Blockchain tech is an 'enabler'; collaboration makes it work

Singapore

WHILE Temasek first started looking into blockchain technology some three years ago, the technology's potential has taken on a greater level of relevance in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In December last year, a Singaporean returning from Japan successfully cleared the immigration counters at Changi Airport using a blockchain-enabled digital travel pass to present a negative Covid-19 test result.

This was the first-ever use of a digital health passport, and its underlying verification solution was built by Affinidi, a Singapore-based tech firm founded by Temasek.

Using decentralised technology, Affinidi creates portable digital identities, simplifies the issuance of digital credentials and enables the sharing of cryptographically verifiable data.

One key obstacle immigration authorities and airline organisations faced due to stricter travel regulations amid the pandemic lies in authenticating health documents presented by travellers for cross-border travel.

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To that end, Affinidi provides a travel verification solution that can authenticate and, within seconds, verify health credentials of multiple formats from different parts of the world.

This is an example of how blockchain technology is but an "enabler"; what's more important is the willingness of various stakeholders - in this case, the aviation, technology and healthcare partners - to come together, said Pradyumna Agrawal, Temasek's managing director for blockchain investment.

"This is why we think certain areas of enterprise blockchain will continue to see slow and steady progress. You need large incumbents to make adjustments to their business models, which is not easy. They may not be comfortable, for example, pooling their data and sharing it across different organisations," he said.

The benefits of blockchain technology are becoming more apparent amid the pandemic, Agrawal added.

"There are a couple of drivers for this. One is that the efficiencies of having shared ledger technology is becoming more evident. We are also seeing, during this period, some of the shortcomings of either purely siloed private sector business models, or the inability of the public sector to follow through in certain areas, which is why blockchain-enabled solutions are finding more relevance."

On the digital identity front, Temasek has also founded Trustana, a cross-border B2B marketplace of verifiable traders; as well as GoodWorker, a job-matching platform connecting blue-collar workers and potential employers in India. Both platforms are built using Affindi's technology.

Programmable money is another focus area for Blockchain@Temasek, which differs from payments across digital platforms, which many are already familiar with today. It refers to digital currency that is tracked with corresponding electronic ledgers. This means that transactions are publicly and securely shared in real time.

Partior, the multi-currency payments network Temasek is co-developing with DBS and JPMorgan, looks at this aspect.

Blockchain@Temasek's third focus area centres on the digitalisation of financial assets. Marketnode, a joint venture between Temasek and the Singapore Exchange, uses smart contracts and distributed ledger technology to create an end-to-end issuance, depository and asset servicing platform for Asian bonds.

While acknowledging the much-vaunted promises of decentralised finance, Blockchain@Temasek's Agrawal also stressed the importance of exercising caution. "As (we) think about widespread adoption of decentralised finance, one would need to carefully think through the implications, especially when they start touching on retail (investors).

"There needs to be appropriate protection mechanics, not because there's any issue with the technology, but there's a lot of people who will tend to take advantage of these things."

For all our coverage of the Singapore FinTech Festival 2021, go to bt.sg/sff2021.