World Economic Forum Proposes Using the Blockchain Technology In Real World Economy

Well, as the world economy goes to a tailspin following the Coronavirus pandemic, global financial institutions are looking for alternatives over and above the traditional financial systems to repair the broken economy.

In the latest development, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has proposed using the blockchain in a number of financial and trade-related verticals.

In its latest published guide dubbed “Redesigning Trust: Blockchain Deployment Toolkit,” the WEF proposed to building more robust blockchain-based supply chain systems using the distributed ledger.  The toolkit comprises of a complete checklist to see if the use of blockchain fits in a particular scenario and guides implementing DLT in those use cases.

The toolkit aims to enable “leaders to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks” which comes with DLT. The toolkit has been developed from over a year with contributions coming from over 100 public and private companies spread across 50 countries. Some of the big organizations who participated in creating this toolkit include World Bank, Maersk, Deloitte, and the World Food Program.

Nadia Hewett, the blockchain and digital currency project at WEF USA, said: “The blockchain deployment toolkit is essential for designing solutions that work for a multitude of actors, including smaller players who may not have access to the resources required to unlock the value of blockchain technology”.

The report comprises of checklists, explainer, guided questions, and risk assessment while addressing data privacy and tax concerns. Besides, it talks about forming a consortium, a governance, an ecosystem comprising of public and private enterprises, etc.

The World Economic Forum report also shows how using blockchain we can maintain the core ethos of the internet privacy laws though it immutable nature. to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the report mention using some of the key blockchain features like homomorphic encryption, zero-knowledge proofs, off-chain hashing configurations, role-based access controls, and a lot more.

Besides, the toolkit also states that blockchain is a natural technological evolution for governments and companies emerging out of this global pandemic and Coronavirus crisis.

The report states: "The case for blockchain is stronger as the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for more resilient global supply chains, trusted data and an economic recovery enabled through trade digitization”.

We all know how the Coronavirus pandemic has brought global trade and commerce to standstill putting a major dent in the global economic activity. While the pandemic has disrupted the overall supply global supply chain, the WEF is looking at blockchain on how the technology can streamline things.

Hewett also said that blockchain could have helped in maintaining a huge transparency in supply of medical equipment and reduced the trade of faulty and fake masks by making scammers irrelevant.

Hewett added that blockchain “is not a silver bullet. It's not going to solve it all, but it absolutely has features that can help with issues that's typical in epidemics and pandemics.” 

He further stated: “This time we really do see a big momentum behind making sure this time that they capture the momentum and that we bake into our solutions day-to-day elements but also that could help during a disruption. Post-COVID, that future state, let's work toward and shape the outcome in a way that promotes interoperability, integrity, and inclusivity."