All are allowed to participate in consensus and
anonymous resilient.
Authorized nodes only can participate in
consensus.
Truly decentralized because of the participation of
unknown actors.
Partially
decentralized
because
of
the
participation of known actors.
Highly secure due to more participants.
Also, secure depending on the size of the network.
Finality of transaction could take a longer time
due to more number of participants in the network
compared to the private network.
The finality of transactions could be better in this
model due to less number of participants
compared to public networks.
Some consensus algorithms are better for public
networks, such as Proof of Work, BFT variants,
and so on.
Some consensus algorithms are better for private
networks, such as Proof of Elapsed Time, Paxos,
RAFT, Proof of Stake, and so on.
Table 7 .1: Blockchain models
Value addition of the technology in the e-Governance domain
In the e-governance domain, usage of blockchain technology ensures vigilance
and transparency and possibly avoids insider attacks on the crucial data related
to governance matters. The key features of e-Governance are trust and
accountability, which are very well supported by blockchain technology.
Because every data or transaction that is recorded in blockchain is near
impossible to tamper with and also due to consensus-based transaction data
replication across blockchain distributed nodes, this technology assures trust
among its stakeholders in the digital world. The trust is specially brought in
since all the stakeholders access the same source of truth in terms of
application data stored on the blockchain network.
This kind of technology can bring significant changes in e-governance where
several services have a societal impact. For example, in the educational
system, student’s certificates, scholarship details, and so on can be stored in a
blockchain network. Various stakeholders such as educational institutions,
different departments entrusted with the disbursement of scholarships, and
respective administrative boards can become partners and have student’s
records stored on a consensus basis. Likewise, in the supply chain domain, the
track and trace capability of the blockchain network makes it possible to avoid
any inadvertent mistakes or insider attacks with regard to data maintenance
across various stakeholders.
Thus, this technology can effectively be used in situations where multiple
organizations or departments are involved in a particular workflow, which not