Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

How Europe is preparing for a blockchain future

How Europe is preparing for a blockchain future

Blockchain and cryptos often go together, but the ledger technology can be used to build trust between governments too.

The European Union has made no secret of its ambitions to thrive on the global tech scene, particularly when it comes to blockchain.

The bloc wrapped up its blockchain week on Friday, which was hosted in Slovenia and showcased how blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) can bolster the EU’s ambitions in its European Green deal and Digital transition.

And just last week, the EU announced it would invest in blockchain, data infrastructure and high-performance computing, which comes as part of its multi-billion-euro plan to develop technology across its member states.

What is blockchain?


When thinking about blockchain, the word Bitcoin normally doesn’t come far behind. But blockchain is not just for trading cryptocurrencies.

Blockchain is actually the shared ledger that allows the process of recording transactions and tracking assets.

It’s this technology that can be used by governments and businesses to develop trust and transparency as its a means to verify data. This can be key to building trust across governments and the sustainability of projects, among many other reasons.

Europe is betting heavily on this technology, selecting a team of seven companies to design and develop the next generation on the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI).

This is part of the European Commission’s flagship project that hopes to leverage blockchain technology to improve standards of cross-border services for governments, businesses and individuals across the EU.

How will it work?


Improving scalability, privacy and regulation are some of the EU’s main goals.

The EBSI is working on upgrading its current infrastructure and will use blockchain technology to allow public administrations to protect against fraud, help businesses alleviate administrative costs, and enable citizens to take full control of their personal data.

But the EU is not taking on this mammoth project alone.

Among the seven blockchain companies tasked by the bloc to help with the job is a British start-up, the only UK company to be chosen by the European Commission.

The firm, iov42, was even chosen over giants such as Vodafone, Deloitte and EY.

The company differs from many other ledger technologies as it creates a chain of transactional proof, which helps improve security and traceability.

“Our philosophy is what we call ‘Proof of Authority’,” iov42 CEO Dominic von Trotha Taylor told Euronews Next.

“We have a permission blockchain and at every stage of the process, we seek to use the abstraction of identity on our platform to be able to effectively track the identity of people that own organisations that are approving various stages all the way through,” he explained.

The UK start-up's blockchain has been used in the timber industry.


The technology has been used to help combat the illegal timber trade. In June, the company and the NGO Preferred by Nature started a new service called Timber Chain, which enables stakeholders across timber supply chains to improve efficiency and transparency through blockchain.

Von Trotha Taylor says if one of the plantations is in Malaysia, for example, the most commonly asked questions that arise are if the plantation is legitimate, if the government is supporting it, and if people working on the plantation are being paid fairly.

“All those things can be dealt with by the concept of claims being made, which are endorsed by the employer or the government or the suffocations agency etc, which can then be enhanced by satellite imaging to verify that the trees really are there,” he said.

“With the technology, you build up a whole network of attributes relating to a claim being made, which actually gives enormous confidence to a third party looking in”.

Examples of blockchain


As well as establishing trust, the company says it has also created a new concept called ‘zones’, which could be beneficial to the EU as they could be industry-related or geographic.

The concept dictates that the rules of the game in the zone are consistent for all the participants, von Trotha Taylor said.

He explained it could be a regulatory zone for Europe, and all the specific rules around how Europe wants to run its regulations pertaining to a particular thing. Meanwhile, the US may have a separate zone because they may have a completely different regulation.

“The idea is conceptually that between these zones that we can set up with the different rules in each. You can then create a bridge through which there's a set of rules around the gatekeeper about what data can transfer,” he said.

“I think we're not aware of anyone else doing that in order to recognise the difficulties between governments.

“Industries are also trying to deal with in their everyday life and crisis technology that can manage that”.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×