The President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, has spoken positively about the benefits of blockchain technology in his country. It followed a meeting with representatives from the BSV ecosystem in Islamabad, in which industry representatives offered training and assistance in putting several of Pakistan’s government functions on-chain.
“I am convinced,” Dr. Alvi said during the meeting. He also spoke of the problems Pakistan faced with data silos across government functions, and spoke in favor of forming a National Blockchain Strategy for the country, starting with universities.
Leading the delegation is Founding President of BSV blockchain’s association, Jimmy Nguyen, who will spend a week in Pakistan with the delegation as part of a series of meetings in Islamabad and Karachi with senior government ministers and leaders from private business.
“This week, our Association has had the privilege of bringing a delegation of blockchain experts to Pakistan to learn how BSV can help the country harness the power of the blockchain – for its government agencies, enterprises, start-up ventures and developers,” Nguyen told CoinGeek. “Having attended sit-down meetings with the President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi and the Minister of Science and Technology Mr. Shilbi Faraz on Monday, today’s Pakistan Blockchain Summit is a great chance to meet and hear from the dedicated and highly engaged blockchain community in the country.”
Federal Minister for S&T, Senator @shiblifaraz met international delegation of #blockchain experts who are here for 1st Pakistan Blockchain Summit by @MinistryofST on 18th Jan. @BSVBlockchain @JimmyWinSV offered support to promote blockchain education in Pakistan. @arzishazam pic.twitter.com/bwdKDPDxb0
— Ministry of Science & Technology (@MinistryofST) January 17, 2022
The meeting was broadcast in a news report on Pakistan Television Network PTV, and the president’s official Twitter account also posted a picture of the participants in a series of tweets about the issues discussed.
InvoiceMate's leadership met with the Honorable President of Pakistan, Mr. @ArifAlvi. Mr. President was presented with the use cases of the Blockchain technology and how InvoiceMate is the first of it's kind Blockchain based solution for invoicing & digital payments.#InvoiceMate pic.twitter.com/LMpAgMb9ZK
— InvoiceMate (@MateInvoice) January 17, 2022
President Dr. Arif Alvi had a meeting with an international delegation of blockchain experts, led by the Founding President of BSV Blockchain Association, Mr. James Nguyen, that called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr. pic.twitter.com/G4m4fRpJJy
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) January 17, 2022
So what can the BSV blockchain do for Pakistan?
Dr. Alvi mentioned concerns he has with a lack of data-sharing between government departments, and discussed how blockchain could be used for digital identity and ID management. It could also make these functions more transparent and reduce corruption in both government and business, he said. The president also noted that Pakistani technology talent was driving some of the world’s largest companies, and hoped that local IT startups would continue to attract investment.
Nguyen spoke about how blockchain, and particularly BSV, could be used in various functions across the Pakistani economy, including: banking and payments, fintech, digital advertising, big data management, customs, voting, health care, as well as environmental and governance issues. He also mentioned the work BSV industry representatives are doing with other governments around the world to improve services.
Dr. Alvi stressed that a “systematic and inclusive approach” was required to transition his country’s data management to the blockchain, which included building awareness of what the technology could do and how business and government could use it to their benefit.
He also called for more training and development in other “fourth industrial revolution” technologies such as artificial intelligence and cyber security. Nguyen said his organization was willing to assist in training employees at all levels of government and the public service.
BSV blockchain’s associaiton has led a drive into South Asia, the Middle-East and Africa, meeting with several government and business representatives across the wide and populous regions. Reflecting the potential for growth in this part of the world, the association has launched a BSV Hub in Dubai led by Muhammad Salman Anjum of InvoiceMate to educate and form partnerships with business and other institutions that could benefit from BSV blockchain technology. There is also an ongoing pilot program with the government of Tuvalu that could see several government and banking functions go completely digital.
With its unbounded capacity for processing and storing massive amounts of data securely, BSV would be the most logical blockchain to choose for any organization looking to incorporate blockchain technology. BSV, using Bitcoin’s original technology and permanent protocol rules, is capable of replicating the functions of today’s internet, but in a way that timestamps and logs all information as it changes, as well as allowing users to “own” and control levels of access to their data.
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