Guangzhou’s Chancheng District rolled out on May 11 a new blockchain-enabled project (in Chinese) for community supervision and correction of ex-prisoners, parolees, and probationers. Now, the project has finished its prototyping and the development of a credit evaluation system for ex-offenders will be completed by the end of this year, according to local media reports. By combining blockchain and wearables technologies, the platform aims to facilitate the management of ex-offenders by better tracking their whereabouts and giving guidance accordingly. Ex-offenders will be asked to wear smart wristbands that can their trace their location. The platform will receive alerts once the monitored person roams beyond a designated area. The positioning data will help the platform to analyze the daily behaviors and give credit ratings, according to Liang Zixi, director of Bureau of Justice of Chancheng District. It’s an important means to realize the reentry of ex-offenders to the society. Upon the completion of the community correction process, those who geta higher credit rating in the system would get a better chance of finding good jobs, applying for loans and accomplishing other tasks once difficult for ex-offenders China is quickly ramping up its adoption of the blockchain technology. Not only regional governments in Shenzhen and Fujian Province are taking a more open attitude towards the technology, the central state is also moving ahead with the plan to launch national standards for the distributed ledger technology. Furthermore, its application is expanding from the more traditional areas of finance to a diversified range of sectors such as government administration and healthcare. Emma Lee is Shanghai-based tech writer, covering startups and tech happenings in China and Asia in general. We are looking for stories related to tech and China. Reach her at lixin@technode.com. More by Emma Lee
China has launched a blockchain-enabled platform to supervise ex-prisoners and those on parole and probation, and plans a credit evaluation system for them by the end of the year. Ex-offenders in Guangzhou's Chancheng district will wear smart wristbands that trace their location and alert the authorities if they leave a designated area. A high credit rating from the system would help the ex-offenders find a job and apply for financial help. The launch comes as China increases its use of blockchain technology, with the central government planning to introduce national blockchain standards.