Governmental Permit
The essence of NFTs is to create tokens that contain specific data, with the authenticity of that data being guaranteed among its holders. NFTs have applications beyond artworks and can also be used to securely transmit important data, such as documents, in token form. Snowbridge assists county governments in issuing building permits as NFTs, ensuring their immutability through blockchain technology.
A Real Case Study
Digitizing government paper permits for building construction and usage can improve the accuracy of building information and safeguard the public’s rights. Using blockchain as a platform for accessing and verifying building permits offers benefits such as long-term availability, transparency, and security of permit information management. The system developed in this project was integrated with the building management system and app currently used by the Chiayi county government, enabling the public to easily access and verify building-related information. This innovative implementation of technology in the field of “smart city” can be replicated and upgraded for use by the central government and other local governments, laying a more solid foundation for the development of smart cities in Taiwan
System Architecture
The system comprises three main components: 1) distributed ledgers that are maintained on three Hyperledger-Fabric nodes and the original permit data stored on three IPFS nodes; 2) the application system, which serves as the core component for managing the interface between the front-end, building database, and blockchain; and 3) the front-end system, which includes a mobile app for users and a web service for administrators.
In addition, two external systems have been integrated: the Mobile Certificate Authority of MOI offers user identification services, and the building database provides the original data for building permits.
Project Results
This project was implemented on Google Cloud Platform, utilizing four servers and a Fabric Explorer system designed to monitor blockchain operations. The Fabric network is composed of three blockchain nodes and one chaincode smart contract. At the front-end, users can access and exchange four types of building permits (construction, usage, miscellaneous, and demolition) via a mobile wallet app, as well as verifying their authenticity.
The project has successfully achieved its objectives and met the requirements outlined in the original plan. Most significantly, we have been able to issue building permits in NFT form while utilizing the Inter-Planetary File System (IPFS) to store permit data. Moving forward, the delivered wallet app will be integrated with the existing Building Permits Management System. This project proves that using blockchain technology for building permit management is a feasible and effective approach.
