The changing face of blockchain

Blockchain continues to occupy an unusual space in the field of contemporary technology. Concepts such as “decentralization”, “transparency” and “immutability” continue to slide between purely technical meanings and more publicly politicized meanings .

Certain blockchain advocates-at least people still addicted to the spirit of liberalism who survived the technology’s origins in the cypherpunk movement-continue to question the implementation of the technology in projects such as government defense contracts. And the widespread absorption of this technology in the traditional financial banking system was originally intended to circumvent it.

Earlier this week, Cointelegraph contacted several executives of the Fantom Foundation to reflect on the choices and methods of blockchain companies working in government and institutional environments. These choices and methods put forward relevant issues from a socio-political perspective. The basic question of the status of the blockchain.

Fantom recently announced Ministry of New Technology Industry of Tajikistan This will introduce a series of blockchain-based solutions in the nationwide IT infrastructure. This partnership is part of Fantom’s broader business strategy in Central and South Asia.

Regarding the current Tajik government, citizens have long called attention to the abuse of President Rahmon’s dictatorship, which occurred out of cruel behavior. Civil war in the mid-1990s mid-1990s After the disintegration of the Soviet Union.State monopoly on the media Systemic inhibition Political dissent and bans from major opposition parties, as well as a lack of civil and democratic freedoms, have forced many Tajiks to seek political asylum abroad.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Fantom Chief Government Relations Officer Barek Sekandari said that despite political factors, Fantom chose to cooperate with various regimes because the company prioritized providing countries in underdeveloped economies with the same level of technology as the entire country. Modernize the global north.

Sekandari believes that for Fantom:

“Our goal is not to help these so-called regimes, or to carry out more suppression […] Our goal is to solve […] Reality […] Many people suffer because of the national financial and health system, supply chain management, education system, and paper currency system. These are the problems that ordinary people face every day. If you say this, it is not the entire government. “

As mentioned earlier, there are many blockchain companies choosing such as pursuing Sign a contract with a federal military agency in The core of the global northIn the United States, innovative technologies have been widely popularized and widely used.

Sekandari further emphasized that Fantom is not only cooperating with Tajikistan government departments, but also coordinating with international organizations working in the region (such as the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations).

Fantom’s previous operations in Central and South Asia also include sign A memorandum of understanding signed with the Punjab State Prison Department of Pakistan to officially start the implementation of blockchain-based software.

Like Tajikistan, Fantom’s choice to cooperate with the authorities is a troublesome choice: since 2018, under the leadership of Imran Khan, the government has been criticized for its brutal repression of the grassroots. The austerity campaign among students, farmers and teachers The 2019 IMF loan subject to the structural adjustment plan.

In response to Cointelegraph’s question about Fantom’s choice to cooperate with Pakistan’s National Prison System Administration, Samuel Harcourt, Fantom’s head of Asian operations, said that regardless of the institutional background, the company still firmly believes that improving transparency and data integrity is still important.

As part of another project in the area, Fantom also Continue to cooperate with the Afghan Ministry of Health, Including the development of blockchain-based products to Prevent the circulation of counterfeit drugs. Fantom’s CEO Michael Kong told Cointelegraph that he believes that given that 40% of the drugs in Afghanistan are counterfeit, most citizens cannot trust the quality of purchases at local pharmacies, so the benefits of the blockchain system are particularly obvious here. .