Credits, the blockchain platform provider, is now supplying its secure Blockchain-as-a-Service to the UK public sector through the Government Digital Services' Digital Marketplace.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) awarded a place on the G-Cloud 8 framework agreement to Credits for the supply of distributed ledger technology (DLT), enabling the Credits Blockchain platform-as-a-service to be used by organisations across the UK public sector including central and local government, the devolved administrations, health, education, emergency services, defence, and not-for-profits such as housing associations and charities.

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CCS acts on behalf of the Crown to drive savings for the taxpayer and improve the quality of commercial and procurement activity. Its vision is to deliver value for the nation through outstanding commercial capability and quality customer service. The Digital Marketplace is the official platform for UK public sector organisations wanting to procure cloud and digital specialist services.

The Credits Blockchain-as-a-Service will enable UK public sector bodies and their solution and managed service providers to build and deploy secure, enterprise-grade and interoperable DLT services.

Nick Williamson, CEO & Founder of Credits, said in a statement: "Credits is pleased to have been awarded a place on the G-Cloud 8 platform. We are excited by the huge potential of Distributed Ledger Technology for many different government and public sector applications, and are looking forward to working with UK public sector organisations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their services for UK taxpayers."

Credits' G-Cloud Blockchain-as-a-Service runs on secure cloud infrastructure powered by partner UKCloud (formerly Skyscape Cloud Services). The G-Cloud agreement follows Credits' 2015 success in supplying its blockchain framework to the Isle of Man Government, and the launch in April 2016 of Credits' public blockchain PaaS.

Blockchains can help create powerful and robust identity management tools, preserve data security, reduce fraud and costs for the public sector. Government departments and agencies such as the National Health Service, DVLA, HM Passport Office, the Land Registry, Department for Work and Pensions, and HM Revenue and Customs should benefit greatly from DLT, enabling them to improve digital services and increase taxpayer value.

In a recent UK Government report on the use of blockchains, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Mark Walport, wrote: "Distributed ledger technology has the potential to redefine the relationship between government and citizens in terms of data-sharing, transparency and trust."

Sir Mark highlighted several areas DLT could help with governance including, traceability in aid spending, protecting critical infrastructure, registering assets such as intellectual property, wills, NHS health data and pension, and reducing benefit fraud.

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