The two core issues holding back the mass adoption of blockchain technology today are cost and interoperability.
MEDIA 7: Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your professional career?
YIFAN HE: I’m Yifan He, the founder and CEO of Red Date Technology, the architect firm behind Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), the fastest growing global blockchain infrastructure project in the past two years. I’m a serial entrepreneur and investor. For all my career, I have been working for my own companies. Back in 1998, I founded my first internet company at college in the US and spent more than ten years in private equity and finance in China. I graduated from SUNY at Stony Brook with a computer science degree and an MBA degree from MIT. In 2014, I founded Red Date Technology, working on smart city projects. We collaborated with China Mobile and China UnionPay to develop a mobile app-Citizen Card. Later in 2019, Red Date, State Information Center, China Mobile, and China UnionPay started the BSN project and pivoted to the blockchain.
M7: What is Red Date Technology’s contribution to creating and developing China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN)?
YH: When I first started to research and understand blockchain technology in 2018, I knew that this technology would change the world in the future. However, there was no infrastructure at that time to support the “Blockchain Internet.” So, in September 2018, I envisioned building the BSN, a cross-portal, cross framework, and cross-cloud blockchain infrastructure to power all kinds of decentralized applications. Prior to the BSN project, Red Date has spent years on smart city projects, which helps Red Date to build the technical capacity for the BSN project as one of the four founding members and the key architect firm behind BSN. Red Date develops all the relevant software and owns all the IPs that facilitate the network. More specifically, Red Date is responsible for developing the software architecture for BSN International, the global part of the network, which promises greater interoperability with relevant blockchain regulations and laws around the world.
We are also tasked with directing the international marketing strategy for BSN, including launching new markets, facilitating cooperation, and leading the marketing campaigns. Beyond that, Red Date has set up a foundation in Singapore to manage BSN International’s future projects and technical roadmaps. Red Date will be one of the foundation's five founding directors, and the other four will be international technology leaders. So far, we have integrated almost all the mainstream consortium blockchain frameworks such as HyperLedger Fabric, Besu, FISCO BCOS, XuperChain, CITA, ConcenSys Quorum, Chain33, HyperLedger Besu, and supports public blockchains like Ethereum, IRISnet, ShareRing, etc. in BSN International. In addition, we have expanded to South Korea, Turkey and launched BSN international portals. We plan to make BSN International open source in two to three years to benefit more developers worldwide.
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Keep doing what you have been doing and have faith in it, everything will turn out fine.
M7: What do you hope to achieve with this Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN)?
YH: The two core issues holding back the mass adoption of blockchain technology today are cost and interoperability. We aim to change the existing problem of the high cost of developing and deploying blockchain applications through a multi-framework platform and interconnected environments. In this way, we can truly unleash the power of innovation using blockchain technology.
The BSN can be thought of as a way to ‘hedge’ against the risk that one chain or platform in which an organization has invested resources becomes obsolete further down the line.
This is because the BSN places such a high emphasis on achieving systematic interoperability, and therefore the BSN provides a space where different blockchain technologies can interact and exchange data. The goal of the BSN is to enable companies, government agencies, financial institutions, and individuals to create blockchain applications at a low cost. We want to be the backbone of the digital infrastructure to realize interoperability between different blockchains and protocols. Ultimately, we want to contribute to the large-scale adoption of blockchain technology worldwide and make BSN a blockchain internet accepted globally within five years. Now, we are still working on it.
M7: Red Date Technology is in partnership with China Mobile and China UnionPay. How does this partnership help you meet the objectives of BSN?
YH: China Mobile has been working on the IT infrastructure deployment and has been accelerating the rollout of 5G and the adoption of cloud services in China. In the BSN project, China Mobile is mainly responsible for developing and managing the BSN public city nodes in China, including the approval of new city nodes to the BSN and issuing access certificates to each city node owner in China. The BSN leverages China Mobile's centralized operations, data centres and local cloud resources to develop its blockchain cloud management technology that realizes the multi-cloud architecture on the BSN.
Talking about China UnionPay’s participation, they have been researching blockchain since 2015, especially underlying technologies. China UnionPay keeps exploring the adoption of blockchain in the financial industry and collaborates with commercial banks and payment institutions in China and worldwide, such as Alipay, Barclays Bank, ACI Worldwide, etc. Joining the BSN project is a turning point for China UnionPay to realize digital transformation using technology and data. China UnionPay is mainly responsible for investing and constructing BSN China's centralized ordering node services, operating and maintaining finance-related applications on different underlying frameworks. Besides, China UnionPay offers payment, transfer, and other financial assistance for the BSN China, facilitating and safeguarding the standardization of relevant financial services on the BSN.
There are three roles of China UnionPay in the construction of the BSN. First, China UnionPay will provide basic financial services such as financial payment and identity authentication for the BSN network. Second, this top payment provider will develop a set of financial standards and financial evaluation mechanisms for core technologies like smart contracts on the platform to accelerate the development of financial applications. Third, many financial portals will be built to bridge Chinese and more international financial institutions.
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The smart city project experience has gained a solid foundation for us to step into the blockchain industry later.
M7: What are some of the best smart city projects that you have managed at Red Date Technology before initiating the blockchain project?
YH: Before the BSN project, Red Date first started with “smart city” projects in our infancy. For example, we partnered with China Mobile and China UnionPay to develop Citizen Card for Zhangjiakou, a city with 4.5 million inhabitants that will co-host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Residents can use the all-in-one app to pay utility bills, check information about stores, keep track of transaction records and enjoy e-government services without visiting the office. Then, we spread to cities like Tonghua, Sheyang, etc.
Five Sources Plan, a smart city project led by China Mobile, consists of a smart citizen card 3.0 platform, an enterprise APP platform, and a mobile consumption points platform. It aims to provide information services for local governments to deal with people’s wellbeing and customized APP services and intelligent settlement services for local enterprises. Red Date is responsible for developing the smart citizen card 3.0 platform and settlement system.
Most of the Chinese tech companies are market-oriented or product-oriented, while we are a team that pays more attention to the underlying technology and makes efforts to develop technical infrastructures. The smart city project experience has gained a solid foundation for us to step into the blockchain industry later.
M7: Knowing what you now know, what would you advise your younger self?
YH: Keep doing what you have been doing and have faith in it, everything will turn out fine.