Government of Ireland to host two-day blockchain hackathon for public services

Ireland’s Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, in association with The Department of Finance, is going to host Blockathon Ireland.

The two-day event aims to identify and analyse potential real-life use-cases of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), namely blockchain, in public services. The objective is to develop a deeper understanding of the technology’s potential in public services to improve current processes, development, citizen user experience, efficiency and more.

The participating technical teams will be provided the potential business problems, such as medical device tracking in the HSE, verifying CSO data, and tracking State Aid for Enterprise Ireland, in advance. They will brainstorm blockchain-based solutions while vying for a portion of the €8,500 prize fund, awarded to the best outcomes.

Expert stakeholders have been sourced from the growing blockchain community in Ireland to judge and mentor the participating teams, in order to promote cross-functional collaboration between the government, academia, and the private sector. Solutions will be judged on four main criteria: Innovation, Relevance, Solution, and Proof-Of-Concept.

This event follows the work undertaken by the intradepartmental working group on blockchain and virtual currencies launched by Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe in March 2018. Hosted in The Innovation Academy, 3 Foster Place, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, more than 10 technical teams will take part in the hackathon.

Kicking off the event, a welcome drinks reception will take place on Friday 25th January, followed by the hackathon on Saturday where breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided. Concluding on Sunday 27th, the teams will present their solutions, followed by an awards ceremony.

Minister Donohoe said that blockchain technology has proposed new economic, business, social and technological models that have the potential to significantly impact business and society.

“As part of Our Public Service 2020, our Government has pledged to drive innovation in policy design and service delivery, as well as promote a culture of innovation across our public service,” he said. “Consulting and engaging experts on innovation from across the public sector, academia and the private sector to share ideas is a valuable action under the strategy, and this hackathon offers an opportunity to do so.”