Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve is excited to launch the City of Reno’s Biggest Little Blockchain – the first city-run and resident-focused blockchain platform in the United States. The concept was first introduced in June 2022.
The public-facing blockchain resident-portal for the City of Reno’s historic properties is now available at Reno.gov/Blockchain. Residents can quickly see what kind of changes have been requested and approved for each of the buildings over the years.
The blockchain application, built by BlockApps, creates a single ledger, documenting consecutive transactions in a designated process. This project is unrelated to Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.
Over the course of the next year, the City will continue to work with BlockApps to build out and expand the records kept on the blockchain, but for now the focus will be on adding visuals and giving residents a better idea of what changes have been made to each of the properties on the City’s historic registry.
The public and all relevant City departments can now access the same records through an online platform, providing clarity and transparency. Additionally, blockchain technology creates and stores records that cannot be lost or changed, providing increased government accountability to the public.
The City of Reno’s Historic Registry is the first municipal records system to utilize this technology and make it available to the public. With its success, the City hopes to expand the scope of the Biggest Little Blockchain and bring more processes onto the network, such as regular maintenance work, permitting, and licensing.
“I’m excited that we’re able to showcase this blockchain technology for all Reno residents,” Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said. “Now, residents will have easy access to our registry and the changes made to our historic buildings over the years.”
Jeff Powell, Vice President of Sales of BlockApps, added: “We're eager to see the public-facing portal officially go live for residents to now access and interface with the City's Historic Registry. This new phase will exemplify the benefits of blockchain to the public to provide easier access to municipal records and increase transparency and accountability into government processes.”
For more background regarding blockchain technology and the City of Reno’s Register of Historic Places, visit Reno.gov/News.
Original Story From June 2, 2022:
On Thursday, Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve announced the City of Reno’s Biggest Little Blockchain – the first city-run and resident-focused blockchain platform in the United States.
The blockchain application, built by BlockApps, creates a single ledger, documenting consecutive transactions in a designated process. This pilot project, which is free to the City, is unrelated to Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.
Once the technology launches later in the summer, the public and all relevant City departments will be able to access the same record through an online platform, providing clarity and transparency. Additionally, blockchain technology creates and stores records that cannot be lost or changed, providing increased government accountability to the public.
The City of Reno’s Historic Registry is the first records system to utilize this technology.
The Biggest Little Blockchain is built on BlockApps’ blockchain platform STRATO. Blockchain technology is an unchangeable digital registry that stores records of transactions. Each transactional record is a “block,” and together the consecutive transactions in a given process make the “chain.”
Unlike other well-known blockchain applications such as Bitcoin or other public networks, the BlockApps STRATO platform is purpose-built for permanent recordkeeping and is not a significant source of energy usage or greenhouse gas emissions. The STRATO platform simplifies data sharing and collaboration across once siloed systems.
More About the Historic Registry
The City of Reno’s Register of Historic Places was established as an official list of properties deemed historically significant and worthy of preservation in 1993. The local register assists in preserving the exterior of structures and thereby preserving the overall community character and sense of place.
When landowners and developers would like to make alterations to the buildings on the Historic Registry, they can request “Certificates of Appropriateness” (CoA) for proposed maintenance or additions on historic properties. This project marks the first time Reno residents will be able to access information and check on the status of changes to historic buildings with just a click.
(City of Reno contributed to this report.)
