Case Study:
Government Services
Use Case
Government services
Problem
Government red tape is a problem everywhere. But sending in forms and waiting for permits is a lengthy and paper-bound process that frustrates every entrepreneur.
“OrgBook BC has unlimited potential to improve the way companies interact with the province. We’re bringing new partners onto OrgBook BC and expanding its capabilities to help our job creators spend less time on paperwork and more time growing their companies.”
— Jinny Sims, Minister of Citizens’ Services, British Columbia
Solution
Small groups from three jurisdictions in Canada—British Columbia, Ontario, and the federal government— came together as one team to cut red tape. They created the Verifiable Organizations Network (VON) to support trusted interactions between business people and governments through an open software stack.
The VON chose Hyperledger Indy to support its vision, and worked together to extend it towards that goal. The first digital service based on this effort, called OrgBook BC, is an online directory of authentic data about BC businesses.
Results
Officially launched in January 2019, OrgBook BC covers 529,000 organizations and 1.4 million credentials for companies in BC. The system can issue 2,600 credentials per minute, more than enough to keep up with demand. Related services are coming soon from Ontario and Canada. The code written for the project has become a sub-project called Hyperledger Indy Catalyst, available to other governments and enterprises anywhere in the world.
Using the VON software stack based on Hyperledger Indy, any government service can issue digital licenses or permits for businesses like Mary’s Eco Tours. And anyone can verify these digital licences and permits by checking the OrgBook for their jurisdiction.
