Daily Times

The modern world is becoming increasingly digitised, and cryptocurrency exchanges have been rising in terms of value in recent months. Many would disagree with this because of the recent decline in cryptocurrency value, but infrastructure to accommodate digitization is on the rise. Last week, multi-trillion dollar asset manager Fidelity Investments USA launched a new project to build a cryptocurrency exchange, internal job postings have revealed.

After successful implementation in finance and supply chain industry, blockchain is currently the most researched area for government solutions. In February 2018, for example, the IBM Blockchain team surveyed 200 government leaders in 16 countries on their experience and expectations for blockchain. This study found that a significant percentage is reserved to launch projects that apply blockchain to transform regulatory compliance, contract management, identity management and citizen services with a new approach to enhancing transparency and collaboration between governments, business and citizens.

In the US, the blockchain employment market is gaining upward momentum every day. The job of developing blockchain distributed ledgers for businesses was recently ranked first among the top 20 fastest-growing job skills; postings for workers with those skills grew more than 200 percent last year, according to Computer World.

In American tech-hubs such as Silicon Valley, New York City or Boston, a blockchain developer has a median annual salary of $158,000 — which is a $28,000 premium over salaries for general software developers.

Across the pond, the European Commission has also recently launched the EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum, in partnership with ConsenSys. The initiative aims to “highlight key developments of the blockchain technology, promote European actors, and reinforce European engagement with multiple stakeholders involved in blockchain activities.” stated in the European Commission report.

Now let’s get to the problem areas.

In the early and mid-nineties, when the world was experiencing the Dot Net boom, Pakistani Universities had little or no infrastructure to produce IT graduates. Punjab University, for example, had only 24 seats for Masters of Computer Science program. Similarly, Quaid-e-Azam University had only 22 seats. At the same time our neighbouring country, India, was exporting thousands of software engineers on a monthly basis. Now the question arises, are we going the make the same mistake again? If not, then what is the solution or strategy to take our slice out of this big cake?

Blockchain infrastructure will also facilitate other related fourth-generation areas, like cyber security, artificial intelligence and big data

Pakistani technology experts are known to be one of the best in the world. In my opinion, it is the right time to invest in blockchain infrastructure and training. Blockchain infrastructure will also facilitate other related fourth-generation areas, like cyber security, artificial intelligence and big data. Currently, Pakistan produces over 30,000 IT graduates annually. TheGovernment of Pakistan should work with all HEC recognised universities to practice the latest fourth generation technologies.

While the US currently stands as the world leader in blockchain technology, China could very soon overshadow America in this field, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Pakistani government should work with China to build blockchain infrastructure to train and export blockchain technologists. These technologists can work for the local industry, go abroad and send home valuable foreign currency or open their own companies.

Pakistan’s government should also encourage and help all engineering graduates, regardless of their majors, to get blockchain training and other related fourth-generation technologies. Gartner forecasts that blockchain will generate an annual business value of more than $3 trillion by 2030.

To build the infrastructure, there are few steps that could be taken. First, engage overseas Pakistani engineers who are currently involved in blockchain technology. The government should setup an Open Source styled environment for blockchain ideas where participants could share their work. This way Pakistan will not waste it’s time and resources to reinvent the wheel. The government should setup a steering committee to oversee submitted proposals. This steering committee or board should not have access to any funding. Once the committee finalises a plan, it should submit to a related ministry for legal and funding requirements. Once approved, the government of Pakistan should own the plan and implement it across the country without wasting time, which is already running out.

Second, to engage private investors on the basis of a public-private partnership, we can follow the model of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) adopted by Philippines and India. They have provided huge incentives to land builders, developers as well as IT and IT-enabled services companies inside SEZs. With the condition of Fourth Generation technology implantation, we can simply build these parks on the basis of public-private partnership. These SEZs will also improve our image as big and small companies along with incubators and event centres will be co-located in these zones.

Third, while the infrastructure is being built, the government should initiate a special scholarship for fresh Engineering or Computer Science graduates to get online or on-campus training from the best international universities, like Blockchain at Berkeley or MIT. In a similar fashion, University of Malta has partnered with the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) to establish a $351,000 blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) scholarship fund. The new scholarship is targeting students who are studying information and communications technology, finance, and engineering, and will be split over three years.

In April, 2018, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued a very welcoming statement in Economic Survey 2017-2018 about blockchain. In the report, it says, “Blockchain is fundamentally changing the way people invest in companies, we could be looking at the next incarnation of the stock market. In Pakistan, the SBP has proven itself very progressive in the area of digital finance”.

Pakistan has the talent and resources it needs, and now it has a new government. We are lacking a strategy and mechanism to use our brilliant manpower, which can produce billions of dollars in remittance every year. In India, for example, the tech industry association NASSCOM is partnering with Canada’s Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) to explore the use of blockchain in government and academic institutions, as well as businesses. The partnership was announced during Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s visit to India. We need such initiatives where private and public sector should together with western technology giants, as this will encourage them to take manpower, and in some cases, invest in Pakistan for cost saving.

We have witnessed the Pakistani Premiers signing MOU’s for political gains. I don’t’ recall if any of these MOU’s were ever implemented. The production of blockchain technologists is a serious business and it should be implemented by serious professionals. The government of Pakistan should be working with Western stakeholders who have already spent billions of dollars on research and development. This will not only improve the country’s image, but also help us boost Pakistan’s economy, making it a self-sufficient country.

The writer is a technology expert who is working with US government based in Washington DC. He has passion in journalism and research. The views express here are personal

Published in Daily Times, September 28^th 2018.