The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) could be the first state agency to use blockchain technology when issuing vehicle titles.

"Blockchain offers the promise for custody of data that involved diverse stakeholders and serving diverse stakeholders is the nature and responsibility of government," Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said during a talk at the final day of the 2019 Blockland Solutions Conference Wednesday, Dec. 11 at the Huntington Convention Center.

InnovateOhio was created this year as a new state agency that advises on technology in order to create efficiencies and save money in government agencies. It will also serve as a clearinghouse for all state data and agencies are required to migrate all data on the InnovateOhio platform in 2020.

"The data was spread all around and everyone had their own silos and the first order of business was to get that all in the same place on the InnovateOhio platform," Husted said.

Under the new InnovateOhio office, which Husted heads, working groups identified the BMV as the state agency best suited to use new technology to better the "customer experience," Husted said.

Employing the concept that the best interactions are the ones that never happen, the BMV now has 18 sites, most in Central Ohio, where residents looking for new vehicle title, registration or driver's licenses can reserve a space online before visiting the agency.

BMV wait times in the pilot locations have saved visitors 6,000 hours, which translates into 150,000 hours a year of saved time.

More pilot locations will roll out statewide Friday and, by June 2020, the program will be available at every BMV.

Husted said that InnovateOhio is looking at a proposal that with the private sector would modify vehicle titles using blockchain technology.

"It is about entrepreneurship, it is about improving the quality of people's lives, it is about changing the culture," Husted said. "People who work in government being excited about innovation," he added.

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Ohio BMV poised to be the state's springboard into blockchain technology - Crain's Cleveland Business