Integration of the Generalitat’s electronic notifications module with the Blockchain register module - Sede electronica

The Generalitat Valenciana has launched a register module that uses Blockchain, with the aim of incorporating technologies to help citizens improve the traceability and transparency of the transactions they carry out with the Generalitat’s Public Administration.

Blockchain provides security as it does not rely on a central organisation, but instead on a network of distributed nodes/servers (decentralised structure), and it uses an advanced form of encryption that ensures data integrity and transparency.

The Generalitat has deployed its Blockchain services through ISTEC (Infraestructures i Serveis de Telecomunicacions i Certificació), a member of BlockchainFUE, the first Valencian cooperative to offer a public network based on Blockchain technology.

As a pilot project, and to give visibility to the improvements brought about through the use of this new technology, the GVA’s Notifications Module has been integrated with this Blockchain register. This integration makes it possible to generate and record digital evidence of the different events and changes in status a notification goes through during its life cycle, offering transparency and ensuring its immutability and traceability from the moment the notification is created until it is issued or expires.

The Generalitat Valenciana uses its Notifications Module for all the notifications requiring acknowledgement (online or two-way) that it manages; this module generates and registers digital evidence when the following situations or changes occur in the life cycle of a notification:

• Registration of the notification in the Generalitat notification module.

• Made available on the DEHú (Single Enabled Electronic Address).

• An email is sent to the interested party notifying them the notification is available.

• Intervention of the interested party (either from the notification module itself, from the DEHú or by personal appearance).

• Expiration of the notification, if an intervention does not occur. 

For each of these pieces of digital evidence, the necessary information is registered to be able to transparently show the temporal situation of each notifications.

Users, accessing through their Citizen Folder or the Notifications Module, can view the traceability report from the notification feature and through this link:

This traceability report, which is intended for information purposes, contains the digital evidence record generated by the Blockchain registration module for each notification.

The specific information contained in the report is:

At the head:

The registration application, indicating the code that identifies the Generalitat’s Notifications Module and the register group, the latter being the unique identifier of the notification in the Module.

In the body of the report:

For each of the events produced:

• a description of the change in the life cycle. This could be, for example: “Notification registration”, “Notification notice sent”, etc.

• the date on which it occurred,

• the date on which the event has been registered on the Blockchain,

• the issue register number and date associated with the notification, in the example: “GVRTE/2021/999999999”,

• and the digital evidence signature, which guarantees the immutability of the information collected in the Blockchain system.

Through these actions, the Generalitat Valenciana aims to progressively incorporate new technologies, such as Blockchain, in order to provide a higher level of transparency and security for citizens in all interactions carried out with the Generalitat Valenciana.