Vote it up! A rundown of 13 projects using blockchain technology at the President's Cup Hackathon

The Presidential Hackathon, which started in 2018, is an annual innovation technology development competition organized by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The 2020 Presidential Hackathon began on January 20th. After the public made wishes and submissions, the first phase of submissions was completed. From May 6th at 7 a.m. to May 13th at 10 p.m., the voting was open to the public. This year's hackathon attracted a total of 274 proposals, with 13 related to blockchain, accounting for approximately 4.7%.

The Presidential Hackathon, which started in 2018, is an annual innovation technology development competition organized by the Department of Industrial Technology, Ministry of Economic Affairs. The 2020 Presidential Hackathon began on January 20th. After the citizen's wish and external solicitation, the first phase of submission was completed. From May 6th at 7 AM to May 13th at 10 PM, voting was open to the public. This year's hackathon attracted a total of 274 proposals, with 13 related to blockchain, accounting for approximately 4.7%.

Among these 13 blockchain-related proposals, several were selected for further discussion or deemed more feasible. If any of these resonate with you, don't forget to visit the website of the Presidential Hackathon to support the proposal you believe in.

Blockchain Voting System: #61, #231

The difficulty of digitizing voting in the past was due to the possibility of forgery, tampering, and duplicate voting of voting rights on the internet. The emergence of blockchain technology provides a solution to such "double-spending problems." Applying blockchain to voting systems has been one of the potential use cases explored by various countries. In fact, many technology companies worldwide are currently developing voting systems using blockchain technology, and many countries and regions are implementing pilot experiments. This year's Presidential Hackathon has two proposals aiming to use blockchain to address Taiwan's voting issues, including #61 Chainice Blockchain Voting System (Choice is Opportunity) and #231 Tree Digital Voting System (Guardian of Democratic Values).

Of these, #231 Tree Digital Voting System (Guardian of Democratic Values) is unique as it introduces the concept of delegated voting, allowing individuals to delegate their voting rights to electors who have a better understanding of politics or candidates to make choices on their behalf:

"As an elector, you can choose to delegate your vote completely or partially (0-100%) to other electors. This person may be a friend with higher political involvement around you, your village chief, or a trusted opinion leader. You trust this person to make a more accurate decision."

This proposal aims to elect the "most capable person" rather than the "best electioneer," with good intentions. However, in some areas of Taiwan, the culture of "vote-buying" still exists, and whether this delegated voting mechanism could potentially exacerbate this issue remains a topic for discussion.

Harnessing the Power of the Masses to Combat Fake News: #75

News organizations not only serve as platforms for disseminating information but also have the function of fact-checking false news. However, with the widespread use of smartphones and the internet in recent years, the channels through which the public receives information have become increasingly diverse. This has lowered the threshold for publication and dissemination, leading to rapid spread of fake news or unfounded rumors among individuals. Many unscrupulous operators also exploit internet trolls to spread false information and deceive consumers, creating a false sense of urgency for panic buying.

#75 Decentralized Fact Auditor proposes a solution to this problem by using a decentralized prediction market platform (a prediction market is an activity where the public judges and bets on a single event. Correct judgments win chips, while wrong judgments lose chips), allowing the public to instantly discern the authenticity of information through the power of the masses:

"By the operation principle of the prediction market, a highly accurate indicator for a single objective fact can be generated under the market's influence. This allows the public to use this indicator as real-time judgment basis for authenticity, providing immediate reference information from crowd wisdom before fact-check reports are completed."

This project's concept is innovative, and the prediction market is indeed a valuable application scenario worth exploring. However, issues such as how to increase public participation, whether prediction markets violate current regulations, and how to determine the final results of prediction markets are several challenging problems that may be encountered in the future.

National Resource Dispatch and Matching Platform: #255

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic this year has brought to light the urgent issues of resource dispatch and matching. In the event of a large-scale disaster, the lack of a unified platform for central government resource dispatch, local government resource reserves, or matching of resources donated by the public and enterprises has become apparent.

#255 National Resource Bank (Bimpact) proposes a solution to this problem. The project, proposed by the Taiwanese tech startup Bimpact, aims to use blockchain to address the emergency resource dispatch and matching issues during disasters in Taiwan. It seeks to establish a unified and direct communication channel among the central government, local governments, the public, and enterprises. The issues it addresses are novel, and integration with blockchain may spark innovation. However, the project content only discusses concepts without providing further insight into the complete design architecture of its solution and the business scope involving blockchain technology.

Convenient and Fast Digital Good Citizen Certificate: #219

Many people may have experienced the need to apply for a police clearance certificate, commonly known as the "Good Citizen Certificate," for work, immigration, study, or visa purposes. Despite technological advancements, the Good Citizen Certificate is still issued in paper form, and the overall application and collection process is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

#219 Taiwan Good Citizen - Digital Good Citizen Certificate (Taiwan Good Citizen) is a project proposed to address this issue. It aims to create a digital Good Citizen Certificate platform using the secure and anti-counterfeiting features of blockchain. Once individuals complete the application for the digital Good Citizen Certificate, they can simply enter their name on the system to access public citizen records, supplemented by the National ID Card to protect personal privacy information.

"We want to create a platform where entering a name on the platform can quickly check public citizen records. By using the National ID Card, one can access personal privacy records and directly output the Good Citizen Certificate from the system, including various merits and demerits records from various government departments of the Republic of China."

While it is uncertain if blockchain technology is necessary for this project, the current process for issuing Good Citizen Certificates does require significant improvement. Issuing them digitally can save time and costs in administrative processes. Regardless of whether blockchain technology is used, the issue addressed by this project is indeed commendable.

Self-Managed Health Record: #234

The current healthcare system lacks effective management and tracking mechanisms for individuals' medical records and treatment data. In addition to fragmented medical record databases, there are significant privacy and security concerns for individuals using health services and applications that link to health records. In response to recent trends in e-governance and service development, the government is actively promoting personalized digital services. Should individuals have more autonomy over their medical records and treatment data?

The idea of using blockchain to improve fragmented medical record databases was proposed many years ago, with some clinics and large hospitals collaborating to share medical records and provide a more robust healthcare system for local residents. #234 Health Record: Autonomous Data Management Tool for Protecting Personal Data Privacy (Health Forest Friends Association) proposes to integrate the entire Taiwan healthcare system using blockchain to solve the problem of fragmented medical data. It also aims to enhance individuals' autonomy over personal medical data, allowing them to autonomously select the objects and scope they wish to share, thereby accessing the services they need.

However, the issue of "protecting patient privacy" gives rise to the problem of "safeguarding the safety of healthcare personnel." For example, if a patient has a history of a highly contagious disease but refuses to disclose this to healthcare personnel, it puts the healthcare workers at risk. This is not fair to healthcare personnel. Nevertheless, the project proposes using "zero-knowledge proofs," which may address these concerns.

Other projects related to blockchain technology include:

#204 Anti-COVID19 Robinhood - Blockchain for Epidemic Mask Supply Chain, Safeguarding Public Health

#102 Art Leaders Digital Art Creative Market - Using blockchain to create digital collectibles for creators and a free-trading auction platform

#247 Cheap! Efficient! Smart Electricity! Use as much as you want! (Blockchain can do a lot of things~)

#198 Home, Just Around the Corner - Blockchain Connecting Satellite Resources for Local Education Dream Project (Fintech Alliance Team)

#82 Vast Ocean - Ocean Blockchain, Turning Trash into Gold (Vast Ocean)

#216 DawnFin - Financial Dawn

#239 Easy Use of Legal FinTech Tools, Starting from Lease to Establish a National Smart Contract Platform (Smart Contract Platform)

If interested, you can learn more on the official website. Once again, if you support any of the projects, remember to vote on the website.

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