Seoul transportation ministry onboards Canadian blockchain startup

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Ministry of Transportation in Seoul has partnered with Canadian blockchain firm as part of its Smart City initiative. The city enlisted the services of Graph Blockchain Inc. in the storage of traffic data.

Announcing the partnership via a press release, the Toronto-based company revealed that the contract will be worth C$55,000 (US$41,700). The partnership will be a pilot project to store data on the company’s blockchain-based platform as part of the Smart City initiative. The initiative seeks to make Seoul a technology-led city where all the dimensions are integrated, from health to government to utilities and transportation.

The company’s blockchain solutions will not only make the data storage process more streamlined, but they will protect it in a way that the existing platforms can’t, Jeff Stevens, the company’s CEO commented.

He added, “This is an exciting opportunity for our Company to introduce Graph Database Blockchain solutions to the Ministry of Transportation. We look forward to delivering a solution that will streamline and protect data for their smart city initiatives.”

Stevens further hailed his team for its continued efforts in securing new business opportunities as it strives to become a go-to blockchain-solutions provider. Its AgensGraph Database, which is its primary product, is built on the Hyperledger Fabric and offers “near real-time transactional data processing and intuitive data visualization.” It has presence in government services such as tax audits, health industry with a record management system and in retail as well.

South Korea has continued to champion the use of blockchain technology, with its capital Seoul being at the forefront of the movement. In 2018, Mayor Park Won-soon announced that the city would invest $108 million in a bid to become a fully blockchain-powered city. Park pledged to cover the five major government areas including labor welfare, voting and certification issuance.

In May 2019, a report by South Korean outlet Queen revealed that the city would implement blockchain technology in the issuance of its citizen cards. Mayor Park also stated that blockchain technology would be applied in the collection of urban and administrative data which will guide the city’s policy making.