Preventing Corruption Through Blockchain-Based Transparency Systems

Abstract

Corruption is still prevalent in Indonesian governance, hindering economic growth and causing the loss of institutional integrity and public trust. Indonesia does have a fairly complete anti-corruption law, but poor law enforcement and data manipulation in its centralized information system pose barriers to transparency. This study discusses how blockchain technology can be an alternative framework for the enforcement of transparency and integrity in the management of public data. An experimental design was used wherein two prototype systems were developed and compared: System A, the traditional centralized database developed using Python Flask, and System B, the decentralized system built on Ethereum Sepolia Testnet with smart contracts written in Solidity. The results revealed that System A enables data manipulation without leaving audit trails, thus highlighting weaknesses in existing centralized systems. On the contrary, System B guarantees immutability, traceability, and public verifiability based on cryptographic logging of transactions and decentralized consensus. The results reveal that blockchain shows promise in minimizing corruption because it can protect public records from tampering and reinforce accountability among institutions. The research proposes the gradual introduction of blockchain technology to Indonesia's egovernment systems, supported by legal frameworks and capacity building, inter-agency collaboration, toward a transparent and corruption-free digital government.