ICONLOOP Selected as Contractor for Seoul Metropolitan Government's Information Strategy Plan (ISP) for Blockchain-Based Work Units
The project, commissioned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is significant in that it uses blockchain to automate eligibility verification online when selecting recipients of public works programs, welfare services, and the like — improving administrative convenience for citizens — and in that it addresses the poor working conditions faced by part-time workers, such as missing employment contracts, non-enrollment in the four major insurance schemes, and unfair treatment.
As the sole contractor, ICONLOOP will spend three months from November 2018 to February 2019 analyzing the operational and informatization status of blockchain-based work units and drawing up a phased implementation plan toward goals including "realizing paperless online eligibility verification." In particular, it will review legal restrictions and proposed amendments related to the Personal Information Protection Act, the Network Act, and the Credit Information Act, and will devise approaches for linking with services from other organizations, such as the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise's "Small Business Employment Contract" application.
Using blockchain technology not only safeguards individual sovereignty over personal data but also makes fast, accurate eligibility verification possible with only a minimal lookup of information, improving administrative convenience for citizens and work efficiency for administrators. At the same time, smart contracts concluded between part-time workers and employers are expected to lay the groundwork for a sound working environment through transparent work-history management and prevention of unpaid wages.
To this end, ICONLOOP attended the kickoff meeting for the Seoul Metropolitan Government's ISP project for blockchain-based work units, held on November 23 at the Smart Information Support Center on the third floor of the city's Seosomun Building. Twenty-two people attended, including officials from relevant Seoul city departments such as the Youth Policy Division and the Labor Policy Division, along with ICONLOOP representatives.
"We will provide ISP consulting tailored to Seoul so that citizens can experience the transparency and efficiency of blockchain technology firsthand," said ICONLOOP CEO JH Kim. "We plan to concentrate our capabilities on thoroughly reviewing the regulations and issues that must be considered when adopting blockchain, in order to design a realistic labor welfare process model and a mid- to long-term development plan."
Separately from this project, ICONLOOP has been taking part since August in the 2018 Seoul Metropolitan Government blockchain pilot project to build blockchain administrative services for the city. Over six months from August, ICONLOOP has been progressively applying loopchain, its in-house blockchain engine, to Seoul's standard blockchain platform, M-Voting citizen voting, and trust-building in used car sales at Janganpyeong. At the same time, it is carrying out preliminary blockchain verification work for integrated citizen card authentication, Seoul city mileage integration, and subcontracting fee payments.
ICONLOOP is also participating as a blockchain consulting contractor in the National Election Commission's project to establish an informatization plan for a next-generation election system based on intelligent information technology, advising on the design of blockchain-based voting and vote-counting systems covering candidate registration, voting and counting, and remote elections. As the technology lead for the financial investment industry blockchain consortium — which brings together the Korea Financial Investment Association and 26 Korean securities firms — it owns CHAIN ID, the world's first joint blockchain authentication service for the financial investment industry.
ICONLOOP has also been selected as a participating institution in the 2018 Intensive Training Program for Young Talent in Innovative Growth, run by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion, providing intensive lectures for acquiring specialized blockchain knowledge and thereby working to popularize blockchain technology.
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