- He made these remarks during the Blockchain Global Governance Conference in Tokyo.
- Aso believes the blockchain would help ensure privacy and simplify contact tracing.
- Before Aso, Yoshitaka Kitao, SBI Holdings’ CEO had suggested the creation of a similar solution.
Japanese finance minister, Taro Aso believes that blockchain technology could be significant in the continuing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. He shared these sentiments during the FIN/SUM Blockchain & Business conference, which is also known as the Blockchain Global Governance Conference in Tokyo. According to him, the blockchain could prove significant in contract tracing while maintaining privacy.
Regarding privacy, Aso said that developing a blockchain-based solution would help provide privacy for individuals that test positive for the virus after tracing them. Apart from this, he believes that the solution would assist authorities in coming up with ideas of what they need to do when it comes to containment.
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He added that it is also important to eliminate the conflict between the Japanese government and the country’s blockchain community to ensure both parties work together seamlessly.
Commenting on this, he said,
“Some of the blockchain communities may still be hostile to regulators because of the belief they may hinder innovation due to a lack of understanding of the technology. What we need is to work together and collaborate to consider the best use of the technology under the best governance.”
Using the blockchain to ease COVID-19’s supply chain
Reportedly, Aso is not the first Japanese regulator to propose the creation of a blockchain-based COVID-19 solution. Before him, Yoshitaka Kitao, the CEO of SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial firm, proposed that Ripple should partner with multinational companies and financial institutions to help streamline COVID-19’s supply chain.
Per Kitao, adding multinational companies and financial institutions to the Ripple network would help increase the number of cross-border payments. He added that Ripple’s transparency and traceability would be key in combatting the pandemic by easing the supply of masks and medical supplies.
Aso’s speech comes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues spreading rapidly in some regions while dropping in others. At the moment, there are approximately 23.3 million coronavirus cases across the world. Out of these cases, Japan has 62,000. As such, developing a feasible, blockchain-based solution for contact tracing is crucial. However, it is indistinct whether the implementation of such a solution would be possible.
