There is no denying the significant impact that a technology is making when the Queen herself decides to integrate it into the Kingdom. In a new move, Her Majesty’s (HM) Land Registry, which is the primary land registry in England, announced that their new Digital Street system would include the use of blockchain technology.

Digital Street is a collaborative project, involving the HM Land Registry and Methods, a software company. They plan to use Corda as their guide for blockchain implementation on this second phase of the project. The goal is that Digital Street will be used for understanding the way that blockchain, smart contracts, and other components of DLT technology can be applied to land registration. One of those uses will be the purchase and sale of property.

This announcement was made by the government’s official website in the UK on October 1st, where multiple officials commented on the change. For example, the Chief Executive for the HM Land Registry said,

“Our ambition to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, ease of use and an open approach to data requires HM Land Registry to be at the forefront of global innovation in land registration. By working with Methods on Digital Street we are taking another step toward that goal, as we explore how new technologies like blockchain can help us to develop a faster, simpler and cheaper land registration process.”

The HM Land Registry maintains all of the necessary records for property ownership, and their record-keeping methods need to be perfect. They are presently responsible for over 25 million ownership titles, which makes up for 85% of the land in both England and Wales. Every single purchase and sale of a property requires update, and that kind of rapid update cannot fall victim to tardiness. That is why they have turned to R3’s Corda, which is an open-source DLT platform.

Chief Executive Officer of R3, David Rutter, commented on this transition as well, saying,

“We are pleased to see another innovative deployment of Corda in the public sector and look forward to working with the world’s most well-recognized land registry, HM Land Registry. Blockchain holds the potential to transform land registry services by improving speed, simplicity and efficiency. We will be working closely with HM Land Registry, Methods and our partners over the coming months to turn this potential into reality.”

Along with England, there are other countries using R3 to help them break into the blockchain industry too. Thailand recently announced their plan to establish a digital currency for the banking industry, which will involve Corda as well. The plan is being called “Project Inthanon.”

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