Global blockchain platform aims to align national plans and business strategies

A global platform that combines blockchain technology and sustainability, and aligns national plans and business strategies, was launched in London on Monday with the aim of addressing global issues around blockchain innovation and implementation.

The launch of the Global Council for Blockchain Application and Governance with Magna Carta Blockchain Forum held in the House of Lords in London saw international peer-group business leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, academics, and policymakers discuss how to combat urgent global sustainability issues.

Blockchain technology creates a secure and transparent ledger for recording and sharing data, with potential applications across a wide variety of industries.

In the opening speech, Timothy Clement-Jones, co-chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence, spoke about the necessity of purposeful blockchain and of blockchain being used for good.

"With the potential opportunity and disruption involved with AI this work is now absolutely crucial to ensure that business doesn't adopt new technologies without a strong underlying set of corporate values which ensure that it is not just shareholders who benefit but that the impact and distribution of prosperity to employees and society at large are fully considered," he said.

As one of the United Kingdom's most important influencers on the subject of AI ethics and governance, Clement-Jones also raised awareness about the ethics around blockchain, saying: "We need ethical alignment in a global world, so I hope we will adopt the international principles out there and, by the same token, there needs to be international adoption of the purposeful company principles we are developing in the UK."

The initiative was led by the Big Innovation Centre, which was appointed by the UK Parliament in 2017 as Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain and All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence, and by the Magna Carta International Innovation Centre, a think tank headquartered on Magna Carta Island, which is where it is believed the Magna Carta－a charter of rights signed by the king in 1215－was sealed.

Birgitte Andersen, CEO of the Big Innovation Centre, said: "Blockchain technology is becoming ripe, and the opportunity is urgent. Through blockchain, we will combine data silos … This will provide a single version of the truth of what is happening and how we can co-create a more sustainable future".

Xiong Yu, president of the Magna Carta International Innovation Centre, said China is actively embracing blockchain and sees it as the new frontier of innovation in industries. He noted that China's president has highlighted blockchain as a core technology and urged more effort in accelerating the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation.

Xiong said: "Historically, the Magna Carta, as a long-standing movement toward broader applicability of rule-of-law, opened a new era for people's rights. Symbolically and similarly, blockchain as a strong assurance in decentralized context created a frontier of economic activity. Though 800 years apart, they both have been enforced consistently and objectively. Now, the two will be put on one plate in this new joint initiative."