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Ernst & Young Unveils Blockchain Platform to Monitor Government Spending

Ernst & Young (EY), a Big Four auditing company, has unveiled a blockchain network for the government to control public finance. The EY OpsChain Public Finance Manager (PFM) is built to help the governments increase accountability, results, expenditures, track budgets, and improve transparency. 

Initially, government institutions assigned finances for particular projects and contract third party firms to perform the duty. For instance, the federal government might allocate some funds to the public works for the country, through different departments under it for certain activities. However, the accounting becomes difficult when the public, state, and federal organizations are working on a single project in various capacities. 

Improving Policy Decisions for Data

EY Company confirmed that its system could track public money in real-time and design a fundamental source of performance information. This will assist the government in coming up with practical decisions to channeling finances for development. Furthermore, the system can also lower corruption cases and siphoning of public money by politicians and bureaucrats. 

EY indicated that:

“Blockchain technology can positively impact processes from tax collection to open data to public spending. […] Modern public financial management requires focusing on the things that matter most — transparency, accountability, and robust evidence for decision-making — all factors that can be enhanced by blockchain technology.”

“Modern public financial management requires focusing on the things that matter most – transparency, accountability and robust evidence for decision-making – all factors that can be enhanced by blockchain technology,” said Mark MacDonald, EY Global Public Finance Management Leader.

“EY OpsChain PFM is an exciting new tool that helps public finance leaders to assess and improve their financial management systems,” added he.

Pilot Testing in Toronto

EY confirmed that so far, experimented tracking public finances on a blockchain in several places, including Toronto. The platform revealed transfers between various government departments and the company purport that the experiment boosts the city`s efficiency and transparency. 

Heather Taylor, Chief financial officer of Toronto city, confirmed:

“With a commitment to championing the economic, social, and environmental vitality of the city of Toronto, our officials strive to implement technologies that best help us meet our residents’ evolving needs.”

Earlier, EY established its blockchain platform Ops Chain, which is a customized version of the Ethereum blockchain. The platform now entails both the private consortium versions of the solution and the public edition that utilizes Zero-Knowledge Proofs for privacy and operates on the public Ethereum network. 

By mid this year, EY revealed that it was among the crowded beneficiaries of a $49 million blockchain contract from the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States.

In addition to other blockchain activities, Microsoft and EY uncover a solution for controlling royalties for gaming and content rights. The firm also launched InsurWave, a marine insurance platform with Maersk as the first consumer. 

Ernst & Young Unveils Blockchain Platform to Monitor Government Spending