EU blockchain alliance launch attracts over 100 members
by Graham Buck
The European Union (EU) has announced the launch of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), which aims to bring distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the mainstream via development and adoption.
Barclays, BBVA, Swift Germany’s Deutsch Börse and Deutsche Telekom are among more than 100 members to have completed signing of the charter, with tech giants IBM and Accenture and cryptocurrency sector operators such as the IOTA Foundation, Ripple, ConsenSys and the Sovrin Foundation also signing up. An additional 48 entities are reported to have applied for membership.
Despite the heavyweight names, INATBA’s aim is to bring together industry start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and also regulators and standard setting bodies to advance blockchain and DLT through a global framework.
“INATBA aims to develop a framework that promotes public and private sector collaboration, regulatory convergence, legal predictability and ensures the system’s integrity and transparency,” a post by the EU confirmed.
A series of initiatives
INATBA’s genesis was a series of series of forums held by the European Commission (EC).
The launch was marked by a ceremony at the EC’s offices in Brussels, at which the European commissioner for digital economy and society, Mariya Gabriel, stressed that the EU is committed to fostering the development of blockchain. She said: “In today’s economy, there is less and less time to build trust in the way it happened in the past.
“To fight cancer, to balance renewable energy, to trace the authenticity of goods, actors must be able to trust one another without meeting face-to-face. And how can we achieve this? With the help of blockchain, of course.)
Carlos Kuchkovsky, chief technology officer (CTO, new digital business, BBVA, commented: “BBVA joins INATBA with the conviction that it is essential to foment collaboration among corporations, SMEs, start-ups, public institutions and regulators in order to create global standards that ensure interoperability among platforms and a clearer legal framework that encourages the adoption of DLT and blockchain, so that everyone in society can take advantage of its benefits.”
The EC has previously launched other initiatives to promote the adoption of blockchain. A year, it formed the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) with 21 member countries and Norway to support the delivery of cross-border digital public services based around the technology. The Commission also established the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum in February 2018.
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