Global Blockchain Summit: How blockchain technology will give the Philippines digital power
When it comes to digital transformation, the Philippines still has a long way to go. The government knows this, which is why officials are doubling down on efforts to digitize the country as it catches up with the rest of the world.
From “capital in social media” to making Web 3.0 history
The Philippines is one of the fastest growing, tech-savvy nations in Southeast Asia. In fact, the country has been called the “Social Media Capital of the World” with approximately 82% of Filipinos having social media accounts and the largest Facebook user base in the world – as well as being the “Texting Capital of the World” during the early years of cell phones.
The country is poised to “soon make history again,” according to Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy. And this time it will be on Web 3.0.
At the first Global Blockchain Summit in Bataan, the DICT secretary highlighted the “crucial role of emerging Web 3.0 and blockchain industry that will play a major role in generating employment, investment, development of the landscape of our economic arena.”
“If we can unleash the potential of the Filipinos, strengthen the commitments of both the public and private sectors, and match it with the right technology, policies and other enabling mechanisms, we can build a digital economy that our fellow Filipinos and the international investors can trust,” Uy said .
DICT representatives at the Global Blockchain Summit in Bataan (Source: DICT)
Digitally empowers the Philippines with the help of blockchain technology
The government agency is adopting new technologies like blockchain and translating them into jobs and ultimately food on the table for many Filipinos. Speaking at the two-day summit, DICT Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development Jocelle Batapa-Sigue said the goal is to double the number of digitally enabled jobs from 1.4 million to 3 million by 2028, with 60% of those jobs from rural areas.
She describes this initiative as “digitally empowering” the nation by transferring the concepts of new technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) into relevant skills.
“When we say digitally empowered, it means that we are leveraging digital solutions to create a thriving business ecosystem to scale and empower our citizens to be ready for the 4th industrial revolution in terms of the workforce to ensure that citizens have access to connectivity wherever they are in the Philippines,” Batapa-Sigue tells CoinGeek on the sidelines of the summit.
DICT Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development Jocelle Batapa-Sigue
This effort, she said, will digitally empower local and national governments, along with citizens and all business enterprises and stakeholders – and ensure that the country is “in step with the world as it learns about new technologies such as blockchain, AI, and other new technologies .”
“Finally, using digitization to move our country towards embracing digital transformation that is sustainable, meaning all stakeholders coming together to ensure that it is not just for a period, so that we can ultimately develop as a first world country , which is our goal in the next few years, which is also confirmed by the projections of international economies that say the Philippines will actually become one of the top 20 economies in the next maybe one or two decades, Batapa-Sigue said .
To achieve this, the government seeks to work not only with local but also international blockchain experts and industry leaders – such as global technology company nChain, which is strategically positioned to help the Philippine government digitize the country.
“Obviously, as the most important blockchain technology platform in the world, we want to be at the center of this. We want to work with both national and local governments for all their blockchain requirements, for all the applications, for all the solutions, with all the application builders, with the BSV blockchain technology at the center of it all,” Nicholas King, nChain’s country director for the Philippines, tells CoinGeek.
But first, the Philippines needs the legal framework
Although the Philippines has the numbers, catching up with other nations in the digital economy is not going to be an easy task, especially for the bureaucracy. The Philippines currently ranks 89th out of 193 countries in the latest United Nations e-government survey — “not an encouraging number,” according to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
“We are already catching up in terms of digitization to the rest of the world. So it’s not like we have a choice here. We don’t have a choice that maybe we want to do it, maybe we don’t, he said in a speech at the National Information and Communications Technology Summit 2022. “That’s simply not how the modern world works. We must digitize if we are to sustain all our plans for the transformation of the economy and our continued redefinition of the Philippines’ place in the community of nations.”
Marcos has called for the immediate implementation of the proposed e-Governance Act and the e-Governance Act, which will “secure, speedy, transparent and efficient public service for Filipinos.”
Bataan, where the Global Blockchain Summit was held, is a good example of how the government can modernize with the help of public-private partnerships. The province houses the Freeport Area of Bataan, an emerging hub for blockchain and new technologies. The freeport, which is operated and managed by the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), also plans to develop the Bataan Blockchain City – a smart city for blockchain and fintech solutions.
The Authority of Freeport of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) aims to build a “blockchain-enabled” community in the Philippines under Republic Act 11453. (Source: AFAB Facebook)
To enable true digitization, a scalable blockchain is needed
As Marcos pointed out in his speech, “there is essentially nothing holding” the Philippines back from rapid digitization, and the country must digitize if “we’re going to keep up.” But to do this, especially on a massive, nationwide level – the country has 1,700 local government units spread across 82 provinces and 42,000 villages providing services to an estimated population of 115 million – the Philippines needs massively scalable technology to fully launch its e-governance initiatives.
“You can’t achieve what the president has laid out without having a highly scalable, highly secure blockchain,” Stefan Matthews, executive chairman of nChain Group, told CoinGeek. “Fortunately, I have been working with a technology that has been demonstrated – the BSV blockchain – to be just that: highly scalable, an unlimited number of transactions per second, no block size, completely secure, immutable. As far as I’m concerned, when we’re talking about this level of government participation and use of blockchain technology, there’s no question that the absolute best-qualified technology is BSV.
BSV blockchain at the Global Blockchain Summit in Bataan (Source: AFAB Facebook)
It is clear that the Philippine government is still searching for the sweet spot between its current system and fintech; However, the first blockchain summit in Bataan demonstrates the country’s determination to become a center of excellence when it comes to new technologies. As Matthews pointed out:
“The level of interest and diversity of companies and representatives of governments and public departments at all levels is higher than what I expected and from here I hope we see the level of progression and development, especially with this area designated under a very special Act to to be a center of expertise for blockchain. This is really exciting.”
See: BSV Blockchain Meetup Manila Highlights – Putting Scalable Blockchain Technology on the Philippine Map
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