COMPANY PROJECTS WITH BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN

After the Internet, Smartphones and Artificial Intelligence technology, Blockchain is the most disruptive technology that has come into our lives. With these last two technologies we have a lot at stake as a Society and as Companies. Today we delve into Blockchain with a look at its impact on B2B projects, where it is currently having a greater reach.

INTERNATIONAL BLOCKCHAIN PROJECTS

Once we know the global advantages of this technology, especially in projects of international scope, we will next look at B2B projects based on Blockchain development in different sectors of activity.

The research firm Juniper Research has just published a report on the adoption of blockchain in the field of monetary transactions between B2B companies, revealing a significant increase in the use of this technology in this field.

Blockchain's improved security, transparency and traceability, as well as the ability to eliminate intermediary costs, are encouraging organizations to apply blockchain for cross-border transactions. Furthermore, the possibility of clearing and settlement in real time is an additional incentive for this type of transaction.

For a few years now, large multinationals from various sectors have launched their projects with Blockchain technology, with greater or lesser success. Below we highlight some of the most interesting initiatives.

PROJECTS WITH BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN THE TELECOMS SECTOR

Telcos exchange information and secure payments to facilitate the International Roaming service. In this link you can see the flows that occur and how it works in detail. This project has been carried out by the main world operators, such as BT, Vodafone, Colt, Deutsche Telekom, PCCW Global, Singtel, Telefónica, Telstra, TATA and Orange. And its main objective is to improve efficiency, trust/security and scalability. At the moment they have carried out a proof of concept.

At the beginning of the year, Forbes magazine published the Blockchain 50 list, with the main global companies and startups that are developing ambitious projects based on Blockchain.

In 2021, the list includes the Spanish Telefónica , coinciding with the launch of its subsidiary Telefónica Tech, a group company that encompasses the digital businesses of cloud, cybersecurity, IoT, Big Data and Blockchain. This same year, Telefónica joined the Alastria consortium , an alliance that brings together more than 500 members, in order to have a blockchain infrastructure to create multi-sector productive applications involving private companies, public administrations and the academic community.

Its main asset in Blockchain development service is TrustOS, “a proprietary technology that makes it easier for B2B clients to enjoy the benefits of immutability, traceability and transparency of the technology without facing its complexity.”

PROJECTS WITH BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN THE FINANCIAL OR FINTECH SECTOR

Visa B2B connect is a bank-to-bank international payments platform, which it has developed together with IBM. It is a Blockchain-based platform that seeks to bypass the current SWIFT network and that the payments multinational is testing with Commerce Bank in the USA, Shinhan Bank in South Korea, Union Bank in the Philippines and United Overseas Bank in Singapore.

The company FIS, one of the largest companies that offer global solutions to the banking sector, and Goldman Sachs have joined the project.Without a doubt, one of the applications of blockchain-based platforms that will provide citizens and companies with greater security and confidence are customer identification systems, known as “Know Your Customers – KYC.”

In this sense, the proof of concept carried out in 2018 by IBM with the help of Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) for the monetary authorities of Singapore stands out, launching a common platform for all banks, where companies can access and save time managing your identification and digital operations with third parties.

Already in Europe, the digital identity firm uPort has signed an agreement with the startup Onfido and the consulting firm PwC, present in 158 countries. This company has developed an app to convert onboarding processes into more accessible, faster and safer procedures. Currently being tested in the financial sandbox in the UK.

In Spain, at the end of 2020 the Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE) published Standard UNE 71307-1, a reference framework for digital enabling technologies . This is a Decentralized Identity management model on Blockchain and other Distributed Registry Technologies.

Thanks to blockchain technology and this legal framework of reference, users will be allowed to create and control their own digital identity in a self-managed manner, without the need to resort to centralized authorities.

But not only the finance sector will have a relevant role in the identification of people section. Regarding the transportation of people, we highlight the role of the startup Zamma, owned by Telefónica, and which has developed a platform under blockchain to help verify the identity of passengers . The platform is already being tested by Emirates airlines and British Airways.

Astrea is a small Spanish electronic signature, Digital Identity (ID) and trust services consulting company, which is part of the legal team of the European borderless administration.

CHALLENGES FOR COMPANIES FACING BLOCKCHAIN

Lack of resources . In any disruptive innovation process, which is dominated by a handful of people (in comparative terms), Blockchain development company projects have a very high cost. Both the Innovation Areas, together with the Systems and Marketing Areas of the companies, may think that the effort involved is excessive according to the value currently received and perceived. However, we will be attentive to the importance of blockchain-based technological projects within the aid plan of the European Reconstruction Fund that helps the country overcome the consequences of COVID-19 and modernize the economy.

Lack of international consensus . We can see this in the experience gained from the identification or KYC project for Singapore companies. Companies operate in international environments and a lack of consensus was evident between identification requirements and the incompatibility of the documentation handled by banks in different countries. In this way, in 2019 they signed an agreement with the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) for it to lead the project renamed e-kyc. The BIS's mission is to help central banks in international cooperation projects.

Lack of need or low priority . In this sense, business software and SaaS companies, which are the companies that will lead the deployment to the different markets, are not yet integrating Blockchain into their solutions, although Gartner predicts that ERP and CRM providers will gradually integrate blockchain capabilities. gradual and that will not be common for about two or three years (according to information from 2019).

Lack of leadership . The big difference between starting any business project or starting a project based on Blockchain technology is precisely that the leadership and initial communication starts from the innovation areas and other technical areas of the companies. These areas are not usually the last decision-makers in the launch of new products and services within the company.

However, where this lack of leadership does not exist is in the new technology companies and startups that are already making a new scenario a reality based on this disruptive technology.