Democratic Country to Introduce ZK Digital Governance Protocol Taiwans TAIVote to Follow Suit
Georgia, a Central Asian country, is set to hold parliamentary elections on October 26. Opposition party member Giorgi Vashadze has introduced the use of zero-knowledge proof blockchain identity authentication protocol Rarimo at this time. The protocol aims to integrate national ID cards into the blockchain. In fact, similar issues, including proof of personhood (PoP) and digital governance, have been topics of discussion for Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and others. Solutions such as Worldcoin, zkPass, zkMe, and even zkKYC mentioned by OKX recently, are all similar solutions to these issues.
(To briefly explain zero-knowledge proof, it is a cryptographic technique. For example, if I want to prove to a bank that I have a job, but I don’t want to disclose the details of my job, zero-knowledge proof allows me to prove that something has indeed happened without revealing personal information. Due to its privacy characteristics, many applications related to PoP use zero-knowledge proof to protect sensitive information.)
The opposition party in Georgia, the United National Movement (UNM) alliance, has collaborated with Rarilabs to release the blockchain identity authentication protocol Rarimo. Rarilabs is the development organization behind Rarimo, which is a privacy-centric blockchain protocol based on zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. It has established United Space. United Space is part of the UNM’s vision for digitizing administration and will be used to simplify government services and promote universal basic income experiments.
Due to the increasing problem of foreign interference in the country, United Space provides a surveillance-free and tamper-proof voting mechanism to address these issues. The protocol allows citizens to participate in elections anonymously, ensuring the protection of their privacy and reducing the risk of voter manipulation. This innovative approach differs greatly from traditional voting methods, enhancing the security and transparency of the electoral process.
Giorgi Vashadze stated, “Verifying the eligibility and identity of voters through zero-knowledge proof will enable broader participation and bring more transparency and trust to the legislative process.” Giorgi Vashadze refers to it as digital democracy, liquid democracy, which means, “If you don’t like a decision made by an official, you will be able to revoke your vote, your support, and give it to someone else.”
To address Georgia’s low voter turnout, United Space has introduced a voter reward system. Citizens will not only be rewarded for voting but also for participating in civic activities. For example, voting on legislative referendums. These points can be exchanged for the country’s currency, lari.
Giorgi Vashadze stated that if the UNM wins the election and successfully forms a government, they plan to use the protocol as a way to involve the people in governance. The platform will display laws or draft bills and allow protocol users to vote on them. Giorgi Vashadze envisions a system where a certain percentage of citizen consent is required before a draft bill is submitted to the parliament.
However, whether this protocol will be implemented in the country depends on the election on October 26. Although the UNM has pledged to use the protocol for governance if elected, there are currently no detailed technical documents available, and whether it is just a publicity issue will depend on further developments.
In a similar vein, legislator Ko Ju-chun also attended an event hosted by Worldcoin in San Francisco yesterday and announced that his office will work with Sam Altman and Alex Blania to promote a new program for citizen participation in the AI era, focusing on digital equality, technology anti-fraud, and real-person privacy verification. It is understood that this project will be developed by the staff of the Bao Bo office. Legislator Ko Ju-chun stated that he will strive to promote international cooperation between the World ID real-person voting platform TAIVote and the World App.
PoP: Proof of Personhood
UBI: Universal Basic Income
ZK: Zero-Knowledge
Digital governance
