The EU Blockchain Group Launches With IBM,SWIFT & Ripple

IBM, SWIFT, Ripple and roughly another 100 firms and organisations have joined a new blockchain association to promote the adoption of the technology across the EU.

The new group which has been dubbed the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) is a European Commission initiative and was launched yesterday in Brussels, Belgium.

INATBA was created to be a “global multi-stakeholder forum” aimed at bringing together developers and other users of blockchain technology in order to foster mainstream adoption across various areas.

The association has plans to create a framework in order to encourage public and private sector collaboration, open dialogues with regulatory bodies and policymakers as well as ensure “integrity and transparency” in blockchain infrastructures. Furthermore, the association will also create guidelines and specifications for blockchain and distributed ledger-based use cases.

Other notable members making up the group include banks such as Barclays and BBVA, French beauty product manufacturer L’Oreal and consultancy firm Accenture. In addition to this, a number of blockchain startups have joined up too including ethereum dev studio ConsenSys AG, crypto mining firm Bitfury, R3, crypto wallet hardware firm Ledger and cryptocurrency protocol dev IOTA.

The creation of INATBA has been in the public eye for several months. BBVA’s head of R&D,  Carlos Kuchkovsky stated back in November that the association could have an integral role to play in the development of the best practices for blockchain and “avoiding fragmentation on a European level.”

The Brussels launch yesterday saw several European Commission officials take to the podium including Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, who provided the keynote.

A joint declaration of support from members was also recorded on different blockchains at the event.

Lastly, the EU has launched a number of initiatives in the promotion of blockchain technology. Last year, it formed the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) with 22 supporting countries in order to support the delivery of cross-border digital public services based around the tech. Furthermore, the EU also set up the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, with ConsenSys as its member in February 2018.