IBM and Columbia University have announced two blockchain accelerator programs that aim to help startups in the space innovate at scale, according to an IBM news release Nov. 19. Both programs form part of the Columbia-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency, a joint innovation center that was established by the tech giant and U.S. ivy league school this summer. According to the release, each program will support ten startups, offering them a network of business mentors, technical support, access to Columbia’s student talent and “research community,” design assistance, and IBM cloud technology resources. The stated aim is to help …

IBM and major Spanish telecommunications firm Telefónica have partnered to apply blockchain technology to managing international mobile phone call traffic, per a press release shred with Cointelegraph Nov. 14. Telefónica is the seventh largest telecom company in the world by market capitalization, valued at $51 billion according to Forbes. The company carries out communications business in 17 countries, with 343 million customers. The collaboration with IBM aims to streamline certain Telefónica business processes and address various challenges in the field, including the reliability and transparency of information registered from different networks when routing international calls. Specifically, Telefónica plans to use …

Forex exchange (FX) settlement giant CLS will launch its IBM blockchain-powered netting service within “a matter of days,” according to Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Alan Manquard. The CSO made the announcement at the IBM Think Tank conference in London Nov. 14, as reported by tech news source Computer Business Review (CBR). CLS Group, which reportedly settles on average $5 trillion in payment instructions daily, is a U.S. FX settlement service supplier with high-profile members that include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Barclays, and Citigroup. A netting service entails offsetting and determining the value of multiple positions or payments that are due to …

Stanley Yong, global lead for central bank digital currency (CBDC) solutions at IBM, has said that CBDCs can help to mitigate the risks that contributed to the 2008 financial crash. Yong also spoke on his perspective of how to overcome the fragmentation of existing digital payment systems during an interview for CNBC’s Squawk Box Nov. 14. CBDCs, or national digital currencies, are virtual currencies that are issued and controlled by a federal regulator. CBDCs are not decentralized, like most cryptocurrencies — instead, they represent fiat money, only in digital form. Yong is also Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of IBM Blockchain …

The Thai branch of U.S. global IT company IBM will promote blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) in order to turn the country into a major sales hub in the surrounding region, English-language daily news outlet The Bangkok Post reports Wednesday, Nov. 14. According to the article, IBM is going to promote blockchain in collaboration with the country’s central bank, Bank of Thailand. A recent survey by IDC-IBM shows that global spending on blockchain will reach $9.7 billion by 2021. Moreover, IBM is also discussing the possibility of blockchain education in local schools and universities, aiming to provide enough member of …

U.S. multinational IT company IBM plans to use blockchain to aid scientific research and provide a record of its results, a new patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed Nov. 8. IBM, originally filing the concept in December last year, says it foresees “integrating a blockchain and data collection and analysis for open scientific research.” The application is the latest in a steadily increasing pile of patents sought by the corporation in the blockchain sector, the most recent award coming last week targeted at augmented reality gaming. Now, an altogether more technical offshoot addresses what it …

IBM and data storage firm Seagate have announced a joint initiative to fight counterfeit hard drives using blockchain technology, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph Nov. 8. The project will reportedly use IBM’s Blockchain Platform to help manufacturers, integrators, and business partners better authenticate the provenance of hard disk drives. IBM and Seagate’s solution will work by updating the IBM Blockchain Platform on the IBM Cloud with product authentication data based on Seagate’s security solution Seagate Secure Electronic ID (eID), the latter of which creates a unique identifier at the point of manufacture that can later be used …

The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Spain, has integrated into the TradeLens platform, a blockchain ecosystem jointly developed by IBM and shipping giant Maersk, according to an official announcement published Nov. 5. Launched in August 2018, the TradeLens platform applies blockchain technology to global supply chains. The product aims to improve trade efficiency and security, wherein all participants of the supply chain, including shipping lines, port and terminal operators, customs authorities and other parties, can interact and access shipping data and documents. Per the announcement, PAV has integrated into the TradeLens project as “Early Adopters,” meaning that the port will …

This week, two major news within the precious metals industry broke. First, the world’s largest diamond company, Russia’s Alrosa, joined a blockchain project aimed at increasing transparency. Secondly, the world’s largest bank, JPMorgan, reportedly started to use its blockchain to tokenize gold. Indeed, blockchain has been pioneering both gold and diamond industries — complex ecosystems that heavily rely on supply chains, where cargo passes through dozens of geographical locations before arriving at its destination. The technology has helped to avoid corruption and improve quality by tracking valuable assets at every milestone of their journey, from mine to retailer. Blockchain can …

The majority of global financial institutions surveyed believe that central banks should develop central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDCs), according to a joint study by IBM Blockchain World Wire and the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) released Oct. 25. The study includes 21 central banks that participated in the OMFIF's research between July and September 2017. The reports notes that participants failed to find a compromise on whether governments should issue their own cryptocurrencies, as well as were divided over the associated processes of managing and accessing those CBDCs, tech news media The Next Web notes. 76 percent of …

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has become the latest entity to trial a blockchain shipping solution developed by IBM and Maersk, a press release confirmed Thursday, Oct. 25. TradeLens, which creators unveiled in August this year after a 2017 pilot, aims to simplify logistics processes. The first such border agency to investigate the platform, CBSA will now “determine what role the platform could play in its business processes,” the release explains. “TradeLens could create a singular, trusted digital supply chain for all shipments entering Canada. The TradeLens pilot gives us an opportunity to not only find process efficiencies and …

Visa is readying its blockchain-based digital identity system for cross-border payments for launch in the first quarter of 2019, according to a press release published October 21. The system, dubbed Visa B2B Connect, will provide a blockchain-based digital identity solution for financial institutions to securely process cross-border payments. The system reportedly tokenizes sensitive business data – such as banking details and account numbers – granting them a unique cryptographic identifier that will be used for transactions on the platform. Kevin Phalen, global head at Visa Business Solutions, suggests that the system will help with fraud: “B2B Connect’s digital identity greatly …