Through the app, the agency seeks to obtain security in terms of authentication, authorization, and cryptography. To avoid the risk of contagion with COVID-19, they held the elections virtually.
In recent days, the Pan American Sports Organization (Panam Sports) held the first elections through a blockchain network. This agency is in charge of bringing together the National Olympic Committees of America. Seeking to provide the voting results with greater security, they used the platform of French technology company Atos.
The company explained that its platform works through a smartphone app and an online website. Through the voting app, 41 National Olympic Committees of the Americas elected the president of Panam Sports. This tool also allowed them to elect the new members of the executive committee.
“The app is protected by design and provides security in online voting through three key elements,” said the technology company. They say that they allowed them to ensure security in these elections through the so-called blockchain technology.
Ensuring a Single Voting Process by a Single user.
The first of these elements is authentication since they used a “two-factor system together with the user’s biometrics”. The second is the use of an authorization mechanism through a blockchain wallet. With this, they seek to “ensure a single voting process by a single user.” Finally, they incorporated cryptography, which “would allow decrypting the content only using a private key stored on the smartphone.”
According to Patrick Adiba, Executive Vice President of Olympic Games for Atos, the intention of using the app was to “have secure election”. They take advantage of the use of blockchain technology to “forge new digital paths in today’s times.” Another reason why the Pan American Sports Organization chose via remote voting was to protect the delegates from across the continent. They did not want to expose them to COVID-19, which has already caused too many deaths worldwide.
Ivar Sisniega, Secretary-General of the Pan American Sports Organization, said that it is the first time that they use this type of platform. This allowed them to hold an online election, in which many of the countries of the continent participated.
France-based technology company Atos receives annual revenues of around EUR 12 billion. They have been business partners of the Pan American Sports Organization since 1999. That year, the sports agency held the Pan American Games in Winnipeg.
The case of this company again shows the relevant role that blockchain plays in various business activities. Everyone knows that Satoshi Nakamoto originally developed this technology as a support for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. However, its use currently includes elections, food chains, and even educational activities and sporting events. It is not the first time that an organization has used blockchain technology to hold elections. The port authorities of the city of Barcelona, in Spain, recently held union elections through a blockchain app. Similarly, there will be elections for governor in Mexico, in which they will have a registration log based on blockchain.
By Willmen Blanco
