South Korea’s largest telephone company, KT Corporation, plans to launch a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform next month, local news outlet iNews24 reported on Feb. 21. KT reportedly revealed the concept to interested business clients at a presentation this week. The firm says it wants to increase the accessibility of blockchain technology locally. The platform comes as KT continues its blockchain offerings via a dedicated Blockchain Center, which launched a commercial network in July of last year. “The KT BaaS platform will lower barriers to entry into the blockchain sphere and build an ecosystem that can grow with its partners,” iNews24 quotes …

The Japanese arm of computer giant Microsoft has partnered with nascent blockchain startup LayerX to “accelerate” uptake of the technology, Cointelegraph Japan reported Nov. 30. LayerX, which formed in August as a joint venture from news curation app Gunosy and advisory service AnyPay, oversees blockchain integration for enterprise, including areas such as smart contracts and general consulting. Using Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution, the companies will seek to promote the technology further in the domestic economy. “We will support the introduction process in its entirety, even down to technical support of finished implementations,” an accompanying press release stated, adding: “Both …

Private blockchains, such as interbanking platforms set to share information on customers, could be compatible with new E.U. privacy rules, according to research published Nov. 6. The study was conducted by Queen Mary University of London and the University of Cambridge, U.K. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) act, a recent legislation that regulates the storage of personal data for all individuals within the European Union, came into effect this May. According to the law, all data controllers have to respect citizens’ rights in terms of keeping and transferring their private information. In case a data controller fails to do …

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, is enhancing its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering outside China, the company announced in a press release on Oct. 24. Following the roll out of its BaaS platform in China, Alibaba Cloud will expand its enterprise-level blockchain service to major international markets including Europe, the U.S., and South East Asia. Based on two blockchain network implementations — Hyperledger Fabric and Ant Blockchain — Alibaba Cloud’s BaaS is now targeting global enterprises, enabling them to set up secure and solid ecosystem for blockchain developments, the press release notes. The blockchain solution …