A Blockchain-based Land Title Management System for Bangladesh

• Published in: Journal of King Saud University. Computer and information sciences Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 3096 - 3110
• Main Authors: Alam, Kazi Masudul, Ashfiqur Rahman, J.M., Tasnim, Anisha, Akther, Aysha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Bangladesh; Ethereum; Hybrid Blockchain; Land title management; Smart contract; Transparent governance; Land title management; Bangladesh; Transparent governance; Smart contract; Ethereum; Hybrid Blockchain
• ISSN: 1319-1578; 2213-1248
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jksuci.2020.10.011

Bangladesh is a small country with a large population. Its increasingly developing economy further makes land a lucrative source of fixed capital. On the other hand, land titling is a cumbersome and lengthy process, where different government bodies process different sets of documents, and bureaucratic loopholes encourage fraudulent activities by organized people. As a result, the current model suffers from good governance. In this paper, we propose a Blockchain-based solution that offers data synchronization and transparency, ease of access, immutable records management, a faster and cheaper solution. Considering the technological knowledge and capacity of the people and the government, we introduced a phase by phase Blockchain adoption model that starts with a public Blockchain ledger and later gradually incorporates two levels of Hybrid Blockchain. We provide detailed smart contracts design of the public Blockchain and implement a prototype system using Ethereum. Our experimental setup uses local and live Ethereum test networks to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed system. Our analysis shows that the proposed model reduces the number of required travels, the overall cost of information processing as well as provide easy access to vital information. As a result, Blockchain adoption can improve the land title digitization effort of Bangladesh.