Suddenly, like a night of spring breeze. Blockchain is back in the spotlight. Recently, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) conducted the 18th collective learning on the current situation and trend of blockchain technology development.
On November 2, the Institute of Public Policy of Zhejiang University organized well-known experts, blockchain leaders, and industry association representatives from the province to discuss current blockchain and social governance issues that require attention. At the seminar, Hangzhou Qulian Technology introduced the blockchain Internet justice lottery platform launched in cooperation with Hangzhou Internet Notary Office. The platform can show the public who participates in the lottery process, and the algorithm in a very open and transparent manner, solving previously high-profile issues of duplicate and consecutive numbers.
The revival of the blockchain industry, which has been dormant for more than a year, has triggered a new round of discussion on blockchain value. Blockchain is an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies. What can we do? How will the Zhejiang power of “blockchain+” be released under the expectations of the public?
Industry revival
“We are now Ma Yun of 1996.”
Ji Jiangmin, associate professor of the School of Computer Science at Zhejiang University and secretary-general of the Hangzhou Blockchain Technology and Application Federation, was transformed by this important news on the evening of October 29.
“The lecturer of the collective learning of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee is Professor Chen Chun, director of the Blockchain Research Center of Zhejiang University and an academician of the CAE Member.” Ji Jiangmin revealed that Zhejiang University is the first university in China to open blockchain elective courses among undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to well-known professors such as Chen Chun and Yang Xiaohu, the teachers in the class will also invite engineers from IBM, Microsoft and Fun Chain Technology in the practice link, and the students are very excited.
On the afternoon of October 30, during Ji Jiangmin’s only two hours in the office, phone calls and WeChat messages rang in turn. Not only were invitations received from all parties, but many people came to request the list of members of the Zhejiang Blockchain Industry Association. In Zhejiang, how many blockchain enterprises with high gold content such as Quzhou Technology? This is also what the venture capital industry and many small and medium-sized enterprises that want to embrace the blockchain outlet urgently want to know.
“Zhejiang’s blockchain technology started early, leading the country in both blockchain research and industrial development. Enterprises located in the first camp in the country, in addition to Quzhou Technology, also have a certain impact in the country, including Shuqin Technology, Cloud Image Network, and Complex Beauty.” Ji Jiangmin is familiar with blockchain enterprises, “If blockchain projects are to go online, they must be filed. There are 150 in Beijing, 130 in Guangdong, and 77 in Zhejiang during the two phases. The gap between Zhejiang and the top and second runners-up is due to the fact that many financial system headquarters are located in Beijing and Guangdong, and apart from this factor, Zhejiang’s strength is very good.”
“However, there are not many enterprises in Hangzhou that really engage in blockchain technology and applications, only over 20.” He picked up his mobile phone and showed it to a reporter in his circle of friends. “The most enthusiastic reaction and the loudest cheers are from people in the currency circle.”
Equally noisy is the capital market. On October 28th, the A-share market opened, with almost all blockchain related stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets trading up and down. As of the close of the day, 120 blockchain “concept stocks” were among the 159 stocks that were subject to trading limits. There are countless listed companies that disclose blockchain information through interaction with investors. The waves wash away the sand, eliminating the false and reserving the true. On the second day, only 29 of the 159 stocks that had risen sharply continued to rise.
Reporters have noticed that 12 Zhejiang stocks, including Zhejiang University Wangxin, Hang Seng Electronics, and Zhejiang Furun, rose and closed on October 28th. These Zhejiang listed companies are not trendsetters, and each has already had a layout in the blockchain. Among them, Zhejiang University. com’s new shares rose and closed for three consecutive days due to its participation in Fun Chain Technology.
The research report of Caitong Securities pointed out that similar to large-scale technological changes such as the Internet in 2000 and the Internet of Things in 2009, this wave is most likely to be at the level of about 10 years, with a significant impact on all aspects of society. In the short term, the concept of speculation is based on real strength and performance in the long term. The post 90s boss of a blockchain company said to investors, “We are now Ma Yun in 1996!”
Application landing
Serving the real economy through “all directions”
“Serving the real economy, enabling blockchain to play a positive role in promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and economic and social development, and enabling blockchain technology to be better applied in multiple fields and scenarios related to the real economy are the primary tasks of blockchain development.”. As early as two years ago, Professor Jin Xuejun, Executive Director of the Public Policy Research Institute of Zhejiang University and President of the Zhejiang Blockchain Technology Application Association, raised this point.
On May 8th last year, the Zhejiang Provincial Government held a special learning meeting on “Blockchain Technology and Applications”. Zhejiang Province proposes to implement the strategic idea of “Digital China, a powerful country through the Internet”, create conditions to accelerate the deep integration of digital technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data with the real economy and social development, fully implement the “No.1 Project” of the digital economy, focus on building a blockchain industry highland, and accelerate the construction of digital Zhejiang.
As the commercialization and scientific research of blockchain accelerate, the commercial landing scenarios of blockchain continue to enrich. Many Zhejiang enterprises, such as Ant Financial Services, Zhejiang University Wangxin, Zhejiang Commercial Bank, and Ancun Technology, have made many explorations in fields such as assisting the real economy, serving the people’s livelihood, and innovating the digital economy.
Zheshang Bank’s ice breaking action in the financial field using blockchain began with the accounts receivable of small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2017, Zhejiang Commercial Bank launched the industry’s first “accounts receivable chain platform” based on blockchain technology, which saved 80% of time costs and reduced 50% of financing costs by “uploading” accounts receivable of small and medium-sized enterprises into digital vouchers.
“The value of blockchain is not in speculation, but in solving social problems. Its technical charm lies in building trust and collaboration. Ant blockchain focuses on two directions, one is to address the pain points of people’s livelihood, and the other is to support the real economy.” Jiang Guofei, Vice President of Ant Financial Services and Head of Technology Laboratory, insisted that blockchain should do something and not do anything. Relying on Alibaba, Ant blockchain has been integrated with multiple industries and has landed in over 40 application scenarios. For example, in the field of tracing public welfare donations, the ant blockchain can make the whereabouts and uses of each donation traceable, making public welfare more warm and caring.
“What allows more ordinary people to” touch “blockchain is still an application in the field of livelihood. This year, including the” Zheli Office APP “, there are multiple online medical insurance platforms in Zhejiang Province that provide the entire process of registration, medical treatment, report collection, and settlement services.”. The behind-the-scenes hero behind the realization of off-site medical insurance reimbursement is blockchain. A new technician from Zhejiang University explained that blockchain will be “stamped” throughout the entire process of generating, transmitting, storing, and using electronic bills. If an electronic bill has already been reimbursed, it is impossible to report it again, making commercial insurance reimbursement more controllable. In addition to the field of commercial insurance, the electronic bill platform has expanded to areas such as sporadic medical insurance reimbursement and off-site reimbursement. In the future, retired faculty members will no longer need to sort out cumbersome invoices or queue up, and they can apply for medical insurance reimbursement using only their mobile phones.
Unlike other enterprises exploring their respective fields, Zhejiang Private Enterprise Wanxiang Group has invested 200 billion yuan and joined hands with numerous innovative institutions to build the world’s first smart city, Wanxiang Innovation and Energy Gathering City based on blockchain, driven by blockchain technology and relying on cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence in Xiaoshan. It sounds even more mysterious.
“In the overall planning of the 8.3 square kilometers of land in the Innovation and Energy Gathering City, we will plan several large ALL (Advanced Living Lab Intelligent City Practice Workshop), establish platforms, develop technologies, deploy and test new algorithms, systems, and sensors, and collaborate and interact with local urban ecological participants in a real environment.” said Wang Yunzhen, Chief Innovation Officer of Wanxiang Innovation and Energy Gathering City. He reviewed the global examples of smart cities. The limitation of smart cities is often the long-term nature of urban construction, which does not match the leapfrog pace of the technological evolution cycle. Therefore, no matter how good the top-level design is, it will soon fall behind the technological trend and lose its progressiveness. Using blockchain in urban design to establish a distributed data architecture and a distributed innovation economic model, and endow the city with its own sustainable updating and evolution capabilities, there is no need to reinvent the wheel and remain forward-looking.
In order to illustrate the value of blockchain in smart cities, he took intelligent driving as an example. Blockchain makes it possible to apply fields such as unmanned driving in cities in terms of technology implementation, safety assurance, social responsibility, and legal accountability. Faced with the enormous risks posed by hackers to drivers and pedestrians in the promotion of autonomous driving, blockchain can effectively manage necessary personal data related to autonomous vehicles, such as preferences for destinations, credit and bank information for paying taxis or tolls, and so on. Hackers will not be able to access the system and control the vehicle.
Outlook
Let the data not run away
“The development of blockchain in the West is basically based on financial innovation driving innovation in other industries, while in China, in addition to financial innovation, what is more important is the application in various industries.” On October 31, at a collective interview for blockchain research at Zhejiang University, Chen Chun stated that blockchain technology is only a beginning at present, and many aspects are far from mature, and there is still a long way to go in the future. He believes that under a reasonable regulatory framework, using the fundamental characteristics of blockchain, combined with the real economy, people’s livelihood, social governance, etc., blockchain can become another sharp tool for China’s new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation.
In the era of electrical appliances, electricity is a sign of prosperity, while in the era of 4G, the number of users on the network is a sign. In the future, the amount of online links will become an important indicator of the level of the digital economy. Behind the interconnected world of everything, there will be enormous technical challenges: network, throughput, processing capacity, data privacy and security, computing costs, cross chain connectivity, and other issues. These are core technical issues that need to be addressed urgently.
“If blockchain is to serve all industries and ‘blockchain+’ is to be applied on a large scale, I think the most important thing is to solve problems on and off the chain.” To facilitate understanding, Professor Chen Chun gave an example. “Previously, people graduated from college and retired in a single unit. Now, it’s different. Many people may work in Hangzhou for a year, arrive in Beijing for half a year, and then arrive in Shanghai. Before blockchain technology, it was very troublesome to pay provident fund every time. The Ministry of Housing and Construction has made an attempt to connect provident fund centers in 491 cities across the country using blockchain. In this way, the provident fund center in Hangzhou can easily access your payment records in Beijing.” 。 The provident fund centers in 491 cities are data on the chain, and each provident fund center manages data off the chain. We can embed the blockchain system into the current traditional trusted system to solve some of its problems, or in turn use the blockchain system to release the traditional information system. “Without blockchain technology, it is difficult to achieve data collaboration on and off the chain.”
“Run at most once” reform allows the masses to run less and data more. Technically, to achieve a maximum of one run, data needs to be centralized. The practice in many places is to summon various departments to the service hall, so that the masses do not run away. Many times, the staff have to help the masses run. How to exchange data when it is not centralized? Some cities have established big data management departments to centrally manage data from various departments. Chen Chun said that if blockchain technology is used in the future, data can be left in various cities and departments, and only synchronized to corresponding nodes through smart contracts. Not only do the masses run less, but data doesn’t have to run, bringing more convenient government services.
Under the call of the era prospect of the Internet of Ten Thousand Chains, what is still lacking in Zhejiang? The unanimous answer from experts is technology and talent. Cai Liang, Vice Dean of the School of Software at Zhejiang University and Executive Deputy Director of the Blockchain Research Center at Zhejiang University, said that blockchain requires not only IT talents who understand low-level research and development, but also talents who are engaged in application and supervision. As a disruptive technology in the Internet era, blockchain will help the government better solve the persistent problems of social governance, restructure the social credit system, improve social governance methods, improve social management efficiency, and bring new possibilities to social governance. Blockchain may lead to a change in government governance. The foam and speculation will eventually pass, and the blockchain will surely settle down and make great achievements.
(Source: Zhejiang Daily)