The Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Computer Science of Kerala has announced the intention to have 20,000 new blockchain experts in India in the next two years.
Shri. M. Sivasankar, who spoke at a roundtable entitled “Blockchain for Governance” during the second edition of BlockHashLive 2019, in Kochi, said:
“The coming two years are crucial for us as we plan to produce 20,000 blockchain experts. The emphasis is on enhancing the quality of manpower steered by young startup companies. This is a great opportunity for us to build expertise in next-generation technology and knowledge sharing. Blockchain Technology has the potential to disrupt business domains such as cybersecurity, banking services, insurance, trade finance and retail by performing quicker, secure and transparent transactions”.
Director of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management of Kerala (IIITM-K), Saji Gopinath, also spoke during the event, stressing the importance of bringing together blockchain experts from around the world to discuss the business potential of this new technology.
India actually, as well as China, has a confusing relationship with this new technology. For example, it is very sceptical, if not contrary, to the use of cryptocurrencies, but understands that blockchain has potential which could be harnessed.
After all, India’s global role in the field of IT development is well known, thanks to its many developers. So the words of the secretary Sivasankar do not surprise at all.
As a result, both India and China have chosen not to stay out of this innovative process, but without yet understanding that blockchain inevitably means cryptocurrencies. If the two countries decide to go all the way, and therefore to take seriously the innovations linked to blockchain technology, it will be very difficult for them to allow themselves the luxury of maintaining a conflicting relationship with cryptocurrencies.
For example, as far as China is concerned, a possible change in the hostile attitude towards cryptocurrencies seems to be already underway, following the announcement that the testing for the launch of its national digital currency will begin soon, whereas for India this shift does not seem to have started yet.
However, if they don’t want to find themselves in a situation where they train blockchain experts just to export them to more crypto-friendly countries, sooner or later India too will have to accept the unavoidable bond between blockchain and cryptocurrencies, otherwise, they will lose competitiveness in this innovative sector.
