[Source] etnews 29.06.2023 2:21 p.m.
The world's first 'blockchain-based online voting' to be launched next year
[original article] https://www.newspim.com/news/view/20230628000724
Korean university start-up technology will be applied to the blockchain-based online voting system project that the National Election Commission is attempting. On the 29th, developers are having a development meeting of 'zkvoting', a blockchain-based online voting system, at zkrypto at Hanyang University in Seongdong-gu, Seoul.
Reporter Minsu Kim mskim@etnews.com
Korean university start-up technology will be applied to the blockchain-based online voting system project that the National Election Commission is attempting for the first time in the world. Blockchain technology is expected to be applied to online referendums organized by the National Election Commission from next year at the earliest.
According to the industry, zkrypto (CEO Oh Hyun-ok), a startup specializing in blockchain technology, was selected as the main operator of the blockchain-based online voting system expansion project by the National Election Commission. To this end, zkrypto signed an agreement with the NHN Talent I&C Consortium, which has been building the existing online voting system for the National Election Commission.
zkrypto is a startup founded in November 2020 by Professor Oh Hyun-ok of the Department of Information System at Hanyang University and Professor Ji-Hye Kim of the Department of Electronic Engineering at Kookmin University. Kim Bong-gyu, head of the NH Digital R&D Center, who led the research and development of new digital technologies at NH Nonghyup Bank, joined as chief product officer (CPO) in February this year. It has 'Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology', a key encryption technology for blockchain privacy, and 'blockchain online voting technology' for secret voting at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 held in Las Vegas, USA. ZKvotion' won the Best of Innovation Award.
zkrypto zkVoting is applied with 'zero-knowledge proof' technology that can prove that only legitimate voters participated in voting while guaranteeing complete anonymity of voters.
Traditional voting systems have an inherent risk that the operator can manipulate the voting results. In order to determine whether voting has been tampered with, it is necessary to open the identity data of all voters, but if this method is used, the identity of the voter is revealed and there is a dilemma in that secret voting is not guaranteed.
On the other hand, if blockchain-based zero-knowledge proof technology is used, no one, including the voting manager, can know the identity of the voter and cannot manipulate the voting results stored in the public blockchain. In addition, all voters can check whether their vote has been counted correctly by being included in the ballot box.
zkrypto plans to expand the application of zero-knowledge proof to the financial industry, starting with online voting. Previously, the technology was supplied to the Bank of Korea CBDC simulation project last year, and it is noted that when digital currency spreads to the public in the future, all financial companies will inevitably launch remittance services using the digital wallet business.
In a centralized system, the financial institution that mediates the remittance can know the information of the sender and the receiver, so privacy is not completely guaranteed. zkrypto uses zero-knowledge proof technology to ensure the anonymity of the subject who sends and receives money, but has a solution that allows only the 'Auditor' to verify identity information when necessary to prevent money laundering. This technology can be introduced into various digital wallets in the form of a software development tool (SDK), so technology discussions are underway with various financial companies.
Oh Hyun-ok, CEO of zkrypto, said, "zkrypto's zero-knowledge proof technology can be applied in various fields such as logistics, digital content trade, and decentralized identification (DID) in the future." "The demand for voting solutions is also steadily increasing in the third world. We will actively seek to enter the global market,” he said.
Hyung-Doo Lee dudu@etnews.com
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