Artikel TFD, MESTECC
Blockchain: A survey on its potential and challenges in Malaysia
Blockchain
technology is an entire new way of documenting data on the internet.
The information recorded on a Blockchain can be either a value of
transaction (Bitcoin cryptocurrency), personal identity of an individual
(e-Identity in Estonia), an agreement between two or more parties
(smart contract on Ethereum) or product traceability (food traceability
app by Walmart). It was included as one of the top 10 emerging
technologies of 2016 by World Economic Forum with related investment
exceeding RM4 billion in 2015 (World Economic Forum, 2016).
In
Malaysia, Blockchain started to gain public interest following the rise
of Bitcoin in 2017, at one point hitting the RM80,000 mark for 1
Bitcoin (Coindesk, 2017). Very often, people are confused between
Bitcoin and Blockchain, referring both as the same thing. However, in
short, Blockchain is the platform that Bitcoin (the app) runs on.
Putting it in another way, Blockchain is the internet and Bitcoin is the
Maybank2U app that we so often use to do our financial transaction.
The
success of Bitcoin saw big technology firms like IBM all the way to
startups trying to innovate and bring Blockchain into other sectors
beyond the financial industry with the hope it will help to enhance
privacy, security and freedom of conveyance of data to companies and to
the society in 2017. At the same time, Standards Malaysia set up a
Malaysian National Committee to discuss the initiatives and proposals
coming from the International Standard Organization’s new Technical
Standard Committee on Blockchain and Electronic Distributed Ledger
Technologies.
After
a series of engagements with various ministries and government
agencies, we found out there are limited knowledge about this technology
in the civil service and currently many uncoordinated Blockchain
initiatives by the public and private sectors. In order to have a better
insight about the Blockchain potentials, we did a research survey with
local Blockchain experts in 2018, asking about their opinions on the
potentials and the challenges for Blockchain technology to develop in
Malaysia in the next 20 years.
The
charts below are the findings from our research survey with the
experts. In summary, the top four sectors most likely to be disrupted by
Blockchain in Malaysia are the finance (36%), public services (16%),
trade and logistics (10%) and ICT (11%). Most of the experts (60%) are
in agreement that Blockchain will only be scalable and plays a bigger
role in our economy beyond the year 2021. This is because Blockchain is
still an infant technology and it needs other technologies, some
currently in development, to fulfil its potentials. The experts also
think regulations, standards and firm decision making by the policy
makers as the top factors in promoting Blockchain development in
Malaysia. For the full report, please contact Foresight Technology
Division, MESTECC for further details. YS
Thank you.
FT Insights 6/2019: Blockchain: A survey on its potential and challenges in Malaysia.
...HYS, TFD, MESTECC...
Artikel TFD, MESTECC
