China blockchain standard past events

Author: Micro Focus Bank Financial Technology Principal Investigator Bin

Source: Financial Technology Micro Insight

All the stories started in 2016.

01 assembly, retreat, preparation

Where the use of the law of the military, thousands of cars, thousands of leather cars, with a hundred thousand, a thousand miles to feed the grain, the cost of inside and outside, the use of guests, the material of the paint, the car, the daily fee, then 100,000 The teacher is awkward.

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– "Sun Tzu's Art of War · Combat"

September 25, 2016, 21:15.

The minivan shook abruptly and woke up Du, who was dozing off. Q, where is this? ! Others are silent. I tried to open the phone map, but there was no signal at all.

The window is dark and there are no street lights. At this time, it was nearly three hours since we left from Kunming Airport. After the highway was over, the driver was forced to bypass a small road because the county road was being repaired. The speed was slow but the bumps were not reduced. Perhaps in order to ease everyone's uneasiness, Ji has started a new topic. Yesterday, there was a good idea of ​​a cross-chain hub structure proposed by a guest. However, after only talking two sentences, everyone is already tired.

The car is crowded with blockchain experts from the North, Shanghai and Shenzhen companies. Just the day before, everyone participated in the blockchain global summit in the five-star hotel on the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Xiaohong and Confucianism are all switched to this moment, and the psychological gap is a bit big. However, after a few years, these people should be glad that they can become a member of this trip.

Early the next morning, we found that the retreat was far away, but the environment and scenery were not bad, and the names were good: Jiangcheng Town, Gushan Village, Fuxian Lake.

"Sorry to bring everyone to this remote place," Director Zhou began to mobilize his speech:

"We have a tight deadline for this white paper closure, but there are two major advantages in this place. First, it is far from everyone's company. If there is any urgent matter, everyone will not be able to go back. You can push all the work in the company. Concentrate on the results; the second is the beautiful scenery here, which can inspire everyone's inspiration."

But at least half a year later, we can understand Zhou’s anxiety and good intentions at this time. In fact, just ten days before the time, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved the application of the Australian National Standards Organization (AS) in April of that year to formally establish a standardized technical committee to support the development of blockchain technology ( TC307). After the first half of the year, the first plenary meeting will be held in Sydney, and the materials to be discussed at the meeting will be submitted nearly two months in advance. It is understood that the standardization organizations and enterprises in the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and other countries have responded positively. The project for the proposal was prepared. We have no time to delay in the development of blockchain international standards.

Fortunately, the contest of execution power is often won by the same desires. In the month before the closure, the China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute (hereinafter referred to as the Standards Institute) quickly convened six domestic companies under the guidance of the Information Technology and Software Service Division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Industry Standards Division of the National Standardization Administration. Large and medium-sized enterprises that have established achievements in blockchain technology have initiated the establishment of China Blockchain Technology and Industry Development Forum (hereinafter referred to as: Blockchain Forum). The core is to lead the formulation of China's blockchain standards. Before this closure, each of them has already conducted some remote communication and prepared the corresponding materials.

It is worth adding that the blockchain is a collective term for a combination of various subdivision techniques. Although blockchain data structures, peer-to-peer networks and partial consensus mechanisms and encryption algorithms have been used in virtual currency such as Bitcoin since 2009, but until 2015, with more diverse consensus With the completion of subdivision technologies such as mechanisms, smart contracts, security and privacy protection, the blockchain really begins to meet the needs of large-scale commercial applications (supporting high concurrency, high storage capacity, high security, regulatory, auditable… ), the alliance chain and distributed accounting technology with the main features of eliminating tokens, authorized access, and legal compliance are just beginning to sprout.

At that time, the two technical route camps actually had a lot of fans, and the policy milestone "9.4" of the blockchain will not be announced until another year. Therefore, the purpose of this closure will be to complete the preparation of the white paper itself, and more importantly, to enable all participating units to reach a consensus on the technical route and technological development trend of the blockchain: whether to take the public link line or go Alliance link line? If it is the alliance link line, which underlying platform is used as the benchmark, or what technical modules should be covered, and how to integrate with other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, etc., which commercial application scenarios are applicable? In which segments do you need to develop standards? Future technology open source or not open source? If open source, who will manage and manage the open source community? … Before participating in the international right to speak, the consensus on the development of China's blockchain needs to be reached first.

The beginning of the attack: brainstorming, debate and compromise, locking the development route of the alliance chain, drafting the chapter framework, finalizing the core structure diagram and roadmap, sub-components, sub-chapters, cross-review and revision, and re-synthesis…

September 29, 2016, 19:52.

"This is totally unqualified!!!"

Director Zhou anxiously grabbed his hair and walked in front of the projection screen. "There are some chapters to see, but there are some content, but the narrative structure, wording, style, granularity, readability, and patchwork. The traces are too heavy." Seeing that there is still one day left on the National Day holiday, everyone's mood is extremely embarrassing. "Like this, the full text is cast on the big screen, and one word and one word are read and read. Whoever takes the lead in the chapter who goes to the computer is responsible for the code word. After each chapter is changed, it is thrown into the group and then proofread. ”

Two hours later, Gao’s video in Beijing was over, and asked with a slight distressed question, “How do you see the contents of the group?” Zhou said with a smile.

"Your application scene is too long. We cut from 10,000 words to 2,000 words. Rest assured, the rest are the essence!"

September 30, 2016, 3:02 am.

Several experts have fallen on the table. After reading the last sentence of the full draft, Director Zhou sighed with relief.

"From the 100,000 words, the remaining 30,000 words have finally been formed. Let's go back to rest. If you don't have to catch a plane tomorrow, proofread the proofreading. We will refine the chart for a few days."

On October 18th, 2016, Beijing, the first officially-led blockchain white paper “China Blockchain Technology and Application Development White Paper (2016)” was finally released. The English version was submitted to one of the standardized documents soon. In the TC307 documentation library. The texts and charts in the white paper are still cited by various reports and reports.

Once in the sea, it is hard to be water. This also allows all the blockchain white papers to become "the icing on the cake".

02 Competition: Reference Architecture

I have to be profitable, and Peter is also a winner. There is no attack on the land.

– "Sun Tzu's Art of War · Jiu Di Pian"

The white paper is a guide to the development direction of the blockchain. The content is large and comprehensive, but if you only use this as a spear to compete for the right to speak internationally, there is still a big risk. As the military law says, everything is indispensable, and we need to choose a plate of the battleground of the military as an offensive point.

In general, there are two major standards for information technology standards that are fundamental and most important: terminology and reference architecture. Terminology can give a precise interpretation of blockchains and related nouns. The reference architecture is used to determine whether an information system is a blockchain system, that is, a measure of the authentic blockchain.

This choice is not difficult.

On November 14, 2016, the second retreat began. The goal was to complete China's first blockchain standard, Blockchain Reference Architecture. As for the location, the old rules, to stay away from the metropolis and the airport, to be inspired by the mountains and rivers, this time in Wuxi, Taihu, Lingshan.

The release of the first white paper has caused extraordinary repercussions. The second closure, the blockchain forum lineup has been further expanded, with the addition of eight new units. However, there are more nodes and the time for reaching consensus is longer.

This "Reference Architecture" mainly hopes to form two views: user view, which roles will participate; function view, what a real blockchain system should cover. The user view is okay, and everyone has little difference; for the functional view, the underlying platforms that everyone develops in their respective enterprises are different. What are the dozens of subdivision technical components of the blockchain, which are required, which are appropriate, and which It is optional and which ones cannot be selected. This requires a struggle.

Many years later, Dr. Tan recalled the standard preparation of this time, the most profound is the small whiteboard in the conference room. Everyone grabbed the pen and the whiteboard and snatched it, and pushed all the architectures out. Finally, they voted for the big screen, and the minority obeyed the majority.

The lake is rippling, and the Buddha is sounding. We joked that this standard was blessed by the Lingshan Buddha, and it will surely be like a broken bamboo.

The "Blockchain Reference Architecture" was finally optimized and revised by Dr. Tang and Director Li. After the completion of the process and official release, it was May 16, 2017, but the translated English version has been able to catch up with TC307. Submitted before the deadline for the first plenary meeting. So far, compared with other countries, only a few pieces of pictures and paragraphs have been submitted. The Chinese members have submitted two complete reports and standard works, which left us with a discourse for the right to speak in the plenary meeting. Enough gas.

03 Expedition: Silver saddle shines white horse, like a meteor

The disease of stimulating water, as for the boulder, the potential; the disease of ostrich, as for the ruin, the festival also. Therefore, the good warrior, its danger, its short. The situation is like expansion, and the festival is like a machine.

– "Sun Tzu's Art of War · Forces"

Raise the soldiers for a thousand days and use the soldiers for a while. China's blockchain standards have finally ushered in the first appearance on the international stage.

April 3, 2017, 9:00. Sydney, Darling Harbour, International Convention Center.

At the time of signing, when I saw my brand name neatly placed under the small card with the CHINA and the five-star red flag, I was shouldered by the shoulders. I believe that everyone's heart is a little excited. Unlike most ISOs, which can be a company, ISO is based on national membership, which means that in the plenary session, every statement represents the opinions of the entire national body. The process is to throw out issues, receive issues, whisper discussions, reach an agreement, and the leader speaks.

The first consensus that needs to be formed is the name of the TC 307 Technical Committee. Blockchain technology? Distributed accounting technology? Electronic distributed accounting technology? Blockchain and electronic distributed accounting technology? Blockchain technology and distributed accounting technology? In the end, use one or two technologies? Is DLT a full name or an abbreviation? ……

According to their own opinions, it is argued that 2 hours has passed. The representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States began to argue whether the singular form of technology or the plural form of technology should be used here. "Do you want to throw an idea?" I whispered to the head of the group, Director Guo, and Guo Director Yun was light and light. "This place is not used. Let us translate back into Chinese is a word."

In the afternoon, the official name of the ISO/TC 307 Standardization Technical Committee was finally born – "Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies".

Some people may think that this process is too tedious, but what should not be forgotten is the core spirit behind the standard – "consensus." Coincidentally, the consensus mechanism is also the core internal mechanism of blockchain technology.

Nowadays, most people or companies or articles or videos can easily give a definition of blockchain, tell a few metaphors, draw a few analogy of comics, and a thousand people will see it. There are a thousand kinds of blockchains, which leads to a lot of illegal activities.

Therefore, although the process of blockchain standards, especially international standards, is very cumbersome, once it is established, it will be difficult to modify it again for a long time, which is why we need to participate in international discourse and rulemaking in the first place. The battle for power goes.

It can be predicted that after more than three years of discussion of 56 member countries, the terminology standard of TC 307 will be released soon, and the corresponding Chinese "blockchain terminology" standard is also being developed simultaneously. When the definition of international standards for blockchains and the definition of national standards are established, blockchains are blockchains, not philosophy, metaphysics, not sophistry, not Zen, but science. In the world of science, when the finger points to the moon, the finger is the finger, and the moon is the moon.

On April 5, 2017, the resolution day, see the results. The reference architecture standard sets the starting point for China's blockchain in terms of international standard discourse. When you see ISO 23257 "Blockchainand distributed ledger technologies – Reference architecture" in 2020 or 2021, you will find it with May 2017. Blockchain Reference Architecture is no different.

04 Perseverance

It is easy to win the mountains and rivers. The same is true for standardization work.

Although the reference architecture has been adopted, all areas of the blockchain standard, including basics, privacy and identity authentication, security, smart contracts, governance, use cases, interoperability, and other field standards need to be taken together. The expansion of the right to speak is still expensive.

So Luo had come forward at the second plenary session in Tokyo and won the main editorial rights of classification and ontology standards that other countries dare not undertake.

In the evenings and early mornings during the third plenary session in London, Dr. Tang and Mr. Cheng led the entire delegation to open the door of the representatives of various countries one by one, and they explained in detail the proposal for the standard of China's blockchain data format specification. . This allowed us to get the voting support of many national members on the second day.

There are also hundreds of international teleconferences that all partners have participated in in various working groups in the past three years, and because of the time difference, we have set alarm clocks at 9:00, 12:00, 5 am…

Of course, there are also street vendors in the Sydney fishing market, the god of centenary coffee in the corner of Ginza, the thief at the entrance of the British Museum, the black driver at Moscow airport, and the compulsory photo artist on the Red Square…

The story is actually very long, if you still have wine.

In the end, it ends with a sentence that Mr. Lu Xun said: there is a heat, and a light is emitted, which makes the fireflies generally, and can also emit a little light in the dark without waiting for the torch. After that, there was no torch fire: we are the only light.

—- End —-

[This article pays tribute to all the blockchain standardization workers who have been silently dedicated! It may be due to memory deviation, the content of the text or the difference with the real situation, please understand! 】

(This article only represents the author's personal perspective and personal views, and does not represent the views of the organization and the official standards organization.)

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