The National Research Council of Canada (NRC), a government initiative, is testing the Ethereum blockchain to register government contracts.

For the pilot project, NRC partners with Bitaccess, a blockchain start-up, to use its Catena platform to publish information on government grants and contributions on the open source blockchain.

This effort is part of an initiative to enhance the transparency of government administration, according to a press release. The NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program is the first entity to test the technology and is already publishing information on contributions. The group will also evaluate how the government can apply blockchain technology in other areas.

Bitaccess co-founder Moe Adham said in a blog that the company has built its Catena Blockchain Suite to help organizations become familiar with the use of technology.

He explained:

"Our goal is to enable institutions to become fully transparent and allow constituents to participate in the verification and validation of public information."

Although remarkable, it is not the first official body of the country to introduce blockchain technology. The Canadian central bank has already begun experimenting with blockchain-based platforms, particularly with settlement systems, as previously reported by CoinDesk.

The Bank of Canada's "Project Jasper", now in its third phase, has conducted research on securities regulation and resilience in times of stress.

Image of Canadian flags via Shutterstock

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