SWIFT and Accenture name eight factors essential for blockchain success
A report from SWIFT and Accenture has highlighted the gulf between current distributed ledger technologies and what needs to be in place for businesses to get the most out of what is a developing sector. The report said compliance with regulatory requirements, strong governance, security and cyber defence, standardisation, identity framework, data controls, reliability and scalability were the key factors which needed to be addressed before blockchain technology can achieve its potential. David Treat, global head of Accenture’s Capital Markets Blockchain Practice, said the report “provides the industry with a blueprint for reaching the next step in identifying how to apply DLTs.”

SWIFT and Accenture have released a new paper investigating how Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) could be used in financial services. As a technology assessment, SWIFT and Accenture identified gaps between existing DLT solutions and industry requirements.

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They determined eight critical factors that need to be addressed for industry wide adoption of DLTs including: strong governance, data controls, compliance with regulatory requirements, standardisation, identity framework, security and cyber defence, reliability, and Scalability Scalability Scalability is a term that describes the constraints of a network via hash rates to meet increased demand. In the context of Bitcoin, scalability reflects the issue in which a limited rate can process transactions adequately.Blocks within the Bitcoin blockchain are limited in both size and frequency. The overall transaction processing capacity of the network is dictated by the average block creation time of 10 minutes as well as a block size limit of 1 megabyte. Consequently, this leads to pain Scalability is a term that describes the constraints of a network via hash rates to meet increased demand. In the context of Bitcoin, scalability reflects the issue in which a limited rate can process transactions adequately.Blocks within the Bitcoin blockchain are limited in both size and frequency. The overall transaction processing capacity of the network is dictated by the average block creation time of 10 minutes as well as a block size limit of 1 megabyte. Consequently, this leads to pain Read this Term.

David Treat, a managing director and global head of Accenture’s Capital Markets Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term practice, says: “The financial services industry is moving from an educational phase, into an application phase when it comes to DLTs. We now have a strong understanding of DLT and its benefits, but we need to identify which areas are best suited, as the technology will not be a silver bullet to solve all business issues. The SWIFT and Accenture paper provides the industry with a blueprint for reaching the next step in identifying how to apply DLTs.”

The paper also highlights SWIFT’s research and development plans to build technical, operational and business capabilities with a view to evolve its platform such that DLT-based services could be offered, when the technology matures and business use cases emerge across multiple verticals.

“Since the emergence of DLTs, the financial services industry has been looking for answers to questions about the potential use of these new technologies,” says Fabian Vandenreydt, Head of Securities, Innotribe and the SWIFT Institute, SWIFT. “The technology assessment has given us valuable insights into the necessary requirements for DLTs to succeed in financial services. It provides a clear state-of-play, outlining the different factors the technology needs to address, and the current maturity of DLTs in each of these areas. SWIFT is committed working with its community to identify areas in which the technology can provide the greatest benefits, evolving at a pace that works for each customer.”

As a board member of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger project, SWIFT collaborates with the wider financial industry to evolve open source blockchain technology and build the foundation of a production grade DLT.