The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) announced on Monday 20 August that the agency has been developing a search engine based on the world 2nd largest blockchain - Ethereum Blockchain. This Explorer, according to the press release, was developed through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), a state-sponsored program that runs under the management of NRC.



Ethereum Blockchain Explorer


IRAP has implemented this blockchain-based application on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer storage protocol (P2P) that allows data-sharing on a digital distributed ledger. To be more specific, the browser allows users to look for published grants and contributions like subsidies information on the Blockchain of Ethereum.




See also: Blockchain application in E-commerce




According to the agency's press release, IPFS blockchain has been deployed by Blockchain Bitaccess.

The NRC stated that, by using IPFS, data will always be “secure, accessible and immutable.”

Transparency
The project’s goal is to develop a more transparent administration on government contracts and, by overall, to manage funding to small and medium-sized enterprises for innovative projects.

The "first live trial" of public blockchain technology with the use of blockchain Ethereum was launched by the NRC in January, and since its debut, the program has shown positive influences in exploring new applications of Blockchain.



See also: Blockchain application in Law





The early days


The NRC further stated that:

“These are early days, but NRC IRAP’s experiments with blockchain are expected to provide constructive insight into the potential for this technology and how it may be used for more open and transparent operations for public programs.”

The IPFS
The term “IPFS” became popular as it reveals the bold goal of storing multiple copies of data in a "permanent web”, especially in the time when the fear of US’s new administration manipulating and/or deleting data dominated the community.