early days and with more insights, the technology holds a lot promise.