Blockchain accelerates the scarcity of talents into the biggest challenge

Source: 21st Century Business Herald

Author: Poplar

Recently, Zhu Jiang’s friends and family called and told him that he finally knew what he was doing. This change in family and friends is due to the hot blockchain.

At the beginning of 2016, Zhu Jiang, who worked for IBM at that time, began to focus on the research in the blockchain field. In 2018, Zhu Jiang joined Jinshanyun as the head of the blockchain. He told 21st Century Business Herald that in the past, the noise in the blockchain sector was too loud, which made many industry professionals who really do blockchain technology inundated.

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Talking about the blockchain, you can't get around Bitcoin. In many people's eyes, Bitcoin is equivalent to the blockchain, and then the emergence of various currency and speculative behaviors and excessive publicity put the blockchain on the currency. The label of the circle, so many companies and individuals who really research blockchain technology are afraid to speak out, fearing that they are related to the "coin".

At this time, from the central level, it is necessary to pay attention to the blockchain, and let the blockchain's frontier technology form whirlwind into the public's life. Many people have come into contact with the blockchain for the first time. This has enabled blockchain technology researchers like Zhu Jiang to usher in the spring of the industry.

Recently, in addition to Zhu Jiang, the 21st Century Business Herald also interviewed Shao Bing, head of the Tencent Cloud Blockchain, and Meng Meng, chief architect of the Tencent Cloud Blockchain. They introduced to the reporter some of the current application of blockchain technology in the industry. What are the difficulties in progress and future development?

In fact, in terms of personal resume, Zhu Jiang, Shao Bing and Yan Meng have many similarities. They started to study the blockchain around 2015. At that time, Zhu Jiang and Shao Bing both worked at IBM, and Meng Meng worked at the China Institute of Information and Communication. Then in 2018, the three people chose the same. Go to the cloud service platform to continue working on the blockchain.

Shao Bing told reporters that he believes that the blockchain will play the role of infrastructure in the future and will be as important as cloud computing and big data. Now, cloud computing has become the foundation of the digital economy, but there is still a problem for enterprises on the cloud, that is, how to coordinate between enterprises, and this will be the problem that blockchain technology can solve.

Alliance chain becomes the key to technology

The blockchain white paper (2019) released by China’s ICT has defined the blockchain as follows: Blockchain is a joint maintenance by multiple parties, using cryptography to ensure transmission and access security, enabling data Accounting technology that is consistently stored, difficult to tamper with, and resistant to repudiation, also known as Distributed Ledger Technology.

Shao Bing said that the blockchain has four main characteristics: first, distributed consensus, which increases the reliability of the system; second, blockchain structure to ensure data integrity; third, smart contracts to ensure the correct execution of value; The fourth is cryptography to ensure the privacy of the transaction.

According to the type, the blockchain can be divided into public chain, alliance chain and private chain, which are all in the way of access, chain assets, consensus, incentive, transaction speed, transaction cost and business value. obvious difference.

Zhu Jiang told reporters that there are two important points in the development of the blockchain, namely 2009 and 2016. Among them, 2009 is the release of Bitcoin white paper, which allows the outside world to further understand the blockchain; in 2016, the rise of alliance chain technology outside the public chain has laid an important foundation for the current blockchain application.

The reporter learned that whether it is Jinshan Cloud or Tencent Cloud, the current blockchain technology services are all around the alliance chain. However, Shao Bing and Zhu Jiang both stressed to reporters that the current alliance chain does not mean that the future blockchain must be dominated by the alliance chain. More precisely, the alliance chain is a trend in the future, and the public chain is the future. An ideal.

Shao Bing said that in terms of value, the public chain is more similar to a digital asset circulation platform. Like the bottom layer of bitcoin is the public chain, but in the public chain system, because it is subject to its consensus algorithm, it is difficult to More complex business is put on.

"And the alliance chain emphasizes more of the ability to govern. There can be some creditors in the alliance chain, and there will be some data nodes, but the public chain only has the right to view data." Shao Bing further said, "Can be the alliance. The chain is still the public chain, and the blockchain carries a very important mission, namely the value of the Internet. It only combines the existing Internet of Things, payment, and let the value truly circulate, which is a good blockchain."

BaaS platform is the preferred choice for cloud vendors

For the attention of blockchain technology, Tencent can be traced back to 2015. In 2017, Tencent Cloud launched the first version of TBaaS and launched a pilot opening for corporate customers.

According to the information obtained by the reporter from Tencent, there are currently two products in the blockchain field. One is Tencent Financial Technology's TrustSQL, which focuses on the development of the underlying development platform and the customized blockchain application; The other is Tencent Cloud's TBaaS, which is dedicated to reducing the barriers for companies to use blockchains, platformizing blockchain services, and exploring blockchain+ solutions from all walks of life.

Jinshan Cloud has also launched a cloud value chain, covering “Cloud Exchange Investment and Financing Information Management Plan”, “Yunhe Industry Integration Service Platform”, “Yunrong Supply Chain Financial Cooperation Solution” and KBaaS Commercial Blockchain Platform. .

Zhu Jiang told reporters that Jinshanyun's existing cloud exchange investment and financing information management plan and Yunrong supply chain financial synergy program have realized the rapid establishment of trust relationship in the ecological cycle financial scene by combining the technical characteristics of blockchain. This leads to an iterative update of the mechanism and mode.

It can be seen that when the cloud service vendors push the blockchain technology to the ground, the BaaS (blockchain as a service) platform has become an extremely important product. The Blockchain White Paper (2019) also mentioned that BaaS is a new form of system delivery. Compared with the original deployment model, BaaS has very good system scalability, ease of use, security, operation and maintenance management. Great advantage.

More importantly, BaaS combines cloud computing with blockchain, using innovative solutions such as containers, microservices, and scalable distributed cloud storage technologies, as well as technical options for a variety of different underlying chains. It simplifies the development, deployment and operation and maintenance of blockchains, and reduces the barriers to blockchain applications, improving application flexibility.

Meng Meng, chief architect of Tencent Cloud Blockchain, told reporters that BaaS is a complete cloud product, which is different from those that do the underlying blockchain technology. For example, Tencent's TBaaS can be used by users and has overall security, which is also the biggest feature of BaaS.

In addition, Yan Meng also stressed that not only does the BaaS platform need to be technically needed, but it is also very much needed from a business perspective. “With the advent of the chain era, companies may also participate in multiple chains because of business needs. At this time, cross-chaining has become a very important basic technology. With this technology, the value of different chains can be transferred. And the BaaS platform can provide some cross-chain approach."

According to the reporter, at present, Tencent Cloud's TBaaS has been applied in many scenarios, including insurance direct compensation, fund settlement, electronic bills, supply chain finance, and smart medical care. Taking supply chain finance as an example, Tencent Cloud helps a customer solve the problems of identity trust, risk management and inefficiency in the traditional warehouse receipt pledge financing process through blockchain technology.

In terms of specific operations, the solution can ensure that the business participants realize the online multi-party agreement and sign the electronic contract through the blockchain through the real identity, and then the operation information realizes the multi-party shared account book, so that the data cannot be tampered with.

At the same time, the application of cryptography technology ensures that transaction information is shared directly between the necessary participants, effectively protecting business privacy. Electronic warehouse receipts, as a digital asset and the sole evidence of the exercise of rights, can be circulated among different owners.

Blockchain development faces many challenges

At present, the importance of the blockchain is undoubted, but there are still many challenges on the road of industrial application. Shao Bing told reporters in the 21st Century Business Herald that the challenges of blockchain application can be seen from both business and technical perspectives.

In terms of business, when applying the blockchain, it needs to face the challenges of business model change, privacy protection and commercial competition, the difficulty of offline asset chaining, and the difficulty of capital flow. On the technical side, it faces the technical lag of the technical department. The lack of blockchain talents, blockchain performance can not meet the business needs, blockchain network operation and maintenance challenges.

Shao Bing said that some of these challenges are easy to overcome, while others are difficult. Among them, the talent problem is the biggest challenge facing the blockchain. “The blockchain needs compound talents, because the blockchain is not just a blockchain, but more of a business model innovation, so people who are familiar with the business are needed.”

The Blockchain White Paper (2019) also pointed out that blockchain technology is a multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary technology that includes operating systems, network communications, cryptography, mathematics, and when it comes to the scarcity of blockchain talent. Finance, production, etc., but China still has shortcomings in interdisciplinary fields.

According to the “Research Report on the Supply and Demand and Development of Blockchain Talents in 2018”, among the job seekers who submitted resumes, the stocks with real skills and work experience related to blockchain accounted for only 7% of the demand.

In addition to talent issues, the Blockchain White Paper (2019) also mentions three other factors that may constrain the future development of the blockchain, including social cognition, public controversy and industry doubts; regulatory environment, China's regulatory needs Enhance policy flexibility; at the technical application level, there are still difficulties in large-scale promotion.

However, as the government's emphasis on the blockchain industry continues to increase, the blockchain industry is bound to move toward a healthier direction. In the process, the above challenges may be overcome. As for whether there is competition in the blockchain industry, Zhu Jiang said, “The world of blockchain must be an environment of co-management and joint creation. It is still a blue ocean, and it is more cooperation and synergy.”

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