DPWH launches Integrity Chain Portal

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), in partnership with the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP), has launched the Integrity Chain Portal, a publicly accessible blockchain-powered ledger of the agency’s projects and contracts.

“The Integrity Chain Portal, it will complement the transparency portal which allows the public to track and monitor our projects. This chain portal allows funders, and groups to validate our projects,” Public Works Secretary Vivencio B. Dizon told reporters on Tuesday.

The agency will eventually integrate all DPWH plans to the portal, Mr. Dizon said, noting that at present the ledger will only track foreign-assisted projects.

To recall, the DPWH has tapped BCP last year to develop the blockchain digital ledger that will track foreign-assisted infrastructure projects.

Integrity Chain will embed, digitize, and secure key data on selected national projects which will be made available to the public.

The data to be made available include budgets, procurement processes, and construction milestones, the agency said.

The agency and BCP,  a non-stock, non-profit organization of blockchain professionals and advocates, signed the memorandum of agreement for the launch and development of Integrity Chain last year.

“The integrity chain portal is only for validators that have been accepted by the community, by the blockchain community. It is important because these groups can validate contracts and other components of a particular project,” he said.

BCP President Donald Patrick L. Lim said that the development of the Integrity Chain portal is part of the government’s effort to combat corruption.

The DPWH is currently engulfed in scandal due to substandard or non-existent flood control projects, and is under pressure to make public works procurement more transparent.

“The Integrity Chain Portal is a technology, what it does, is it shows where budget goes. It records every journey online from construction, payment, progress, and status of projects,” Mr. Lim said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose