Using distributed ledger technology for digital forensic investigation purposes on tendering projects

Abstract

The tendering system used by the South African Government is regarded as a central method used by the organs of state to procure goods and services, including delivering some services to citizens with the aim of promoting social industrial, or environmental policies. Some of these projects are distributed using a tendering system aimed at developing and empowering the surrounding communities. Hence, the tendering system used by these organs of state should be fair, transparent, competitive, cost-effective, equitable, and free from corruption. However, the mismanagement of the tendering system might lead to interruption of operations, poor product quality, late service delivery, rising costs, and most importantly, fraud and corruption. The use of paperwork to share project information might also lead to the mismanagement of the tendering project because it might contribute towards illicit altering of project information during the process. This might also affect the fairness, transparency, data integrity, and competitiveness of the tendering system used by the South African Local Government. Additionally, the process of investigating any fraudulent activity is nearly impossible with the current paper-based tendering system. The purpose of this study is to implement a Blockchain prototype that can be used to securely share project information with all the participants that have an interest in the tendering project. This Blockchain prototype is called the Share Tendering Project (ShareTendPro) network. Diagrams were used to visualise the design of the ShareTendPro network. It is recommended that the use of the ShareTendPro network will enable various participants to have access to project information in real-time, allowing them to have access to the entire project history regardless of their geographical location. Access to real-time data would imply that the ShareTendPro network will also promote real-time auditing and digital forensic investigations because both auditors and investigators will have access to the project information of their interest in real-time. Additionally, the project information stored within the ShareTendPro network can also be regarded as credible digital evidence because it is immutable by default. Furthermore, the ShareTendPro network also seeks to reduce human interactions (i.e., human errors) by automating some of the processes within the network while assuring that all data is stored in a digital forensically sound format.