Blockchain Revolution Global (BRG) — the collaborative partnership between Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), the world’s leading think-tank for blockchain and MCI Group, one of the global leaders on building community — is pleased to unveil the inaugural Enterprise Blockchain Awards (EBAs) recognizing excellence in enterprise blockchain.  Presented by The Tapscott Group, the EBAs will bring together the brightest and best of the international enterprise blockchain community to celebrate both achievements and opportunities.  The call for entries runs January 10 – February 28, 2019 at www.blockchainrevolutionglobal.com/ebawards.  An independent judging panel will be chaired by renowned MITlecturer and retired IBM executive, Irving Wladawsky-Berger.  Winners will be announced at the inaugural Blockchain Awards Gala on April 24 during the Blockchain Revolution Global Congress held in Toronto, Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on April 24 – 25, 2019.

“The innovation happening in the enterprise blockchain space is truly transformative,” says Don Tapscott, CEO of the Tapscott Group and Executive Chairman and co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute.  “With the Enterprise Blockchain Awards, we will recognize and celebrate those companies and individuals at the leading edge of the enterprise blockchain revolution.”

EBA awards and categories
Awards will be given for the categories of Enterprise Blockchain Transformation: recognizing companies that are using blockchain to transform their industries based on a commitment to drive innovation; Innovative Entrepreneurship in Blockchain: recognizing a start-up that provides innovative blockchain solutions to support enterprises in the journey to transform their businesses; New Frontier in Enterprise Blockchain Research: recognizing a researcher/academic who leverages blockchain technology to push boundaries of new business models, and Blockchain Leadership: honouring an executive who has championed blockchain for their industry.

“The Enterprise Blockchain Awards will recognize organizations and individuals that are uniquely committed to blockchain innovation,” adds Dr. Wladawsky-Berger, who is also a research director at the Blockchain Research Institute.  “It is an honor to be leading the judging panel for the inaugural awards.”

Top former executives from Playstation, Take 2/Rockstar and Guitar Hero today announced the creation of Planet Digital Partners Inc., a video game publisher funded by a Security Token Offering. With the launch of its Rocket Token (RKT™), Planet Digital will democratize game funding for investors, publishers and developers and provide distribution for its portfolio of games – including Cabela’s ‘The Hunt,’ Cooking Mama, and Bass Pro ‘The Strike.’

The company’s leadership team and board of directors include:

• Steve Grossman, CEO: Video game investor and publisher of over 40 games, executive producer of the award-winning Nintendo World Championships.
• Chris Deering, Advisor: Former president of Sony PlayStation Europe, credited as one of the main marketers of PlayStation game consoles.
• Kelly Sumner, Board of directors member: Former CEO of Take-Two/Rockstar, publisher of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and former CEO of RedOctane, publisher of the world famous ‘Guitar Hero.’

The Planet Digital games will be available on all major platforms including PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mobile. 2019 launch titles represent a sales history of more than $300 million.

“Security Token Offerings represent a unique path to democratize investment and allow investors to participate in profit on the ground floor compared to public stocks,” said Steve Grossman, CEO of Planet Digital. “We’re thrilled to bring blockchain to our games and deliver compelling new experiences to gamers that were previously impossible.”

The video game industry represents a $135 billion business and is projected to exceed $180 billion globally by 2022 (Newzoo). Blockchain is expected to be one of the biggest disruptors to the gaming space and Planet Digital games take full advantage of blockchain, delivering compelling new experiences to energize gamers.

“We get most excited about working with veteran management teams that are applying blockchain to innovate in their industry,” said Alan McGlade, co-founder and COO of seriesOne, a Planet Digital partner and broker. “Planet Digital defines that category.”

R3 has launched Corda Network, the underlying, open shared blockchain network linking participants using Corda. Corda Network will be operated and managed by a new independent not-for-profit organisation, the Corda Network Foundation.

Corda Network provides a common layer of identity and consensus for participants on Corda and Corda Enterprise. It is an open shared infrastructure, which enables compatibility between participants on the network.

Corda Network allows for the transfer of data and digital assets between communities of nodes (business networks) and different CorDapps. Participants can therefore create private ecosystems within their organisation, or with trusted commercial partners, while remaining interoperable with the wider Corda community where appropriate. Relevant information can be shared between applications and organisations, creating efficiencies and avoiding duplication. Corda Network also includes identity verification and privacy services to ensure that participants can operate on the network safely.

It provides a global and openly governed network enabling low-friction onboarding of participants to Corda as well as helping developers quickly, securely, and economically develop new applications for Corda and Corda Enterprise.

Governance and the work encouraging adoption of Corda Network will be transitioned over to the new Corda Network Foundation. The Foundation’s board will be comprised of directors drawn from participants on the Network and elected by members of Corda Network. It will operate independently of R3 and its decision making will be transparent and available to all network members.

David E. Rutter, CEO of R3

“Corda’s mission has always been to find a way for enterprises to benefit from blockchain’s promise of open, frictionless sharing and global interoperability. The launch of Corda Network and the Corda Network Foundation illustrates this aim perfectly. Participants will be able to build their systems to suit their exact needs and ensure the security of their data, while still benefiting from the advantages of a universal network.

“Applications on Corda are seeing wide adoption throughout industries. Corda Network is the next step in bringing these networks together to make these applications even more efficient and effective.”

Sylvain de Crom, Chief Product Officer, B3i

“The true value in Corda Network lies in improving the fluidity of transactions and the transfer of assets, data and finance in a secure and efficient manner.

“We are very pleased to see the successful launch of the Corda Network in which we have been involved in active testing. Interoperability of blockchain-based software is at the core of what we are building in B3i. The potential for this to cascade throughout, not just insurance, but banking, supply chain and other industries is extremely important for global commerce.”

Manuel Sevilla, Chief Digital Officer at Capgemini Business Services, Capgemini

“The governance system is inherent to the success of Corda Network. Involving many customers and esteemed partners illustrates the quality of the overall governance design and we are extremely proud having been invited to the Trust Root Ceremony at R3 headquarters.”

Frederic Dalibard, Head of Digital for Corporate & Investment Banking at Natixis

“The creation of the Corda Network Foundation and Corda Network underpins the vision R3 and its members have had since day one.

“This open ecosystem is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform the financial industry – and beyond – profoundly while maintaining an open and diverse market landscape. The launch of Corda Network is a wonderful signal for the entire Corda community and CorDapp developers that they will be able to bring their application to a truly open platform, supported by a non-biased operator.”

Paula da Silva, Head of transactions services, SEB

“SEB is constantly investigating and adopting new technological solutions with the potential to benefit our customers. Naturally, we have been interested in blockchain’s promise of enabling global connectivity and availability of trusted, secure and efficient transactions for everyone. We are therefore pleased to be part of the Corda Network announcement, which is a key step to bridge the current siloes of closed networks and to deliver on this promise.”

The Bitfury Group launched Bitfury Surround, a music entertainment division that will design blockchain solutions to address challenges faced by artists and other stakeholders in the music industry.

Bitfury Surround’s first initiative will be to create an open-source music platform secured by the Bitcoin Blockchain. The open-source platform, named SURROUND, will encourage collaboration, foster fresh applications and promote innovation within the industry.

The SURROUND platform will enable the entire music entertainment industry to streamline operations through secure transfer of copyright assets, streamlined connectivity as well as better monitoring and management systems. To do so, the platform will create a fully interoperable digital ecosystem for sharing and monetizing intellectual property and enhance economic opportunity by providing transparent management functions and trusted data.

“The music entertainment industry has evolved into a complex, competitive, technology-driven environment that suffers from a severe lack of transparency,” said Valery Vavilov, CEO of Bitfury. “We want to champion artists and help incentivize the growth of the entire industry through the creation of this open, blockchain-based ecosystem.”

The SURROUND platform will provide and maintain an integrated layer that secures crucial factors to help grow the music entertainment ecosystem, including:

• Service legal agreement (SLA) capabilities
• Interoperability and auditability
• Secure asset movement across the blockchain
• Payment rails
• Immutable and trusted data
• Anchoring and decentralized timestamping
• Tools for an open economy (unified APIs, smart-contract management, peer-to-peer structure)
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Collaborative ownership of assets

To begin, Bitfury will build solutions to address many challenges the industry faces today, such as:

• The value gap between the creative industry and the platform economy
• Legally binding digital copyright registration
• A lack of trusted and consolidated data globally
• Fraud (i.e. secondary markets, unauthorized usage, data tampering)
• Administrative inefficiency
• Non-transparent management of agreements
• Slow cash flow and unclear money allocation
• Global collection of usage value
• Speed of innovation
• Economic and political challenges (i.e. emerging markets, currency volatility, instability, regulation)

With SURROUND, existing and upcoming stakeholders — such as artists, labels, publishers, collecting societies, streaming services, consumers and developers — can seamlessly interact and directly benefit from efficiency gains through blockchain technology.

The SURROUND ecosystem will be built on Bitfury’s Exonum open-source blockchain platform, creating a transparent environment for all parties and fostering trust and cooperation on all levels. Establishing this open ecosystem, co-created by the music entertainment industry, will enable exchange on a level playing field and increase the value for all stakeholders.

To incentivize participation, SURROUND will be set up as a cooperative, enabling participants to build new businesses and close the existing value gap. Value and market cap allocation will happen through the actual performance of participants.

The Bitfury Surround business division will be based in Europe, with its initial footprint projected to be in Amsterdam and Berlin. Other operations are set for Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul and Moscow.

Stefan Schulz, a 20-year music and entertainment industry veteran, business development executive at Vivendi, will serve as the music division’s Chief Executive Officer. Schulz said Bitfury Surround will strengthen the rights of artists, giving them and their business partners power and incentives to develop new content and innovative solutions. The division will also significantly improve their leverage regarding distribution and value attribution in the music economy.

“Music is perhaps the most powerful currency in today’s world driven by emotions, globalization and volatility in consumer behavior. Yet, the overall value of the music market is lower than in the late 1990s. Blockchain technology, complemented by Artificial Intelligence, will reverse this dramatic development and enable an age of exponential and sustainable growth in the whole industry,” said Schulz, who also has served as founding member and executive vice president of Universal Music Digital.

“The SURROUND ecosystem will foster transparency and trust, save administrative costs and improve a secure and transparent flow of content from artists to consumers on the blockchain, making efficiency gains available to all market participants fairly,” he added. “Only a true market leader such as Bitfury, dedicated to making the world a better place, can have the boldness to enter such a meaningful marketplace with an open-source and cooperative platform.”

“It will help empower individual stakeholders and open the market to infinite new business models and collaborations, while enhancing the protection of intellectual property rights,” he added. “Most importantly, it will create a sustainable environment that fairly compensates artists and stakeholders.”

About The Bitfury Group

The Bitfury Group is the world’s leading full-service blockchain technology company. Bitfury® is building solutions for the future, with the most significant technologies of the millennium. Our mission is to make the world more transparent and trusted by innovating at every level of technology — hardware, security, and software — to put trust back into the equation. Founded in 2011, Bitfury is the leading security and infrastructure provider for the Bitcoin Blockchain. In addition to securing the Bitcoin Blockchain, Bitfury also designs and produces innovative hardware that keeps cryptocurrencies and blockchains secure, including custom semiconductor chips and mobile datacenters. Bitfury is also a software provider for the some of the world’s most cutting-edge applications through its private blockchain framework, Exonum (TM) , its advanced analytics platform Crystal (TM) Blockchain, and its specialized engineering team for the open-source Lightning Network, Lightning Peach.

Authenteq, creator of the blockchain identity verification technology Trollteq, has raised $5 million in funding and is now touting its 60-second identity verification process.

The funding for the Reykjavik, Iceland-based company was led by Draper Associates and Capital300. The company said it completed its funding round in two weeks.

Authenteq CEO Kari Thor Runarsson said the company is talking with additional investors about a second closing of the Series A financing, which is expected to happen in the next couple of weeks.

“The reason we decided to do two closings is we were introduced to an investor (Capital300) with a startup mindset of getting things done and felt it was a great challenge to try to finish all due diligence and paperwork in two weeks after the term sheet was approved,” Runarsson said, in a statement. “It was sort of a field test for us to see if they really were as agile and dynamic as they claimed to be during our discussions. We were honestly surprised how smoothly it went, despite a very thorough due diligence and legal process.”

Authenteq publicly launched its service in late 2018, and it signed up a dozen clients in the first months. A typical customer needs to comply with KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations, meaning companies in the financial industry, as well as online marketplaces and professional services.

“Having forward-thinking investors such as Tim Draper continue his support of Authenteq after backing the company in the seed round and a convertible note shows his interest and dedication to the space,” said Runarsson. “And having investors like Capital300 who show the entrepreneurial spirit of getting stuff done in record time really gives us confidence that we have picked the right investors for our continued growth.”

Draper is known for his investments in Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, Baidu, Coinbase, Robinhood, and Twitch.

“I believe that Authenteq is the beginning of the solution to true and pure identity, which may eliminate many of the security concerns in the market today. Their product is simple and elegant,” Draper said, in a statement.

Authenteq’s AI-driven automatic identity verification process uses a proprietary passive liveness detection to make sure whoever is signing up for the service is doing so in real time. The company then issues an eID for the user, located on the user’s mobile phone and private blockchain. In less than 60 seconds, a user is verified with government-grade facial recognition algorithms, and the photo ID documents are authenticated.

The market for mobile identity verification is currently estimated at $10 billion and is expected to double in the next four to five years, according to consulting firm McKinsey.

Authenteq differentiates itself from other players in the space with its eID, which gives the user complete control and ownership over their online identity. Authenteq’s plan is to introduce various disruptive services for the largely untapped market.

The company has 22 employees working in its Berlin and Reykjavik offices, and the new funding will be used in part to fill a range of new positions.

Authenteq believes its identity management service can help curb the scourge of internet trolls. Trolling has become endemic across platforms ranging from Twitter and Facebook to online news sites, and these haters have made many previously family friendly and socially responsible websites into havens for online abuse. No matter how many troll accounts are deleted by the provider, they still return under a new name or handle and continue their vile behavior, threats, and harassment.

With Trollteq, once a user is banned, they are gone for good and cannot re-register under a false name or identity. It requires buy-in from platforms that allow some degree of anonymity or privacy, as Trollteq uses Authenteq’s identity management system, which requires people to verify that they are human.

You first have to use your smartphone to capture your image, selfie-style. Then you take a picture of your valid driver’s license or some other form of sovereign identification. Authenteq verifies that the images are of you and that the ID card is legitimate. Then it associates you with a login account that you are creating, without giving away your identity.

BitTorrent announced a token that aims to expand upon its vision of a decentralized internet. The new token, also called BitTorrent (BTT), will be issued by BitTorrent Foundation, established in Singapore and will enable users to exchange tokens to improve network speed. By providing users with the ability to use BTT tokens for faster downloads, the company aims to accelerate the overall speed of torrents. “BitTorrent token is the first in a series of steps to support a decentralized internet,” said Justin Sun, founder of TRON and CEO of BitTorrent. “In one giant leap, the BitTorrent client can introduce blockchain to hundreds of millions of users around the world and empower a new generation of content creators with the tools to distribute their content directly to others on the web.”

BitTorrent token, which features native TRC-10 compatibility, will be exclusively available to non-U.S. accounts on Binance Launchpad, the token sale platform by leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

“We created Launchpad to help entrepreneurs launch their best projects and bring more use cases to the industry,” said Changpeng Zhao (‘CZ’), Binance CEO and Founder. “BitTorrent is a decentralized project by nature, with a large user base, that is now adding a new token economy to their use case. Through Launchpad, BitTorrent will have greater access to resources across the Binance ecosystem. This will be a case study for existing projects.”

Launchpad helps transformative blockchain startups raise funds needed to develop their products and provides them with Binance’s advisory resources and access to its ecosystem as part of the company’s larger mission in aiding cryptocurrency adoption.

BitTorrent token will first be implemented into the Windows-based µTorrent Classic client, BitTorrent, Inc.’s most popular application. BitTorrent token-enabled µTorrent Classic clients will be 100% compatible with other clients that support the BitTorrent protocol, and users who wish to opt out will be able to do so in the product’s settings. More information about the token mechanism can be found on the official white papers.

TRON and BitTorrent plan to provide more details about BitTorrent token and Project Atlas products at niTROn Summit on January 17-18 in San Francisco.

The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support provided approximately 41,000 power poles, 88.1 million meals and 1,264 generators in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the 2017 hurricane season. Responding to three major hurricanes was a record undertaking for DLA, and the mission was a success.

But could the use of blockchain technology improve DLA’s support even more?

That was the question posed during a two-day presentation hosted by Troop Support’s Continuous Process Improvement office from Dec. 3-4 in Philadelphia. CPI leaders, by direction of the Commander, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Simerly, reviewed Troop Support’s processes during their response to Hurricane Maria and recovery operations in Puerto Rico, and presented how blockchain capabilities could have improved efforts.

“We think there’s a lot of potential [in blockchain],” CPI management analyst Elijah Londo said. “Where do we want to be as an organization in shaping and influencing where the [Department of Defense] goes with blockchain?”

CPI Process Compliance Director Daniel Keenaghan described blockchain as a digital, decentralized “distributed ledger” where identical copies of data is stored across multiple servers.

Changes to the data, or “blocks”, such as updates to ordering and delivery tracking information key to DLA’s logistics processes, are linked in a “chain” that builds trust through peer-user validation within the chain. Changes are immediately viewable by all peers with access to the block of data, improving transparency and auditability of agency transactions.

Currently, processes are tracked through systems and databases that are centrally managed by one agency or another. Visibility can be challenging at times, and stakeholders have to synchronize data to make sure they are all tracking accurate, up-to-date information.

To help answer whether blockchain could have helped, Construction and Equipment deputy director Marko Graham used a process map of C&E’s actions linking FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, Troop Support and industry partners – key stakeholders who would be peer users in a blockchain scenario – to review where this technology might improve associated logistics processes.

Graham shared some challenging points in the process and how C&E worked through them, such as the efforts that went into the maintenance of an internal spreadsheet that tracked requirements sourced through multiple vendors as items were purchased and delivered.

Then, he discussed these points using blockchain capabilities such as transaction processing and in-transit visibility of shipments to evaluate the process improvements.

“This is where I can see where blockchain would have been a big help,” Graham said. “Flowing [materiel specifications and tracking data] from the manufacturer buying the raw materials to…getting the transportation and getting it on the barges.”

According to Londo, the potential of blockchain technology exists.

“The potential is absolutely enormous,” Londo said. “Talk about blockchain, [and] you’ll hear experts comparing it to transforming trust or transactions in the same way the internet changed communication. Other agencies and countries are also looking into this technology.”

Keenaghan invited one of those agency representatives to share his experience.

Craig Fischer, program manager with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Innovation and Transformation Office, provided lessons learned from a blockchain pilot he conducted for equipment accountability, an application useful to any government agency.

Keenaghan also shared that the United Arab Emirates has set a goal to have 50 percent of government transactions processed via blockchain technology by 2021.

It’s still a while until the technology can be put to use at DLA.

“We’re researching the technology,” Londo said. “[We’re] getting as smart as we can about what it is, what industry is saying about it, what the future might look like, how it applies to supply chains and how other industries are using it. We’re doing our due diligence.”

Simerly’s plan is to take the research as it applies to the hurricane response, a use case so to speak, and provide information for DLA to justify and apply research and development efforts with blockchain.

A restoration of power to Puerto Rico is a mission success, but advances in technology offer potential improvements to what Keenaghan says is “already amazing work.”

That’s what the CPI office is after through their evaluation and coordination with government and industry partners, such as the U.S. Transportation Command and Maersk, a large shipping company, who are already experimenting with blockchain technology.

“There’s really no shortage of players out there,” Londo said. “At the very least, it’s a collaboration and knowledge share. And at its best, it’s actual partnerships and pilot opportunities.”

This CPI office hosted the event under the Troop Support Campaign of Learning.

The CoL sets conditions to understand key challenges and conditions of the future sustainment environment. Through readings and events, in partnership with the military, industry and academia, the CoL provides an avenue of disciplined, deliberate learning and dialogue to facilitate understanding and promote recommendations for future supply chain solutions.

inacta AG, a specialist for services around Crypto Assets, and Canada based Blockstream Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding for offering services for the interexchange settlement network Liquid to the Swiss finance industry.

Liquid, created by Blockstream which is run by the inventor of proof of work Dr. Adam Back, is the first production-ready sidechain and combines the strengths of public and permissioned blockchains. It allows issuance and transfer of crypto asset tokens such as equities, bonds and other securities in a scalable and private way using the unique Confidential Asset Technology.

The Liquid Network visualised

inacta’s recently established Crypto Assets unit will offer integration services for Liquid, helping financial institutions to leverage the benefits of the Liquid blockchain. What’s more, inacta supports companies that want to issue assets on the Liquid network.

Liquid technology has also been integrated in inacta’s Tokengate, the platform for issuing crypto assets in a manner fully compliant with laws and regulations. This makes tokengate the world’s first platform supporting tokens on the Liquid network.

About inacta

inacta is an independent Swiss IT consulting firm based in Zug. Almost 70 experienced digitization experts support organisations from the insurance, banking, real estate, and healthcare sectors. For almost two years now, the experts at inacta have been supporting start-ups and established companies with consulting, training and software development services. As an early adopter, inacta understands not only the technology but also how and where Blockchain is usefully used.

About tokengate

tokengate is an initiative of inacta AG and aims to be the reference platform for fully compliant ICOs in Switzerland. It supports Crypto Valley’s growing ecosystem and promotes transparency for both contributors and organizers with a standardised contribution process, resulting in a fully FINMA compliant and yet smooth user experience

Atari, one of the world’s most famous editors and producers of interactive entertainment, today announces that it has entered into a license agreement with Animoca Brands Limited, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (listed on ASX: “AB1”). The Agreement grants Animoca Brands the rights to produce and publish blockchain versions of the popular Atari mobile game titles RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch and Goon Squad globally (excluding China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau).

At the same time, Animoca Brands and Atari also entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop a strategic partnership to explore mutual opportunities in gaming, product development, blockchain, and other areas.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch has over 19 million downloads globally and has benefited from the successful launch of the water park expansion in July 2018 as well as the addition of new restaurant features in September 2018 in partnership with Foodgod (aka Jonathan Cheban), famous for his reality show appearances on the hit television show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, who gathers a community of 3 million followers.

Goon Squad drops players into an underworld ruled by mobsters, gambling and fast-paced card battles. Players can plot a path from lowly Goon to all-powerful Godfather in the free-to-play title, collecting cards to rise through the ranks and build the ultimate criminal empire.

Based on the Agreement, Animoca Brands will produce and publish blockchain-based versions of the Atari games RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch and Goon Squad. The new titles will feature the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The term of the Agreement extends through to 31 March 2022.

Animoca Brands expects to publish the games in the latter half of 2019.

As consideration for the license to develop and publish the Games, Animoca Brands will pay to Atari a minimum guarantee against future revenues of US$250,000, payable in shares of the Company’s stock (listed on ASX: “AB1”). A revenue share will be payable to Atari after gross revenues generated by the Games exceed a total of US$500,000.

The shares offered in consideration to Atari will be subject to a lock-up period of nine months from the effective date, and will be released from lock-up in a phased schedule extending through 31 August 2019.

Yat Siu, the co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “This deal marks a special moment for me because I started my career working with Atari and using Atari computers. The RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is, like many of Atari’s properties, a true evergreen, having been around for two decades. Given the strategic and commercial elements of this incredibly fun simulation, it is a perfect candidate for blockchain adaptation.”

Frédéric Chesnais, the main shareholder and CEO of Atari, commented: “We are proud and delighted to enter into this long-term and strategic relationship with Animoca Brands, which also allows us to become a shareholder in one of the most exciting innovators in the world of decentralized gaming. We hope that this agreement paves the way to to further cooperation on other Atari products.”

The CEOs Advisory Council of the Dubai UAE Banks Federation (UBF) on Monday discussed the adoption of blockchain to enhance know-your-customer (KYC) processes at banks. The meeting also reviewed other key topics such as Emiratization, and digital transformation.

“As part of our efforts aimed at creating and sustaining a thriving banking ecosystem, we have undertaken a number of initiatives and new endeavours, such as the adoption of blockchain into KYC process,” said Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UBF.

During the meeting, Aref Al Ramli, chairperson of UBF’s Digital Banking Committee, Senior VP, Head of Digital Banking and Innovation at Mashreq Bank, presented the Digital Banking Committee study about Blockchain which explores opportunities for creating an industry standard to digitise various processes within member banks, and the potential functions that can be leveraged by the technology, including client onboarding, cross-border transfers, payments, and compliance reporting, among several others.

“With advancements in technologies continuing to shape customer needs and expectations, it has become all-important for the banking industry to be at the forefront of innovation. The emerging technologies also present new opportunities for banks to create new revenue streams, which will in turn drive sustained business growth,” said Al Ghurair.