Spanish City of Bilbao Launches $171K Tender to Develop Public Blockchain Network

Bilbao, the largest city in northern Spain, has launched a €150,000 (around $171,000) tender to develop a blockchain for public services, Bilbao’s municipal authorities announced Monday, Nov. 12.

Officials of the largest city in Basque country want to create a decentralized platform, designed to allow one to act with “power of attorney” online. The deadline to apply for the tender is set on Nov. 23.

A company that will be awarded the contract has to develop the blockchain network within six months. According to the technical description of the tender, the winning company should build a network similar to EJIE — a digital platform owned by the Basque country’s government. EJIE, in its turn, operates on JPMorgan’s Quorum, a distributed ledger and smart contract platform designed for financial needs and based on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain.

By using blockchain and smart contracts, Bilbao’s authorities want to facilitate the data exchange between different public institutions, implying interoperability with EJIE. The officials believe that blockchain technology will help store citizens’ data safely and prevent hacks and alterations.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Spain remains one of the “primary examples of blockchain optimism” on many levels. Recently, the Spanish autonomous community of Aragon announced it would provide blockchain services to citizens on a state level. Later in October, one of Spain's busiest ports based in Valencia stated it was creating a “smart port” to improve logistics and cut costs.

In April, the U.S’s JPMorgan Chase started testing its blockchain platform Quorum with partners including Goldman Sachs, Pfizer Inc., and the National Bank of Canada. In September, the platform was joined by over 75 multinational banks, including Societe Generale and Santander.