International Standards for Blockchain to be Decided in Dublin
Industry leaders and professionals representing some of the world’s most innovative organisations will gather in Dublin this week to develop some of the first ever standards in Blockchain.
It is the 5th International Plenary meeting to take place globally and is being hosted by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) an Agency of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. ISO TC 307, the Technical Committee for Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies will be chaired by Craig Dunne, co-chair of the Australian government’s Fintech Advisory Group.
It brings together experts from 40 countries tasked with the development of at least 11 new ISO standards involving Blockchain. These include areas such as privacy, security risks, identity management, taxonomy and ontology, security management, discovery issues, governance, and legally binding smart contracts.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen T.D. said,
“The decision of ISO to hold this event in Dublin is very significant. It represents a major opportunity for NSAI to demonstrate its willingness to take standardisation in this area to the next level. Governments and regulators around the world will reference and rely on these standards in future to help develop better regulation”
Craig Dunn, the chair of ISO/TC 307, for which the secretariat is held by Standards Australia, ISO’s member for Australia, said blockchain technology can have huge implications in business and government.
“Blockchain technologies are a means of achieving trust and security when making exchanges, without the need for oversight by a trusted third party and can be effective building blocks for other initiatives like anti-corruption and fraud prevention,” he said. “Future standardisation in this area can take the development of these technologies to the next step by providing internationally agreed ways of working, stimulating greater interoperability, speedier acceptance and enhanced innovation in their use and application.The meeting will play a key role in developing the standards and regulations businesses and organisations will adopt in the years ahead."
NSAI Chief Executive Geraldine Larkin said,
“Ireland is at the forefront of a global framework for the development of Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. I hope that the work undertaken in Dublin this week will feed into future standards policy for a long time to come."
Other significant Irish contributors to the work of this international committee include Terry Landers Chair of NSAI’s ICT Standards committee, and Vikas Sahni Convenor of the National Blockchain group.
ENDS
Available for interview:
Craig Dunn, ISO TC 307 Chair
Vikas Sahni, Convenor of National Blockchain group
Fiona Delaney, CEO and founder Origin Chain Network Ltd
Barry O’Connor, CEO Blue Consulting
To arrange please contact: NSAI’s PR Account Manager, Deirdre Farrelly: 086 869 0774
Email: deirdre.farrelly@nsai.ie
*Photographs will be syndicated by Conor McCabe :086 834 3242
