Gasnor, a natural gas distributor for two million residents, has been given approval by Argentina’s national gas regulator to pilot a smart contract, blockchain-based certification platform.

According to the companies involved, Gasnet, a permitted blockchain platform from IOV Labs and software builder Grupo Sabra, was launched Wednesday with the approval of regulator Enargas. Running on an enterprise version of RSK Smart Contract Network, Gasnet is designed to secure and speed up the chronically delayed processes of gas certification in Argentina.

“When you want to certify a new gas connection for a home or a company today you need to send many documents,” said Grupo Sabra co-founder Pedro Perrota. From technician-consumer agreements to certification paperwork and other documentation, “all those things today in Argentina take a lot of time” to process, Perrota said.

Under Gasnet, not so. Certification documents and transaction details zip between Gasnor and Enargas in the now-operational consortium network, each of which run a network node. That increases visibility and smooths out otherwise crippling delays, says Perrota, enabling technicians to ultimately bring faster online gas services to consumers.

“They are basically using the blockchain to certify the different steps,” said IOV Labs CEO Diego Gutierrez. “They’re giving private keys to each one of the professionals involved in the process, so they do the certification work using this shared system.”

Certification is, however, only the beginning. IOV Labs and Grupo Sabra say that Gasnet’s shared ecosystem can make any number of services easier. For example, credentials from engineers are crucial given the hazardous nature of natural gas infrastructure.

A Common Database Shows Track Record

But what about a unscrupulous contractor fleeing a checkered security history in Buenos Aires and setting up shop instead, say, in Salta’s far smaller north town? His track record does not necessarily follow him north under the current system, but it would do with Gasnet.

“When you have a common database, everyone can see your track record,” Pedro Perrota said. Gasnet also has bigger targets. It wants to become the common database for the entire gas distribution ecosystem in Argentina, Perrota and Gutierrez have said for all nine regulated companies.

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