Turkey Uses Blockchain Technology to Login to Online Public Services

Fuat Oktay, Vice President of Turkey. (photo: twitter @fuacity)

JAKARTA – The Turkish government plans to use blockchain technology in the login process for online public services. E-Devlet, Turkey's digital government portal used to access various public services, will use a blockchain-based digital identity to verify Turkish citizens when logging in.

Fuat Oktay, Vice President of Turkey, announced during the Digital Turkey 2023 event that citizens will be able to use blockchain-based digital identities to access e-wallet applications.

Oktay called blockchain-based applications a revolution for e-government efforts, adding that online services will be more secure and accessible with blockchain. Users will be able to store their digital information on their phones.

“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 on the blockchain network,” said Oktay, as quoted by Cointelegraph Turkey.

Turkey has announced several projects powered by blockchain over the years, but very few have been realized. The country's plans for a national blockchain infrastructure date back to 2019. However, apart from several proof-of-concept projects and tests of its central bank digital currency, which were executed after several delays, its blockchain ambitions have not come to fruition.

As of January 2020, the Turkish cultural center in Konya is developing a "City Coin" project that will be used by citizens to pay for public services, but no further updates have been shared with the public in the last two years.