The Blockchain International Standardization Organization: China Will Dominate
The 3rd meeting of the Blockchain International Standardization Organization decided that China will dominate the blockchain data flow and data classification research
At present, with the rapid development of global blockchain technology and industries, the problem of lack of standards is increasingly urgent. Therefore, domestic and international standards organizations have accelerated the standardization of blockchain. In September 2016, ISO, the world’s largest standardization organization, established the Blockchain and Distributed Accounting Technical Committee (ISO/TC 307) to promote the development of international standards in the field of blockchain and distributed bookkeeping technology.
On May 14–18, 2018, the third plenary session of ISO/TC 307 was held in London, England. China, as an active member (P member) of the technical committee, sent a delegation to attend this meeting. This delegation was composed of 13 experts from different domestic companies and research institutions organized by ISO/TC 307 domestic technology counterparts China Electronics Standardization Institute.
The meeting discussed the latest developments and work plans for the eight international standards currently under development, new work proposals in various areas, and the establishment of liaison relations with other international organizations. As of May 2018, ISO/TC 307 has 35 active members (P members), 12 observing members (O members), and has established 4 working groups (basic working groups, security, privacy and identity workgroups, Smart Contracts and its Applications Working Group, Governance Working Group) and 2 Study Groups (Use Case Study Groups and Interoperability Study Groups).
Among them, the China-led classification and ontology technical specifications, as well as the international standards for the reference architecture of the joint editor, will continue to advance in an orderly manner. China also submitted the group standards for “Data Format Specification” to this meeting and proposed working proposals for the development of data format standards. After discussion at the meeting, it was decided that China will lead a new work project called data flow and data taxonomy for blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Dr. Xiaodan Tang from the Institute of Standardization served as the project leader, prepared the relevant research report and submitted the NWIP (new work item proposal) at the fourth meeting in October 2018.
In addition, the meeting also decided to establish the Convenors Coordination Group, initiate or promote new work items such as governance guides, interoperability-related discovery issues, and promote liaison with or establishment of organizations such as ISO/IEC SC27. Joint working group.
Globally, China’s blockchain standardization started earlier. As early as October 2016, under the guidance of the Department of Informatization and Software Services of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Industrial Standards Division of the National Standardization Administration Committee, the China Electronics Standardization Institute organized the “China Block” compiled by domestic blockchain companies. The Chain Technology and Application Development White Paper (2016) proposes a blockchain standardization roadmap and a standard system framework. In terms of the development of reference architecture standards, in May 2017, China released the world’s first group block reference architecture standard and submitted it as a contributor to ISO/TC 307, advancing the international standard for reference architecture (AWI 23257). , Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies — Reference Architecture. In terms of standards development in the direction of data, in December 2017, China issued the “Blockchain Data Format Specification” group standard; at the same time, ISO/TC 307 has not yet begun to lay out the direction of data standardization. This meeting was held in China. Once again successfully promoted the work of the direction of international standards. In addition, in terms of blockchain application research, China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute initiated a study of blockchain application technology route in June 2017, focusing on the analysis of application cases in multiple fields and proposes blockchain applications. The implementation path, technology selection, and application evaluation methods are the key content of the “China Blockchain Technology and Application Development White Paper (2018)” and will be officially released in June 2018; at the same time, ISO/TC The 307 Case Study team is also working on case studies and application guidance.
According to relevant statistics, the number of blockchain companies in China ranks among the top in the world, and the number of new companies exceeds that of the United States. In addition, the number of Chinese patent applications ranks first in the world. Globally, the mutual promotion and development of standardization and industrialization will be an important feature of blockchain industry development. The main task of China in international standardization work is to transform the domestic blockchain technology and application practice into the global standardization achievements, and at the same time, to absorb the latest global technological experience and continuously promote and enhance the globalization of China’s blockchain industry.
Author: Marko Vidrih
image via pixabay
