South Korea’s state arms procurement agency will push to build a blockchain-based platform to enhance transparency and efficiency in conducting defense acquisition projects, officials said on April 10.

A blockchain refers to a growing list of digital data organized in blocks and managed by multiple computers under a shared network with no centralized authority. Once recorded, data blocks are hard to alter or remove, making them resistant to arbitrary modifications.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said that it seeks to use the blockchain platform to share data about military acquisition projects with all relevant government organizations and to prevent any data falsifications.

The organizations include the Agency for Defense Development and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality.

“Through the envisioned platform, we will be able to improve the credibility of defense projects by sharing information about all implementation processes among those agencies,” DAPA said in a press release.

The electronic platform will also spare local defense firms the burden of submitting heavy piles of paper documents to DAPA when applying for state procurement projects.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)