Spain, like other EU’s countries, has taken significant steps in combating corruption. Part of the steps taken includes the amendment of its anti-corruption laws and development of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Angel Gurria, secretary-general of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) made a declaration about making integrity, transparency and anti-corruption fight part of the nation’s culture. The aftermath of the adoption of the new OECD-approved measures to fight corruption and promote transparency led to the prosecution of 1378 officials between July 2015 and September 2016 in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Spain, Gurtel corruption scandal. Following a no-confidence vote in parliament against Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy of PP was compelled to step down from office as the Gurtel corruption scandal hit his government. Aside the Gurtel corruption scandal, the country’s royal family got one of his members, Inaki Urdangarin imprisoned for the first time in history on June 12 as he was charged for corruption, fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion.
The EU launched its Blockchain Observatory and Forum in February investing over 80 million euros in various related projects. Being a member of the European Blockchain Partnership, Spain has shown its commitment to building EU-wide blockchain and AI applications that can be used to fight against corruption across the Digital Single Market for public and private sectors benefit. With the aid of the European Regional Development Fund, Spanish blockchain company is building Ethereum-based blockchain solution that will allow parties to legally transfer ownership of crypto assets by reducing manipulation and fraud, adding verifiability and auditability to digital transactions and by tracking information and digitized assets without using intermediaries. The University of Valladolid developed an AI application that will enhance the effective detection of corruption and tax evasion as detection of foreign bribery and related offences are the first step towards combating it. Their computer model is based on neural networks and calculates the probability of corruption in Spanish provinces as well as the conditions that favour it. The major point behind all these is to detect corruption of any form in its early stages in order to apply corrective and preventive measures promptly.
