Turkey plans to use blockchain technology to create digital identities for its citizens for a slew of public services.
Blockchain technology has made deep inroads into Turkey as the country announced its plans to use the same for online public services. E-Devlet, a government portal used to access several public services digitally, will use a blockchain technology-based digital identity. The identity will be specifically used at the login stage to verify Turkish citizens.
The Vice President of Turkey, Fuat Oktay, has voiced his support for blockchain technology and announced at the Digital Turkey 2023 event that e-wallet applications could also be accessed by citizens using the blockchain-supported digital identity. “With the login system that will work within the scope of the e-wallet application, our citizens will be able to enter the e-Devlet with a digital identity created in the blockchain network,” he said. Emphasizing security and privacy, he claimed that the blockchain-powered application would be revolutionary for making online services more secure and accessible.
Turkey has taken the lead in adopting blockchain projects for a few years, but unfortunately, only a few of them have materialized so far. It started with announcing a national blockchain infrastructure in 2019, but only a few proof-of-concept projects and a central bank digital currency test have been implemented to date. In January 2020, the city of Konya was also deemed to be building a ‘City Coin’ project, but there haven’t been any further updates yet.