IBM Blockchain
Two truths and a lie: The newest party game to explain blockchain
The subject of blockchain and the technology behind it is still a hot topic. In the course of an evening, 9 out of 10 parties refer to blockchain at least once — in a non-scientific study conducted by this author. The word “blockchain” is going more mainstream but the fundamental understanding still remains confusing for […]
Public versus private: What to know before getting started with blockchain
Is a public online forum a better form of communication than a private email? I think most would agree that’s the wrong question to ask — it depends what you’re trying to do. In much the same way, there is no blanket approach to applying blockchain technology to achieve all goals. Blockchain first emerged as […]
Symbiotic collaboration: A key to succeed with blockchain in financial services
What’s stopping blockchain from becoming a more pervasive technology in financial services? If you think it has something to do with the technology behind blockchain, you’re partially wrong — it’s the nature of the solution that is causing the barrier. For a blockchain-based solution to work successfully, it requires multiple entities to come together in […]
Blockchain for KYC: Game-changing RegTech innovation
One of the best things about working at IBM — and in the RegTech field in particular — is meeting daily with the engineers and developers who are driving technological innovation in the financial industry. Consider, for example, the blockchain space. While blockchain’s decentralized, distributed-ledger technology is most popularly known as the basis for cryptocurrencies […]
The yellow pages of blockchain has arrived: Networks are now visible to the world
In the 1830s the first Yellow Pages emerged as an organized directory of businesses. This had a profound effect on commerce and is an often-overlooked key contribution to the Industrial Revolution. Simply put, the Yellow Pages put businesses on the map and made them known to the world. Without it, a business was hidden and […]
Blockchain in insurance: Five reasons why openIDL will succeed
As an IBM Distinguished Engineer, I have spent the last two and a half years working on blockchain with our U.S. banking and insurance clients. More recently, I have been the IBM technical executive overseeing open Insurance Data Link (openIDL), the insurance network partnership with the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS). It’s been very […]
The time is right to treat human data as personal property
Imagine for a moment you’re a typical suburban homeowner. On a sunny Saturday morning you decide to mow your lawn. You go to the garage and throw open the door, expecting to see your lawn mower where you always leave it. With a shock you see your lawn mower is gone. Someone has taken your […]
Applying blockchain privacy to the insurance industry
Recently, some of my colleagues published an excellent and informative article on the evolution of privacy and confidentiality in networks built on The Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric. As an industry practitioner, I look to apply that philosophy to insurance business network design. As the article details, “Privacy is frequently achieved by mechanisms that enforce the confidentiality […]
IBM Blockchain Trusted Identity: Sovrin Steward closed beta offering
Individuals, organizations, and things are not in control of their identity in the digital world. Everything is rooted in usernames and passwords, controlled by identity providers and third parties, creating a much-needed missing layer for identity on the Internet. At IBM, we have been doing a lot in the decentralized identity space. We’ve done some […]