In order to ensure that adequate safety precautions are being taken by its workers and also to ensure that they do possess the needed credential to work in a construction site, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), has completed a proof-of-concept (PoC) of a blockchain based credential management system.

The Swiss National Rail Proof-of-Concept (PoC) System

According to the Swiss national rail company, the project began in May and ended in November. A spokesperson from the company, Daniele Pallecchi claimed that the project will help in the improvement of the manual, paper-based processes in existence. According to him, the system will enhance the procedures in an “agile working environment with a digital, audit-proof solution based on the blockchain,”

While explaining the need for a better identity system, Pallecchi stated that: “Construction sites on the SBB network often involve third parties. For safety reasons, there are strict requirements regarding the qualification of personnel”

This system was developed using an open-source technology —uPort. The technology was managed by a blockchain startup Linum Labs.

How does it work

This new initiative (proof-of-concept) requires employees to create their digital identities using the uPort application installed on their mobile devices. Once this is achieved, they will be issued certificates by the SBB which confirms that they’ve passed through all necessary training. All a worker needs to do is to scan the QR code available in the application on his/her mobile device. These digital Identities is what the workers will use to sign in and out of the construction sites.

In a recent post, Linum Labs made it that:

“Using uPort, railway workers, certification authorities and supervisors are able to have their own unique digital identities linked to their respective uPort ID’s, which is then anchored to an identity on the blockchain. A hash of the worker’s check-in / check-out activities is published to the blockchain so that the internal database can be audited”.