Rhode Island Solicits Blockchain Solutions Via Proof-of-Concept Proposals

By Rishma Banerjee

According to official documents, which were published on 31st of May, Rhode Island’s Department of Administration/Division of Purchase in the United States has publicly asked for blockchain solutions via proof-of-concept proposals.

The department is looking for proposals, specifically from “qualified firms” that aim to “further the State’s goal of becoming more efficient, transparent, accurate, secure and business-friendly.” The deadline for submissions has been set on the 21st of June. The notice that was released contained a multitude of areas which these blockchain solutions were aiming to cover and included licensing, antifraud, contracts, medical marijuana, and crowdsourcing. However, the solicitation notice also emphasized several times about the fact that the nature of project proposals had been intentionally left open in order to encourage innovation.

You May Also Read: Research: Global Spending on Blockchain Solutions to Reach $2.9 Billion in 2019

According to reports, proposals that are submitted will be reviewed and graded on a point system following a certain set of criteria, which are further explained in the document. The technical proposal is required to be assigned at least 50 points by graders from the technical evaluation committee so that it can move on to the demonstration/proof of concept interview and cost proposal required thereafter.

It was at the end of February that representatives from Rhode Island introduced a bill that sought to exclude blockchain tokens from extant state securities laws via amendments to the Rhode Island Securities Act. The bill specifies that this would only be applicable to non-utility tokens, which are basically tokens used for a “consumptive purpose.”

You May Also Read: Top 5 Blockchain Solutions For Charity and Social Impact

It is quite natural that with the rise in the popularity of blockchain technology, it will be increasingly used in more and more sectors. As reported earlier, research organization Data Foundation and IT firm Booz Allen Hamilton recently published a report on successful blockchain solutions in government. The research had gathered data from seven successful blockchain solutions currently existing at the federal level and concluded with criteria they suggested for determining successful use cases. They observed that successful programs were being implemented by federal entities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense.