Five years after it launched, the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure or EBSI has grown. During the seventh Infrachain Summit, experts talked about the added value of the bloc’s solution.
The EU may be lagging behind countries like the US and China in terms of digitalisations but there’s one field in which it is blazing a trail: blockchain applications.
“The European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) is one of the main tools for achieving the ambitions of Europe and of the EU. And now with Blockchain becoming a cornerstone of EU digital policies, it becomes an essential part of the function of humans,” explained Infrachain Project Lead Tom Kettels at the conference launch.
About EBSI
Launched in 2018 by Member States, who were joined by Liechtenstein, Norway, and Ukraine as observers, the EBSI pilot infrastructure aimed to leverage a decentralised blockchain network to enhance public services, improve privacy and security and make processes more effective and energy efficient.
Pierre Marro, administrator for communication networks, content and technology at DG Connect within the European Commission, explained that it does this through a network of 40 nodes across Europe. The first use cases support focus on the traceability potential of blockchain in public services.
Implementation of the European Digital Identity wallet is one prospect being examined. Meanwhile, the verification of higher and further education qualifications is at a more advanced application stage.
“There’s no limit to traceability use cases,” Marro said, adding that they can even be expanded to include IP management for anti-counterfeiting, tracing documents, or monitoring products in a supply chain.
How it works
EBSI uses blockchain technology alongside other technologies. The blockchain or distributed ledger layer is leveraged to verify a qualification, for instance. But all the exchanges (for example requesting a diploma from an issuer) are done outside of the ledger.
“We proposed this model so it can be replicated to other use cases,” Marro explained.
EBSI now wants to accelerate production and become operational in member states, so that “people use it without even knowing it,” said Marro.
The challenge
EBSI took off at a time when blockchain technology was still a buzzword, which is no longer the case. “The main challenge now is not proving that things work but showing member states that there is enough added value for them to rely on the new technology,” said Marro.
However, if executive surveys are anything to go by, the market is warming to the technology. Infrachain Chairman Fabrice Croiseaux cited a survey that found eight out of ten executives. Yet six out of ten reckon that regulatory hurdles pose a significant challenge to a broader adoption of the technology. He said: “More companies and leaders are realising the benefit of blockchain and the different advantages that blockchain brings over traditional systems.”
