Arooj Zulfiqar

Blockchain technology is the future and it is becoming increasingly important in every sector of life. It is a decentralized, distributed, and transparent public digital ledger that removes the possibility of manipulation of results by the central authority, reports WealthPK.

Khan Muhammad Wazir, Director General of Ministry of Science and Technology, told WealthPK, “In Pakistan, it is quite easy to forge data records, as our data is not digitalized because we are far behind in adopting new technologies. Non-digitalized data is unreliable; thus, we need to implement a system that is decentralized and challenging to alter or edit in order to keep our original data. The only thing that will make it viable is the blockchain technology.”

He further said, “It is a transparent and trustless system in which no middle man is involved or the participants involved do not need to know or trust each other or a third party for the system to function. In a trustless environment, there is no single entity that has authority over the system.”

“In simple words, blockchain technology is a distributed ledger that connects a decentralized network on which users can send transactions and develop apps without the need for a central authority or a server," he said.

Pakistan needs to adopt this technology, as it has many advantages, which include eliminating middlemen, cutting costs, speeding up transactions, improving transparency, preventing transaction manipulation, and boosting party trust.

‘’The electoral voting system is one example of how we can employ blockchain in real-world applications. Its main benefit will be that the turnout will be more than usual and it will also decrease the cost of arrangements required for polling stations. The voters will be able to cast ballots from anywhere, eliminating the requirement for printed ballots and open polling stations. In order to ensure reliable, accurate, and secure voting systems, blockchain technology offers decentralized voting nodes,” Khan Wazir added.

He said blockchain technology are currently being used in multiple sectors all around the world and many banks, financial institutions, and organizations offering remittance services are using this technology to facilitate payments and international or currency transfers in the financial industry.

“Businesses are using blockchain in e-commerce to give their customers a variety of safe payment methods. Its use in real estate ranges from streamlining paperwork and financial transactions to transferring ownership and sharing private information. It is used by the healthcare industry to store and exchange patient records between labs, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies,” Khan Wazir continued.

“So far, in Pakistan for the first time the banking sector has deployed blockchain technology. The system will document each and every action made by the sender and receiver of remittances in addition to making financial transactions quick and safe. By doing this, we will be able to fight the illegal Hawala and Hundi systems at the international level.”

To implement this technology, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) has decided to formulate a national blockchain policy which will be a key factor in boosting the development and adoption of blockchain technology in the country.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk