Asia Blockchain Review recently sat down with Ben Sheppard, Managing Director of Tomorrow Explored, TX. The company is an advisory and software development company specializing in the application of blockchain technology and data ecosystems.

Its goal is to develop solutions that truly empower industries, organizations and people by unlocking the value of data. Its making technologies of tomorrow accessible today. Through the application of the Streamr technology stack, they are creating a new data economy.

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to talk to Asia Blockchain Review. We greatly appreciate your time and consideration in this matter. First and foremost, how are things with you and the company as we navigate this new normal?

Thank you for inviting us for an interview.  For the main part it has been business as usual for us at TX.  We already had a flexible working environment where a large number of staff regularly worked from home.  There have been some minor disruptions to project delivery due to limitations on travel, but not to the extent that we would have been unable to deliver.

One of our team members who live in Spain was due to get married in Mexico in May, so he had to fly out early and spend a couple of months working remotely from San Miguel. He seems pretty happy about the situation! One surprise is the depth of our sales pipeline.

It’s the strongest it has ever been at TX. Economic downturns often drive the need for more creative thinking and solutions. We are finding that enterprises are more willing to participate in exploratory projects that can drive new business models involving data economies and blockchain.

With the ongoing global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, trade war imbalances and now violent protests over the recent ‘George Floyd’ debacle, the situation in the US must be quite precarious for businesses. What’s your take on all this? Or do you think all of this negativity will only remain in the US?

2020 is certainly a year full of challenges. This year is resurfacing problems that have been ignored for a long time and causing everyone from individuals, companies to governments to really think and hit the reset button. The US is certainly not the only country with human rights issues.

These are global issues, and the world needs better education on diversity, culture and oppression that has happened historically and is happening in the present. Hopefully, the current events will shed more light on these issues and will result in permanent change for the better.

There is also a concern that Covid-19 related pressures may be making Digital Transformation (DX) a tad bit rushed these days. A recent report suggested that these hasty measures being implemented may not be future-proofed. What’s your take on this issue?

Yes, I can believe it. A few of the major enterprises I have spoken to on behalf of TX, which employ around 80,000 staff each, have really struggled with their staff working from home. Their IT infrastructure hasn’t been holding up, which has caused delays or, in worst cases, lost information.

Few companies have had contingency plans in place to deal with a situation as severe as this. Quick fixes will lead to both a managerial and technical debt that will likely have a downstream cost.

But let’s try to take a positive from the situation – if more companies embrace DX and staff are able to work from home post-pandemic, it could have a major impact in reducing work-related vehicle trips and thus improving the CO2 levels in major cities like Beijing and Jakarta.

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About the author

Anil Prabha

Editor In Chief

Anil started his career in journalism all the way back in 2003. After traversing the sphere of editorial, corporate communications and advertising, he has now come full circle and is back in the world of journalism. He believes in the power of the written word, and its ability to enthrall, delight and inform the reader.