Page 61 - U4SSC Blockchain for smart sustainable cities

As of 2018, 1.5 million land titles were published To succeed, this project required good-quality
on the blockchain-based registry. The new data for the initial input, strong executive
system reduced operational costs by 90 per commitment and a strong technical partner.
cent and reduced the time to register property This case demonstrates the use of smart
from three days to ten minutes, eliminating the technology to contribute to the areas of
need for legal professionals in the process. The smart governance and smart economy. The
Republic of Georgia has since been named one intervention makes use of blockchain technology
of the top three countries for ease of property to make data about land ownership transparent
registration, as well as a top 20 country for ease and to automate changes to this data. The
of conducting business, in the World Bank's transformation that was needed for this change
“Doing Business” survey.
included changes to the governance structures
Blockchain removed the trust problem through and legislation, and an automated process that
transparency. While officials can make changes, eliminated the need for manual intervention.
they are immediately visible. The smart contract The blockchain also ensured transparency. This
system needs no human intervention; hence use-case is at a national-level and could be
people are being asked to trust the system rather deployed at the local-level.
than the official. The new system helps Georgia The outcomes of the intervention include new
to secure the national boundaries too, since, technology underpinning a system for a land
with reliable records, encroachment can be registry that is less prone to fraud. The benefits
defended through an international legal claim.
increased trust in the system and there will be
The next phase of the project is to make more liquidity in land capital. All this takes place
properties more “liquid” by enabling the sale of in a context in which there is a historical lack of
property, and portions of property, on the NAPR trust, with high-level support for reforms to the
website. Improving the liquidity of property system. There is also an economic driver to make
assets is expected to boost the economy. it easier for people to access the value of land for
economic benefit.

Lesson learned

• There has to be leadership commitment because there will be resistance to change when trying
to address systemic corruption. This is also essential to drive a “trust-free trust” where minimal
administration is required for the sustenance of a smart contract-driven blockchain system. 87
• The project’s success depended on strong technology partners. Blockchain is a new technology
and, in most cases, has to be built from the ground up on an existing blockchain platform. This calls
for deep technology expertise.
• The work done by the NAPR in creating a starting point of high-quality data was pivotal to the suc-
cess of the blockchain project.

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