Blocko hosts blockchain industry meeting for the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT
FN News — The Korean Ministry of Science and ICT is quickening the pace on establishing policies around use of distributed ledger technology in commercial and public services sectors. Like how the real estate and payment sectors are quickly adopting the technology, regulators in Korea are looking to make sure their support for blockchain is reflected in legislation. As such, the deputy vice minister of the ministry, Wonki Min, held a special meeting to listen to the difficulties blockchain companies face with regards to regulation at Blocko’s headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seoul.
The meeting also touched on how regulators could help enterprises adopt permissionless networks, namely AERGO, where the legislative picture is unclear. The special ‘on the spot’ meeting was conducted as part of the government’s plan to communicate with the top ten information, communication, and technology sectors as part of what the ministry regards as the fourth industrial revolution.
Min, on behalf of the Ministry of Information and Communication has pledged to support the blockchain industry and at the same time pave the way for the government to leverage blockchain technology much easier. The Korea Blockchain Industry Promotion Association and the Open Blockchain Industry Association also participated in the meeting and gave their opinions.
“It’s a good opportunity for Korea to take the lead in this field because the global technology gap in the current blockchain industry is not large,” said Min, “The government is actively supporting the blockchain market and I will make sure that continues to happen.”
The meeting began with a presentation on Blocko’s business and technology followed by its continued efforts in building AERGO to create radically new possibilities in the global IT sector. Jinsok Lee, co-CEO of Blocko, explained Blocko’s electronic document management system deployed for Hyundai-Kia Motors, Samsung Card, and currently being developed for Shinhan Financial. Following, Blocko also touched on how anchoring private chains used for document management to AERGO could improve data integrity and notarization efforts.
The president of the Blockchain Industry Promotion Association introduced global market trends around blockchain technology and shared the progress they have been able to observe with regards to commercialization of the technology.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance attended to check the progress of public sector pilot projects such as smart personal clearance, livestock product history management, and simple real estate transactions, which are all use cases being explored by companies like Blocko in this current initial expansion of the blockchain market.
In the open discussion period, a debate was held without limiting topics from the improvement of technical features of blockchain protocols to the discussion of how regulators can make adoption of distributed ledger technology easier on established businesses. The companies involved in the dicussion, including Blocko, proposed fair regulatory and competitive environments between domestic and overseas blockchain solutions, the creation of more clear regulatory standards for use of distributed ledgers in business, and support from the government for private R&D expenses.
Blockchain Industry Promotion Association emphasized the need to support blockchain projects that support social good as well as the need to support corporate taxation.
The meeting was held confidentially, without the public being informed of it beforehand. An official from the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication explains, “we decided not to disclose it to the outside so we could focus on the difficulties blockchain companies express. It’s a decision we decided to make.”
About Blocko and AERGO
Blocko is a well-funded, Samsung-backed commercial blockchain startup offering multinational organizations the ability to design, deploy, and manage digital services on a secure distributed network. Enterprise-IT integration and cloud deployment know-how are at the core of its value proposition. The company provides a stable and secure blockchain operating system and an easy-to-use development platform with stable APIs.
Blocko builds and supports AERGO which takes Blocko’s battle-tested technology to the next level by morphing it into an entire end-to-end open-source platform based around a hybrid blockchain design. AERGO allows businesses to build innovative applications and services by sharing data on a trustless and serverless IT ecosystem.
About the Ministry of Science and ICT
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning is a ministry of the Government of South Korea. Its purpose is to set, manage, and evaluate science and technology policy, support scientific research and development, develop human resources, conduct R&D leading to the production and consumption of Atomic power, plan national informatization and information protection strategies, manage radio frequency bands, oversee the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, and operate Korea Post.
