The IOTA non-profit and its distributed ledger technology has been named as one of seven providers selected by the Commission to develop the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (ESBI).
Announced in 2018, EU Member States and the European Commission joined forces to form the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) to work toward blockchain-based services for the benefit of citizens, society and the economy.
The Commission explains that the EBSI’s vision is to leverage blockchain to the creation of cross-border services for public administrations and their ecosystems to verify information and make services trustworthy. Since 2020, EBSI has deployed a network of distributed blockchain nodes across Europe, supporting applications focused on selected use-cases. EBSI is the first EU-wide blockchain infrastructure, driven by the public sector.
The EBSI network’s nodes will be run by both the Commission and by individual member states, with planned use cases currently including digital management of educational credentials, establishment of trusted audit trails in notarisation, SME financing, data sharing between authorities and a European digital ID.
The initiative is backed by the Commission to develop and test blockchain solutions for the digital single market. The IOTA Foundation is one of seven European tech companies that have been selected by the EU to participate in the EU blockchain pre-commercial procurement. The six other companies include:
- IOV42 Ltd
- Stichting Dyne.org, Infocert Spa, Riddle and Co Gmbh
- Orange Business Belgium SA
- Chromaway AB
- Billon Spolka Z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia
- Westpole Belgium, Net Service Spa, Flosslab s.r.l
Dominik Schiener, co-founder and chairman of the IOTA Foundation commented on the announcement: “EBSI is an excellent fit, both technologically and ideologically. We do not need to adapt an existing blockchain or to start developing a new solution that fits EBSI’s needs. Our core technology already offers a near-perfect match to the strict requirements and precise specifications for a European ledger infrastructure, and it is ready for widespread adoption with only minimal adjustment.”
Dr. Navin Ramachandran, deputy chairman of the board of directors of the IOTA Foundation furthered: “The notion of an open-access, scalable, and versatile distributed ledger technology that will form the backbone of Europe’s digital single market is a natural fit to our own guiding principles.”
“Creating a blockchain network on a continental scale is an ambitious and technically challenging endeavour - just the kind of project IOTA has been built for,” added Dr. Serguei Popov, co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the IOTA Foundation.