IIT-M students earn place in India Book of Records, conduct elections using blockchain

Students of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) conducted a student council election using blockchain technology in Chennai. An IIT-M official said that it is being claimed as the first time that such technology has been used in the poll process.

Students of WebOps and Blockchain Club from the Centre for Innovation (CFI) at IIT-M developed the software to conduct the election through this technology. The India Book of Records has presented IIT-M students with a record of 'Blockchain Software for Students Body Election' for this feat of theirs.

According to the officials, some of the key advantages of using blockchain technology for elections include considerable cost reduction, offering a tamper-proof process that is verifiable and bringing an innate trust in the election process, as mentioned in a PTI report.

"Blockchain is an unchangeable, distributed digital ledger. The transactions or records on the ledger that are stored individually are referred to as a 'block' and the information in a block is usually linked to the information in a previous block. This, over time, forms a chain of transactions, which is what the word blockchain refers to," the report explained.

IIT-Madras, faculty-in-charge, WebOps and Blockchain Club, Professor Prabhu Rajagopal said, "This student-led project has the transformative potential to positively disrupt the way elections are held. By harnessing the inherent trust and immutability offered by blockchain technologies, this work demonstrates their impact on conducting elections," as per PTI.