R3’s CordaCon Event
Now this blockchain means business for banking
By Frankie Elmquist, Eternic
Our development team headed to London to attend CordaCon, R3’s annual Corda blockchain event. We arrived excited to engage with the community for the first time since we started developing our cross-border payment solution for banking using Corda. We also came with a range of technical questions and the hope that the event would deliver the depth we needed to answer them.
R3 organized the event into two days with different focuses - DevDay and BizDay. DevDay focused on technical showcases and advancements. BizDay focused on a range of use cases. While DevDay was particularly relevant for us as a FinTech, we were encouraged to see the advances in business case development and what was contributing to their success.
The event showcased that Corda is a multi-dimensional blockchain platform that’s moving distributed ledger technology (DLT) toward maturity in some positive and holistic ways. We learned that as a platform, Corda has advanced in terms of functionality and developer support, as well as in building a critical mass of enthusiastic users. Here are our key takeaways from the event:
Technical Blockchain Maturity
It was evident that R3 wanted to demonstrate Corda’s maturity as a mission-critical blockchain (DLT) software and platform with both proper security and control, as well as privacy. Many technical sessions focused on new features related to the security, privacy, and scalability of the platform.
“If there’s something futuristic and hard, whether it’s quantum computers or advanced cryptography, ecash, or the internet of things, you guys want to do it, which is outstanding and makes it fun.”
– Mike Hearn, R3 Lead Platform Engineer, DevDay Keynote
Two examples that particularly stood out for us demonstrated how R3 is continuing to push the technological development of Corda to achieve new heights and application areas.
The first was discussion around solving for real-life scenarios like, for example when the “lights go out.” In the event of a national blackout, how long will ecash systems on the ledger need to self-sustain itself until the grid is back online (best case scenario is a min. of 72 hours). So, building blackout resilience into Corda systems is one of the ways R3, together with its customers, is anticipating and mitigating future risk beyond the norm.
The second example relates to advancing topics in cryptography and security architecture using enclaves and zero-knowledge proof. Where enclave-oriented computing can contribute not just to improving ledger privacy but also to the future of multi-party cloud computing, which R3 believes will become “fundamental capability,” all DLT will need to have.
To learn more about these and other development initiatives presented that day, we recommend checking out this video of Mike Hearn, R3 Lead Platform Engineer’s DevDay Keynote Presentation: Watch Now
In addition to examples like these, R3 demonstrated how they are making a significant effort to support and build their developer community. Platform scaling, but in a different sense.
“I am constantly amazed by the ambition and the futurism that this community represents. It is humbling and really helpful to see how you (the developer community) blow through all the obstacles on the way to not only getting things working but moving on to the next big thing.”
– Mike Hearn, R3 Lead Platform Engineer, DevDay Keynote
What was clear technologically, is that Corda’s DLT is becoming more mature. Although challenges with implementations of real-life applications will still occur, they will happen outside of the platform in relation to integration and deployment with existing systems.
Practical Blockchain Applications
A pattern visible throughout the blockchain applications presentations was that the most successful ones have managed to merge practical business process orchestration with DLT-related functions. Smart contracts alone cannot solve the business process unless they fit the workflow. Whereby business process definition and execution are also necessary ingredients to make large-scale financial (and non-financial) DLT solutions a success.
The event showcased several good examples of blockchain use for banking. The most impressive for us was how Accenture and Digital Venture, a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), are using blockchain technology to re-envisioning SCB as a procure-to-pay processes platform.
Using Corda DLT and Corda Flow, SCB is developing a banking and supply chain platform that orchestrates and simplifies long-lasting, non-trivial business transactions between several parties. In which, the shared distributed ledger ensures a transparent and single view on the case, including the involved documentation and transaction history. By cutting redundant steps and the exchange of documentation, the platform not only saved time but reduced cost by 70%. To learn more, about how they are doing this, we recommend watching the full presentation here: Watch Now
Blockchain For Financial Institutions
The financial institutions within the Corda Consortium demonstrated their level of maturity in a way that we had not observed at other blockchain events. They have moved past the usual blockchain-hype and are now clearly focused on how the software helps solve workflow orchestration issues to streamline the business process.
For them, implementation on Corda is no longer only about innovation, but executing a viable and more cost-effective IT-solution to support the portfolio of products they offer customers.
“It’s not a revenue game for us- it’s the cost play.”
– Mirka Skrzypczak, Head of Working Capital & Trade Products, NatWest
This shift in the conversation demonstrated to us a more mature understanding of distributed ledger technology and how it can fit into their business strategy, from more than just a PR perspective, to reduce cost and eliminate redundancy.
Another excellent example of this was the lessons presented by Harold Bosse, VP of Product and Innovation for Mastercard, related to the development of their cross-border payment solution using Corda. During which they were able to discover, challenge, and minimize age-old and un-questioned processes of repeat reconciliation referred to as “Holy Cows,” which had no added value.
Overall, what was evident is that Corda is achieving traction in capital markets and beyond. And even though most of the solutions using it are still in development, many appear to be very close to production. In comparison to other blockchain events, what we saw here was the deep level of synergy between business, technology, and people that are contributing to its evolution into a mature platform. One that is good for business and that has a very dynamic community with lots of positive energy, innovation, and competency to support its momentum.
In addition to lots of great intel on Corda and where the blockchain industry is at, our team returned with plenty of “swag and sustenance” to encourage us to keep developing — GO, TEAM!
Due to COVID-19, this year’s event will take place virtually. While we will miss returning to London this year, it’s sure to be a great event that’s worth attending — R3 CordaCon 2020.
Don’t miss it. I know we won’t!
You might also want to read:
Distributed Ledger Technology for International Banking — Why we chose Corda for our cross-border payments platform
What the UK CBDC Could Look Like — Bank of England’s digital currency model for retail payments
European Blockchain Convention Gains Momentum — Now virtual for Fall 2020!
