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Friday, March 29, 2024

Blockchain eyed to address PH red tape and corruption

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The local unit of an Indonesian technology vendor believes that ‘blockchain’ has the power to make government and business transactions more transparent and efficient.

“The intention of encouraging blockchain as a concept is to cut across a lot of inefficiencies.  Especially in the Philippines, it can potentially eradicate some of the corruption and red tape we are experiencing as citizens,” says Computrade Technology Philippines Inc. managing director Teddy Sumulong.

CTP is the local unit of Jakarta-based PT Computrade Technology International, a leading distributor and provider of infrastructure and information technology solutions in Southeast Asia.

From left: Miroslav Mandel, Tomas Sarocky and Lubos Milan of Flowmon Networks, Teddy Sumulong of Computrade Technology Philippines Inc., Harry Surjanto of PT Computrade Technology International, Ryan Guadalquiver and Jason Loh of SAS and Antonio Soriano and Cedric Tan of Varonis    

Sumulong, who held senior management positions in Samsung Electronics, Technopag and EMC before establishing CTP in 2014, believes that blockchain is the next big concept in information technology.

He says while blockchain has become popular mainly because of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, it can offer a lot more value to transform financial transactions.  A blockchain is a ledger of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography.

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Blockchain allows digital information to be distributed but not copied. Originally designed for the digital currency bitcoin, the technology is now finding other potential uses.

Information held on a blockchain exists as a shared—and continually reconciled –database. The blockchain database isn’t stored in any single location, such that the records it keeps are actually public and easily verifiable. There is no centralized version of the information, which a hacker may corrupt. Its data are hosted by millions of computers simultaneously and are accessible to anyone on the internet, according to CTP.

“Aside from cryptocurrency, there are other blockchain applications.  Cryptocurrency has been used and abused.  Everybody wanted to create their own currency.  But we are encouraging the concept of blockchain because of the integrity of creating a very secure ledger of transactions,” Sumulong says.

Sumulong explains that the concept of blockchain is about the credibility and integrity of the transaction.  “It really cuts the middle person out, so we can have a nice credible transaction without a bank in the middle.  So it becomes more efficient.  At the same time, it becomes faster.  I don’t need to know who you are.  As long as we have a common platform by which to transact, we can even be cutting across countries.  Then it becomes very important,” he says.

He says that in the country, Union Bank of the Philippines is a pioneer in the adoption of blockchain, while the government’s online trade-facilitation portal TradeNet has blockchain as a platform.

Sumulong says CTP, being established just four years ago, is on expansion mode by bringing in international brands and partners that can help companies expand and take advantage of digital technologies such as blockchain.

He says among the company’s offerings are cloud solutions, cyber security, big data analytics and network infrastructure.

CTP recently hosted its annual technology summit for 2018 at Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City which unveiled its latest solutions partners and affirmed its readiness to provide support for blockchain technology.

CTP announced three new partners to help reinforce its current capabilities to provide effective cybersecurity in enterprise networks, implement intelligent integration of software systems, enable secure and efficient collaboration in digital space and make available dependable on-demand cloud computing platform.

CTP signed partnerships with data protection and analytics innovator Varonis, leader in analytics SAS and high-performance network management professionals Flowmon Networks.

CTP foresees the application of its expertise in data infrastructure, big data analytics and data security to play a significant role in the roll-out of blockchain technology in the Philippines.

“Blockchain technology is the wave of the future. For Computrade, it represents what is likely to be the next stage of digital transformation. We are preparing ourselves to provide the solutions that will ease its acceptance in the country and to fully secure the transactions facilitated by this innovative technology. We are excited at the possibility that we will be able to contribute our share in enabling Filipino enterprises and individuals as well to take full advantage of an emerging technology,” says Sumulong. 

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