A blockchain-based platform is helping ensure the security of the New South Wales government’s rollout of digital driver’s licences, according to Sydney-based SecureLogic.
Secure Logic announced today formally launched its ‘TrustGrid’ platform, which it describes as an “advanced blockchain solution that delivers asecure, decentralised and immutable ledger of transactions”.
The company said the platform underpinned the NSW digital driver’s licence pilot staged in Dubbo and will also be used for the second pilot in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Some 1400 people participated in the Dubbo trial, which launched in November last year
The second pilot is expected to begin by November and cover the 2022, 2024, 2026, 2031 and 2034 postcodes.
In May, theRoad Transport and Other Legislation Amendment (Digital Driver Licences and Photo Cards) Act 2018took effect, which enabled a a full-scale rollout of the new opt-in digital licence system.
The first NSW digital licences were rolled out in 2016 mdash; beginning with digital versions of fishing licences and Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) and Responsible Conduct of Gambling (RCG) Competency Card.
SecureLogicCEO Santosh Devaraj said that the use of a blockchain-based platform for digital licences “will help put a stop to sophisticated fraudsters who can conjure up fake identities with relative ease”.
“Too often licence details are only checked superficially and this can now be replaced with cryptographic mechanisms,” the CEO said.
“For example, should a criminal attempt to enter a bank and withdraw someone else’s money, the Trustgrid platform would enable a teller to do a digital scan of the licence, initiating an authentication process that only the true identity owner could complete.”
“The era of standing in line to file government paperwork is coming to an end,” the CEO said. “As is our reliance on physical identification cards to establish your identity or proof of age with law enforcement or at licenced venues. These are mistake prone, time-consuming, expensive and impractical ways to offer services.”
At a federal level, the Digital Transformation Agency is working with Data61 on a pilot project intended to investigate the potential of blockchain for improving government service delivery. The DTA is expected to have developed a prototype based around welfare payment delivery by the end of FY19.