Yesterday, Chinese tech giant Huawei announced that its blockchain directory for government is live in Beijing, according to East Money. Revealed at a conference on Sunday, the firm has developed a data exchange platform with the immutability and trust enabled by blockchain.
Zhang Xiaojun, head of Huawei’s blockchain activities, believes that the technology’s value is not to “invest in 50 yuan and earn 50,000 yuan in the future”, but to streamline intermediate processes and see permanent cost savings. Which is the issue the firm’s data sharing solution hopes to address.
A directory for the vast amount of government data, Huawei’s blockchain links over 50 Beijing institutions, such as the Municipal Tax, Medical Insurance, and Public Security Bureaus. Rather than centralized data silos, blockchain allows for more efficient database management including queries, trusted sharing, and permissions.
It additionally brings together legacy systems, which are often entirely separate and non-interoperable between government departments. If the tax bureau needs some information from the medical insurance bureau, the process is simplified as they are using a single system.
Zhang claimed that the directory handles over 44,000 files and 8000 permissions, with plans to include 16 more districts and counties in China. With this expansion, Huawei will introduce inter-government data sharing rights, allowing separate departments to cross-check directories.
Two weeks ago, Huawei was reportedly in talks with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to collaborate on its digital currency project, likely also for data management. The firm is a member of FISCO and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which released a blockchain ‘toolkit’ this year, and deputy leader of China’s Trusted Blockchain Telecoms Application Group.
