IBM blockchain community takes shape, ambitiously building a blockchain ecosystem for the entire industry

As we all know, blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt traditional financial models and the way international transactions are performed. This new technology has been seen as an inevitable development trend, and it seems that a new technology race is starting between major companies.

One of the big companies is IBM. IBM recently announced that it will create a blockchain ecosystem to accelerate the development of blockchain networks. Through this ecosystem, IBM is trying to harness the power of blockchain technology by building a global community of companies and developers who support the blockchain revolution.

This will bring together a complete ecosystem of industry participants - venture capitalists (VCs), startups, system integrators, independent software vendors and enterprise developers - so that enterprises can benefit from the network effects of blockchain. The IBM Blockchain Ecosystem will be an open environment where organizations can collaborate on shared or complementary technologies and business visions using Hyperledger Fabric, and can also obtain relevant blockchain education and development support.

Bridget Van Kralingen, Senior Vice President, IBM Global Business Services, commented:

“The future development and use of blockchain depends on building a strong ecosystem. The commercial network can only be maximized when innovators, industry experts and infrastructure providers come together to reshape business transactions in new ways.”

The IBM Blockchain Ecosystem hopes to bring together a wide range of people and businesses interested in creating and leveraging blockchain solutions. Members of this new community will have access to blockchain technology expertise, discussions, meetups and other benefits, such as network migration support and the ability to market their own solutions.

Given the diversity of these organizations, IBM will provide relevant education and tools to reduce implementation time. IBM blockchain professionals have 'office hours' in the Hyperledger Fabric Slack channel to provide support and problem solving for developers. Hyperledger Fabric v1.0 will provide a modular approach, much like the Internet's network model.

In addition, courses and learning modules are currently available on developerWorks for enterprise users and developers, as well as code libraries, smart contract templates, and tools currently under development to accelerate the creation of blockchain apps.

Van Kralingen also said:

“The growing maturity of the Hyperledger code is a significant milestone. That’s why IBM is providing an environment where participants can collaborate to help developers accelerate the creation of blockchain networks.”

The Hyperledger Project is an open source collaborative project created to advance cross-industry blockchain technology. It is a global collaboration that includes leaders in finance, banking, IoT, supply chain, manufacturing, and technology. The project is led by the Linux Foundation.

The projects are designed to support the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric v1.0 and the IBM Blockchain Platform, which is expected to change the way blockchain networks conduct transactions and open up new opportunities for blockchain development.

IBM's new ecosystem is designed to accelerate the development of the Hyperledger Fabric network.

IBM will host a Connectathon on December 17, 2016, using Hyperledger Fabric v1.0 to establish peers and run in a web-based network that provides high security and confidential transactions between known identities.

List of companies that have joined the IBM blockchain ecosystem:

Cloudsoft, EY, Everledger, Gliding Eagle, HACERA, The Hive, Loyyal, IntellectEU, Mooti Blockchain Digital Identity, Netki, Sensify Security, Skuchain.

Financial services, supply chain, IoT, risk management, digital rights management and healthcare are all areas that could see dramatic changes with the use of blockchain networks. That’s why IBM understands the role blockchain will play in the future and is now working tirelessly to expand its blockchain capabilities and work with other companies to prepare for blockchain.