South Korean non-governmental organization, the Commons Foundation, has announced its project to develop a digital health platform on the blockchain to combat pandemics following the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Digital Today report, the NGO will use blockchain public services to develop an epidemiological research system that matches the upcoming post coronavirus age.
Digital healthcare platform to use a public blockchain
Notably, the report cites the concerns expressed by the chairman of the Commons Foundation, Choi Yong-gwan, about the infringement of personal information as a result of the emergency COVID-19. This has led the South Korean NGO to develop a digital solution to the situation. As per Choi, a blockchain-based digital healthcare platform will help prevent future pandemics from having such an effect in South Korea.
According to the Commons Foundation, a public blockchain called MicroBitcoin will be used to set up a research system. The NGO noted that the robustness, security and state-of-the-art technology of MicroBitcoin were the primary considerations to prevent hackers from compromising the digital health platform.
In particular, the healthcare system will encrypt all personal data on the public distributed ledger platform in order to avoid forgery and to boost the authenticity of the data. As per the NGO, the system will provide a private key through cell phone verification and record the motions of users in the city on the blockchain-based platform.
Monitoring confirmed coronavirus cases through blockchain technology
If individual Y is confirmed to have contracted coronavirus, they can directly feed their encryption key value on the blockchain-based healthcare system and provide information that cannot be altered to an epidemiologist. Research experts can afterward plan to visit person Y and ascertain a better method to ensure a fast examination is carried out. Choi stated:
“It is important to quickly overcome the pandemic, but it will become more important in the post-corona era to protect the individual’s freedom and human rights while wisely overcoming the pandemic.”
Furthermore, Korea’s second major city, Busan, recently developed an identification system on a public blockchain to authenticate citizen information. Moreover, Korea’s Suseong University partnered with the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association, or KORAIA, to develop an AI blockchain-based campus in Daegu