NASSCOM, the premier trade organisation for the Indian IT and business processing outsourcing industry, inaugurated a Special Interest Group (SIG) for Blockchain in the National Capital Region. This SIG is primarily powered by BlockSmiths, a Delhi NCR based firm that helps businesses leverage the Blockchain technology and Quatrro, a Global Fintech Service Provider.
The Special Interest Group (SIG) for Blockchain will educate and inform the public along with working on various Blockchain use cases in both Fintech and Non-Fintech industries.
Harmeet Singh Monga, Chief Business Officer at BlockSmiths & Blockchain SIG Founding Member, said,“We see our partnership to form a SIG with NASSCOM as a wonderful opportunity to develop the Blockchain community in India. We strongly believe that India has the potential to lead the Blockchain revolution in the South East Asian region and help businesses from various industries become highly streamlined and efficient by adopting Blockchain.”
Recently, the Blockchain SIG held its first meeting, with representatives from more than 10+ member organizations, such as Axis Bank, Nagarro, Deloitte, Nokia, Genpact and NIIT, divided primarily into 4 core focus areas:
- Blockchain for Fintech— From economising cross-border payments and remittances to facilitating the development of seamless collaborations between various financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies and financial regulators, Blockchain is a game-changer for fintech industry.
- Blockchain for Internet of Things (IoT)— Since IoT’s functionality is dependent on precise coordination between devices, IoT needs a system which can ensure this while maintaining the security of data transfer/exchange. Blockchain also provides the required governance system for connected IOT devices involved in trade or commerce.
- Smart Contracts and its Applications— A Smart Contract is a piece of code which executes itself when certain conditions are met. Organisations could utilise this feature to remove third party intermediaries to oversee fulfilment of business transactions and reduce their costs.
- General Blockchain Applications : This area would deal with general applications of Blockchain that are not covered in the rest of the focus areas.
Rajesh Dhuddu, Senior Vice President, Quatrro, NASSCOM Blockchain SIG Chair, said,”NASSCOM has taken the initiative of forming the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in Blockchain primarily to evangelize Blockchain Technology, bring together interested member companies in Blockchain space and to encourage various startups to adopt this technology and incubate businesses. Our partnership with BlockSmiths is a good match and provides required expertise. We are keen to work with them and NASSCOM to bring this technology to the fore in not only India but also other regions around globe.”
Blockchain was initially developed as a technology to facilitate Bitcoin transactions, however, over time, it was realized that the tech’s distributed ledger architecture could also be applied to other areas beyond Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Blockchain provides a secure, transparent and tamper-proof peer-to-peer asset exchange.
Nasscom Blockchain SIG will focus on a charter that covers:
- Blockchain Advocacy
- Knowledge sharing / Collaborating on Blockchain Implementations
- Organizing Events like Blockathon and;
- Contributing to community by socializing Blockchain based business opportunities with Entrepreneurs and Students.
