IBM blockchain solutions digest, part 2

Hi, Geektimes! In part 1 of the IBM blockchain development digest , we talked about the implementation of the Hyperledger project, designed to adapt the blockchain technology for business, and also listed the key areas of the IBM blockchain strategy. From the 2nd part of the digest published below, you will learn how the technology giant is going to use Watson's AI computer to implement blockchain solutions, what IBM's cloud blockchain solutions are and why the Blockchain Innovation Center Corporation in Singapore.

5th of April

IBM plans to use Watson's AI in blockchain solutions

IBM is trying to combine artificial intelligence and blockchain in a single multi-functional prototype.

For 3 months, IBM’s chief security architect for the development of the Internet of Things, Tim Hann, focused on training Watson’s AI computer to work with the blockchain. Hann told CoinDesk that he was working on placing information from smart devices on the blockchain.

A possible result of this experiment will be the appearance of distributed registers, allowing devices to perform certain tasks, among which, for example, the ability to run self-diagnostics at a set time. Hann explained that this is done so that one day the operators controlling them could literally return to the moment when the device failed and determine what exactly went wrong.
')
Nevertheless, work in this direction has just begun. In March, IBM announced its intention to invest $ 3 billion over the next 4 years to create a whole division for working with the Internet of Things, whose global network, according to Gartner's estimates , will total 20.8 billion devices by 2020.

The Hanna project, called the Watson Group and the Internet of Things, will work in four ways: how to connect devices, manage information, store and transform it, manage risk, and analyze data.


Opening Watson Internet of Things Global Headquarters

One of the main areas will be the use of blockchains to improve the security of user devices, including by reducing the human factor and using Watson's AI for transaction analysis.

One of the early prototypes of the Hanna group allows device owners to register on the blockchain and use smart contracts to create different levels of access to certain tools.

It is assumed that this measure will be useful to control the targeted use of funds and protect their owners from possible problems associated with unrestricted access rights.

In the future, the system will have to learn how to track the history of the device throughout its “life”, registering the change of owners, firmware updates, as well as cases of failure or breakdown.

In addition, Hann noted the need to enhance security of the blockchain, since, in his opinion, the technology initially involves many ways of unsafe use. As part of the integration of blockchain and Watson, the researcher noted the need for additional study of areas such as security analysis, data protection, monitoring system performance and logging.

April 29

IBM moves blockchain to cloud

IBM announced the creation of a new framework that enhances the security of blockchain-based systems based on cloud services. This step should help financial companies and businesses to meet the requirements of regulators and increase security measures in the process of applying the new technology.

According to representatives of the company, some cloud environments contain vulnerabilities that allow attackers to illegally gain access to closed systems running on the blockchain base. This risk limits the application of technology in industries with complex data management standards.

Jerry Cuomo, IBM vice president for work with blockchain technology, said that the new framework will allow the company to accelerate the spread of new technology in the business environment by improving its accessibility to developers.

Cuomo called the current publicly available blockchains safe, but poorly suited for businesses, because they are likely to get “two different versions of the same truth,” and this contradiction does not meet the strict requirements of the business.



IBM believes that the new framework will help organizations create “secure cloud environments” for internal blockchains that exceed security requirements and comply with regulatory standards for industries with strict data management and security rules.

Medical institutions and government organizations wishing to take advantage of the potential of blockchain systems belong to such areas, since they are required to strictly follow standards such as, for example, the Law on Continuity of Action and Transparency of Health Insurance (HIPAA) and the Federal Standard information processing "(FIPS 140-2).

The company also reported on improving its cloud service, which will now allow networks to be deployed in a few minutes along with all documentation updates and control panels.

In addition, IBM made code written for the Hyperledger project available on an open platform for collaboration with the Docker Hub code and released a beta version of its blockchain products for the Bluemix cloud platform.

The role of cloud technology

The question of where it is better to deploy blockchain systems - in the cloud or on the basis of its own infrastructure - is more relevant today than ever before.

According to Cuomo, the use of the blockchain along with the “cloud” allows you to get an architecture that is very similar to how the World Wide Web works, which is a public structure, but divided into many accesses. Cuomo believes that the blockchain is no different from it, since it is a group of nodes that define the general rules of the network, its roles and security principles.

The representative of IBM also believes that in light of the growth and expansion of blockchain networks, the relevance of cloud solutions will grow. He gave an example with a blockchain that stores and registers the right to own a car. Access to this information may be required by the automaker, dealer, landlord, and even landfills when the vehicle’s life reaches its end. All this will lead to the fact that the amount of information in the blockchain and the number of calls to it will inexorably grow, requiring an increasingly powerful supporting infrastructure.

Cloud Security

Cuomo said that IBM’s business partners are particularly interested in the “cloud”. He said that many of them want to continue the process of implementing blockchain systems, but first they want to get clear answers to questions related to security, especially in the cloud environment. Here a set of standards should come to the rescue.

In particular, IBM recommends its customers to make sure that there are five main elements that determine whether a particular cloud system is suitable for implementing blockchain solutions based on it:

• Secure key management
• Guaranteed protection against internal data leaks,
• Amenable to analysis operating environment
• Optimization of processor capacity to avoid performance lags,
• Support administration of basic compute nodes.

Without such security measures at the cloud level, blockchain will remain just an experimental technology.

For IBM, getting started with the cloud platform is a strategic step, which, like the IBM Garage service, aims to monetize work with the blockchain.

Nevertheless, Cuomo said that the main point of offering cloud products lies primarily in the benefits that they can give to developers, which is to enable them to organize an ideal environment suitable for experimenting with new technology.

June 10th

New Watson Center combines blockchain with AI

IBM has opened a business incubator in which 5,000 computer scientists will work to create fast prototypes for companies in the Asia-Pacific region using IBM blockchain development and its Watson artificial intelligence.


Watson Center Discoveries in Singapore

The new center was named Watson Center and is located in the Marina Bay Hotel in Singapore. In addition, the Singapore version of the IBM Garage firm workshop specializing in blockchain work for developers and entrepreneurs will also be opened in the incubator.

30 June

IBM completes testing of blockchain solutions with Crédit Mutuel

IBM has completed work on one of the blockchain projects implemented jointly with the French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa.

Partners reported successful verification of the concept based on the Hyperledger blockchain. The model was used as a tool to verify the identity of bank customers during their interaction with third-party companies - utilities and retailers. According to the partners, this experiment demonstrates the suitability of the blockchain for use outside the sphere of finance.

July, 12

IBM opens Blockchain Innovation Center together with a Singapore regulator

IBM expanded its representative office in Singapore by announcing the opening of the Blockchain Innovation Center in cooperation with the Singapore government.

The opening of the new center took place only a month after the company announced its intention to open a business incubator designed for 5 thousand scientific employees.

The new innovation center will also be located at the Watson Center at the Marina Bay hotel, and will be operated by both local talented engineers and researchers from the international division of IBM Research Labs.


Marina Bay Financial Center - the complex in which the Watson Center and the IBM Blockchain Innovation Center are located

The center will deal with projects with the participation of international banks and technology companies working with blockchains, while its development will be aimed at developing the Singapore financial sector. At the same time, the Central Bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore will carry out the selection of projects and control over their implementation. Currently, work is already planned on several projects with a three-year implementation horizon.

the 14 th of July

IBM has told about the new secure cloud blockchain network

IBM revealed the details of the new service, the purpose of which will be to support business representatives in testing and organizing the work of blockchain projects related to the processing of personal or confidential information.

Called the “cloud environment for secure blockchain,” the service is a solution that combines the company's existing cloud blockchain products and IBMLinuxONE , a Linux server designed to provide protection against backdoors, which, according to the company, are often found in third-party cloud blockchain networks. .

In general, the company is positioning a new product as a solution to improve the security of private corporate blockchains operating in cloud environments. Enhancing security is achieved by controlling access points and dealing with internal threats.

IBM Honorary Researcher Donna Dillingberger explained how a cloud environment connected to an IBM LinuxOne server can help protect valuable data stored in the blockchain.


IBM Researcher Donna Dillingberger

According to her, the special hardware protects the blockchain from hacking attempts and compromised administrative passwords, and the blockchain applications based on the IBM Blockchain are signed, encrypted and verified, which helps protect the server and client applications from malicious software.

Additional security tools are also available to customers, including the equipment necessary to meet typical security requirements in the financial and government sectors, the healthcare sector, and general regulatory requirements.

One of the first companies to apply IBM technology in practice was the Everledger blockchain start-up, successfully using IBM's secure cloud network to track gems, pieces of art in supply chains and supply systems to identify inconsistencies and fakes.

July 29

IBM is working on a dispute resolution system

Already this fall, IBM may launch a blockchain solution that is focused on meeting the financial needs of its customers. According to the recently published article The Wall Street Journal , the global financial division of IBM intends to launch a project whose main goal will be to resolve controversial situations of operations.

It is assumed that the new IBM system will not replace the existing tools of the company's global financial division. In any case, in the near future, they are likely to be shared.

According to IBM, annually the company faces 25 thousand controversial situations, and the total amount of blocked funds for them is estimated at $ 100 million. It is expected that the new blockchain-based system will reduce the time required to resolve contentious situations and unlock funds.

Despite the fact that the specific launch date is still unknown, there is a possibility that the new blockchain solution will work in September.

It should be noted that in addition to the internal research work that IBM conducts in the blockchain field, the company also became a participant of the open source project Hyperledger Project , under the leadership of the Linux Foundation.

Continue to follow the materials of the Wirex multifunctional service blog , which performs instant money transfers worldwide without banking intermediation, and stay up to date with the most current blockchain development in the global technology market.