May 12, 2020
Blockchain weekly digest — extraordinary technology advances
By Emily on The Capital
Fourth Industrial Revolution signifies a fundamental change in the way we live, work, and relate to one another.
It is a new chapter in human evolution, enabled by extraordinary technology advances comparable with those of previous industrial revolutions.
Blockchain promises so much, but as with any new technology, it can be confusing to decision-makers as this technology goes against current digital business transformation strategies.
So, how do you know if you are backing the right blockchain solution?
In these weekly digests, you will get the highlights of blockchain news from around the world, which will give you an insight into the themes developing with this innovation.
Hedera Hashgraph
Announced on the 6 May 2020, The University College London (UCL), a world-class leading British University, is the first University to join Hedera Hashgraph’s governance council.
The University College London created the Centre for Blockchain Technologies (CBT) in 2016;
“The centre is the nucleus for DLT* and Blockchain research and engagement across eight different departments at UCL and for its Research and Industry Associate network.
Our Research and Industry Associate community consists of over 180 researchers and practitioners from UCL, other academic institutions and companies utilising DLT.”
*Distributed ledger technology (DLT): A distributed ledger is a database that exists across several locations or among multiple participants. Enterprises can use distributed ledger technology to process, validate, or authenticate transactions without the need for a third-party.
The Hedera Hashgraph is not a blockchain. However, their technology is an exciting move towards our world, embracing new distributed technologies and innovative new ways for a business to transform their operations.
So, what is Hedera Hashgraph then?
Listening to a talk by their Co-Founder of his technological innovation, Hedera’s technology seems to be an organic algorithmic digital mesh that has characteristics similar to other blockchain projects and visionaries.
Their network is a fast, scalable, and a globally distributed network that supports decentralized applications and cryptocurrency solutions.
The University College London joins other prestigious Hedera governance members such as Boeing, Google, IBM, and TATA Communications.
Algorand
The latest Algorand partnership, and one to watch for the future of finance, is their newly announced partnership with Verady.
Verady is the leading cryptocurrency tax and accounting software company. This is an exciting new collaboration between Ledgible Accounting, Blockchain.com, and Algorand.
“One of Algorand’s goals is to enable enterprises to easily embrace the opportunity that blockchain provides,”
“Broadly applicable financial reporting tools like Ledgible Accounting further that goal. We’re excited to partner with Verady to not only account for our own assets, but to provide Ledgible Accounting to our partners who are helping to develop and grow the Algorand blockchain.”
~Sean Ford, COO of Algorand.
- Blockchain.com has over 48 million wallet users and an exchange providing best-in-class trading capabilities.
- And, Ledgible’s integration for institutional level financial management and reporting helps to further innovations like these that advance the crypto industry as a whole.
Next-generation accounting software
Algorand is next-generation blockchain technology, and its technological developments and partnerships are continually breaking new ground in all areas of society.
Earlier in the year, an impressive Algorand announcement and significant digital currency development were that of the Marshall Island’s digital currency.
The Marshall Islands, SFB Technologies and Algorand are collaborating to develop the world’s first national digital currency and enable the Marshall Island’s open financial system.
Kenneth Kedi, Speaker of the Marshallese Parliament, expressed, “I am excited about the technological partnership with Algorand.
With it, a strong alliance is forming to develop the SOV project. This is another milestone towards developing the Marshall Islands financial services industry.”
Blockchain disruption
As disruptive solutions become more widely available, developed, and accessible, they will be on par with and hopefully offer better technology than current solutions.
While these blockchain projects continue to innovate the necessary scalability and speed, it enables swifter enterprise adoption.
These new blockchain technology solutions will deliver the trust and speed that is seemingly a missing component in some blockchain solutions, which has been a barrier to blockchain adoption.
In summary
Our world needs net new solutions, and I think these credible blockchains (or distributed ledger solutions if you prefer) are developing the foundational technologies for our future of work.
When you are looking for blockchain projects to be involved in, it is worth looking at their blockchain partners and researchers the way Algorand and Hedera have done with their partnerships.
If you liked this weekly digest, please check out my other insights here or follow me on Twitter!
Stay safe, folks!
Emily @BlockhchainScout
