The autonomous community of Aragon in northeastern Spain will be the first in the country to apply Blockchain technology to the public administration. Aragon is one of 17 autonomous communities in Spain. These communities were created to guarantee the autonomy of the regions that make up Spain. This region is composed of the provinces of Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel.
Blockchain in Public Administration
Fernando Gimeno, counsellor of Finance and Public administration in the Aragonese government, has signed a contract with Alastria. This is a Blockchain-based ecosystem consisting of 274 entities. These include companies and institutions that develop Blockchain-based tools in accordance with Spanish and European regulations. Thus, Aragon will become the first Spanish self-governing community to provide state-owned Blockchain services.
Gimeno believes that this collaboration will have a transforming effect on the economy. Moreover, he believes that the world will “realise suddenly and strongly” the power of the distributed ledger technology across all industries in the near future. He pointed out that Blockchain represents “the future of technology” and it is fundamental to public administration.
The counsellor believes Blockchain will improve the transparency and efficiency of the administration. Therefore, this will in turn attract investment and drive the economy. He added that regional administration employees are already learning about Blockchain to get acquainted with its “enormous potential”.
Similarly, representatives of the neighboring community of Catalonia have already expressed interest in using Blockchain in public administration. According to local news outlet, in June 2018, the Department of Digital Policies in Catalonia revealed that they plan to develop a strategy for incorporating Blockchain into administration by the end of the year.
As Blockchain enters public administration, Partido Popular, one of the most important political parties in Spain, is considering granting low taxes and fees to companies using the distributed ledger technology. The Unidos Podemos coalition has also suggested the Spanish government to set up a subcommittee responsible for studying Blockchain’s potential.