In the January RIETI Report, "What do blockchains mean for the future of Japan and Society 5.0?" This critical and fascinating topic is the focus of the special seminar consisting of presentations by Makoto YANO, President and CRO of RIETI, and Chris DAI, CEO of LONGHASH Japan, Inc.
The Chairman of RIETI, Atsushi NAKAJIMA opened the event with a short introduction of the Japanese government's policy initiative aimed at realizing Society 5.0, which will fully integrate cyberspace and data-centered processes into society to bring about revolutionary changes to productivity and prosperity.
President Yano then made his presentation on Blockchain and IoT integration and their implications for Society 5.0, highlighting current issues with privacy and ownership in the digital age and the ability of blockchain technology to combat such issues. Chris Dai then examines the use of blockchain technology in implementing Society 5.0 in more detail, explaining current obstacles that need to be overcome in the business environment and how blockchain is particularly suited to solving these issues, including market monopolies, privacy and data ownership concerns and democratization of data and its markets.
In the final panel discussion, the speakers further examined specific current use cases and presented their thoughts on cryptocurrency, smart contracts and democratization of data.
This month's featured article
Blockchain and Society 5.0-The Creation of a New Marketplace based on Distributed Consensus
The Japanese government is aiming to realize Society 5.0, "a human-centered society that integrates cyberspace and physical space." To realize such a society, the creation of "a human-friendly interface" connecting the two spaces will be indispensable. To this end, blockchain (a decentralized ledger) is expected to play a major role. Blockchain is a groundbreaking technology which enables the creation of records (ledgers) on the Internet that cannot be falsified or copied and that are not centrally controlled. Blockchain has been making tremendous advances as a basic technology for building new industries on the Internet. In this Special Seminar, we invited Chris DAI, CEO of LONGHASH, Japan to discuss with YANO Makoto, President & CRO, RIETI, how to ensure the sound development of new industries.
"Applicability of the Inclusive Wealth Index to Policy Making: Expanding its use for social and economic policy"
by MANAGI Shunsuke (Faculty Fellow, RIETI) / TANAKA Kenta (Associate Professor, Musashi University) https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/a01_0511.html