BLOCKCHAIN
EXOGENOUS: Looking East for inspiration Emerging from the chaos brought by covid-19 are the realisation about the coming of irreversible changes to be adopted with the “new normal” in public and private lives. The World Economic Forum’s summary of global risks below reflects the enormity of the impacts to be mitigated by countries based on relevant scenarios.
Staying ahead of the curve, key development has risen from the world of blockchain & distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). China as a nation leapfrogs in the digital world through the creation of “Blockchain- based Service Network” (BSN), also known as “ChinaChain” announcement to the global audience on April 25, 2020 in Beijing. The local launch was announced on 15th October 2019, paving the way for local pilot projects to be instituted in the six months that follows. These events were a built up from the government’s announcement of support for blockchain by President Xi Jinping back in October 2019. Whilst blockchain development is growing throughout the world, the BSN Alliance is likely to be the first initiative that is led by a single government of such magnitude. Led by its State Information Center, some of the key founders are Chinese tech giants including China Mobile, China Unionpay and Red Date Technologies. It underlined the strategic intent of expanding its economic and geopolitical strengths through the creation of “Digital Silk Road” equivalent to “One Belt one Railroad” (OBOR). PRC has also launched the “National Blockchain and Distributed Accounting Technology Standardization Technical Committee.” China’s Huawei, Tencent (owns WeChat), Baidu, Ant Financial (of Alibaba) and JD.com are among a group of companies, which includes academics on the respective committee. Although the scope of work has not been specified, it is expected to lead work
For industries, protracted disruption of global supply chain is inevitable. Discussions about “deglobalisation” and “decoupling” as a supply chain security measure to mitigate disruptions across sectors worldwide have become common, many attributed to over reliance on a single country, particularly the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In another context, they also reflect concerns for sovereign interests, particularly sources of income for the people and businesses as demand shocks rear their heads. Underlying all these movements would be the fragility of decision making in the midst of global financial system breaching steep into uncertainties. Successfully weathering these challenges would be the answer to the fundamental question of building resilience in the long term.
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Malaysian Technology Strategic Outlook 2019/2020 Intergration of High Technology
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