NATO and BRICS: The Start of The New Digital Race

Progress can be stopped neither by a ban nor by limits. Despite the yet undefined legal status of virtual assets the Cabinet of Ministers of India has approved the research in the sphere of the distributed ledger technology. Moreover, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed within the organization of the BRICS Economic Cooperation.

The competition between the economic and military-political blocks continues exists not only in the sphere of new weapons systems development but also in the high-tech economy area.

On the part of India, the state Exim Bank will participate in the research. China, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa are represented by the Chinese Development Bank, the National Department of Economic Development of Brazil, Vnesheconombank and the Development Bank of South Africa respectively. Joint research should help countries better adapt the technology of decentralized databases to the needs of national financial systems, as well as to the public sector of the economy.

Meanwhile, each country is working its own way to introduce modern digital solutions.

For example, China is creating a national standard for the operation of distributed ledgers and applications to them. The document will contain several applications, including the rules of the decentralized platform for state organizations and for business.

The Central Bank of Brazil has launched a distributed ledger for the fast and reliable exchange of information between regulators. Along with the Central Bank, the Securities Commission, the Office of Private Insurance and the National Bureau of Pension Funds will also use the service.

The Central Bank of Russia has recently conducted a trial ICO. Successful one, according to the management. In addition, the state corporation Rostech has signed the agreement with one of the national companies-operators of the distributed ledger to create a project office for the implementation of ideas within the Digital Russia Program. The cost of the contract is $2 million.

The Central Bank of South Africa has also successfully tested a decentralized system of the interbank information exchange. According to a press release, the system will store information about banks' balances.

So, gradually, each of the states, despite the restrictions and bans in some countries and the undefined legal status of virtual exchange technologies in others, is studying a new digital reality and making the first, not always confident steps. Time will pass, and the project of a unified digital currency for the BRICS countries (previously, a project of the fiat payment system was considered) will look not that fantasy. The exchange of payments can accelerate several-fold.

At the same time, NATO countries are developing solutions based on a distributed ledger for the military industry. First of all, we are talking about logistics and military finance. It is expected that such services will be able to monitor military supplies from the producer to the consumer better, and also to find the optimal routes for troops’ movements.

Moreover, the US Department of Defense, through the Defense Advanced Research Agency, has requested the development of a secure messaging system based on the DLT technology. So far, nothing is known about the results of the contest, but, most likely, they already exist.

In the 40s-90s of the last century, the Cold War and the Arms Race resulted not only in the dissociation of the mankind but also in a real technological breakthrough. We owe the man's flight to the Moon and the advent of the Internet to the competition between two systems. It is bitter to admit, but the war and nothing else was the motivation for the development of peaceful technologies.

As we see, the rivalry has continued, and this is a good sign for the digital economy. Like any battle for the leadership, this one can push such conventionalities as the pressure of the traditional fiat economy into the background.