Several banks, including BBVA, have been invited to join a new European Union platform to promote the use of blockchain technology, according to finextra.com.
On Tuesday, BBVA was one of a host of representatives from the public and private sectors to take part in a Brussels-based roundtable on „uniting EU industries to lead blockchain technologies”.
EC commissioner for digital economy and society, Mariya Gabriel and the director-general for communications networks, content and technology, Roberto Viola attended the event, which was designed to rally industry leaders around a strategy to boost innovation and exploitation of blockchain technology in the EU.
„Blockchain will transform digital services. This is a major opportunity to increase trust and to improve services in a wide range of industries and sectors. Many governments and companies are already exploring the potential of this technology, across sectors such as energy, healthcare, financial services, supply chain management, manufacturing, transport, education, creative industries and public services. These are just some of the sectors that will be transformed by blockchain.”, EU argues.
But this requires close cooperation between the public and private sectors, hence the roundtable and subsequent creation of an ‘International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications’, which is set to come into existence at the beginning of next year.
The European Commission is already working closely with Member States within the European Blockchain Partnership. The Partnership aims to develop a trusted, secure and resilient European Blockchain Services Infrastructure meeting the highest standards in terms of privacy, cybersecurity, interoperability and energy efficiency, and fully compliant with EU law.
The ambition of the Partnership is to make this trusted infrastructure accessible to support digital services deployed by public authorities and to support cooperation with private actors.
BBVA says that it is one of five banks invited to join the effort from the off, helping to promote interoperability between technologies, develop sector-specific guidelines and provide information for the implementation of Europe’s blockchain strategy.
Carlos Kuchkovsky, head of research and development, New Digital Business, at BBVA, which has been involved in a host of blockchain projects over the last few years, represented the Spanish bank at the roundtable.
It is „essential to establish a system of governance that aligns the different participating industries and their objectives,” he says, adding that „we fully support this initiative and are ready to get to work”.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
