Program to Kickstart Blockchain Adoption for Enterprises
·
Enterprise Accelerator
Provides Developers and Network Founders Support for Blockchain Network
Development Across Technology, Business and Legal Considerations
·
Offers First Access to New
Software on IBM Cloud to Simplify Coding and Speed Development
ARMONK,
New York – 18 May 2017 – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the IBM
Blockchain Founder Accelerator to help enterprises and enterprise developers
take blockchain networks into production faster. The accelerator is the first
program available that provides expertise and support across the technology,
legal and business considerations of establishing new blockchain networks.
Enterprises can join to gain exclusive access to technology and consulting expertise.
As an expansion of the blockchain ecosystem program,the IBM Blockchain Founder Accelerator is designed
to address the key challenges many early adopters and enterprise developers
have identified through the development of leading blockchain networks. It aims
to share this collective knowledge with enterprise founders to drive the rapid
adoption of production blockchains. The program provides one-on-one mentorship
and support by network founders and technologists across a range of needs such
as business case development, network membership incentives, technical
development, governance and legal issues.
In addition, members of the
Founder Accelerator will receive early access to new prebuilt software assets,
delivered via IBM Cloud, to help reduce the time and technical expertise needed
for developers to write complex blockchain code. These assets are based on IBM
experience in building blockchain networks with more than 400 clients globally.
Along with IBM’s established blockchain cloud services, these new capabilities
will help clients rapidly create highly secure, cloud-based blockchain
ecosystems.
“Blockchain is a team
sport. With the right network of participants collaborating on the blockchain,
the benefits can be exponential,” said Marie Wieck, general manager, blockchain
technology, IBM. “IBM has worked on more blockchain projects than any other
player in the industry and we understand the challenges organizations face and
the resources needed to get blockchain networks right the first time. IBM is
proactively building solutions and entire blockchain ecosystems across a broad
range of industries and we are sharing our expertise and resources to help more
organizations quickly set up their networks.”
IBM
Blockchain Founder Accelerator
Eight new blockchain
network founders will be selected by IBM for this fee-based accelerator across
a range of industries such as banking, logistics, manufacturing and retail. The
program provides organizations with guidance, support and technical expertise
to get their networks up and running and supporting an ecosystem of users and
partners by the end of the year. Scholarships are also available.
Program participants will
gain access to:
·
Design
Thinking Workshops – Based on the principles and methodologies of IBM’s global
network of Bluemix Garages, network founders will get access to agile design
“bootcamps” designed to help them quickly build, iterate and launch the
networks, leveraging the best practices and founder experience gained from over
a dozen blockchain networks in production.
·
Founder
Mentorship One-on-Ones – Technical and business mentors from IBM Research
team creating Blockchain solutions and assets, IBM Labs contributing to and
helping maintain Hyperledger Fabric (a blockchain framework and one of the
Hyperledger projects hosted by The Linux Foundation) and the IBM Bluemix Garage
delivering blockchain projects, as well as major contributors to Hyperledger
Fabric and early users of IBM Blockchain will work directly with the
participants and provide counsel including code review and business coaching.
·
IBM
Cloud Services –
IBM technology resources will be available to founders, including IBM Blockchain solutions via IBM Bluemix, IBM’s cloud
platform. Bluemix hosts IBM’s enterprise-ready blockchain service that supports
the Hyperledger Fabric. All participants will also receive up to $120,000 worth
of IBM Cloud credits to fully leverage the ecosystem, as well as access to IBM
Bluemix Garage sessions for development.
·
Co-Marketing
Potential –
Participants will work with IBM and our blockchain ecosystem to position
themselves as technology leaders through joint marketing opportunities.
“As a founder of security
and privacy solutions addressing the cost and complexity of complying with
regulatory requirements such as the EU’s new General Data Protection
Regulation, the guidance and support that IBM provided us in bringing
DataPassports to market was invaluable in accelerating the development and
delivery of our blockchain based services,” said Kevin Ellison, CEO, Schedule1.
Fast-Track
Development with Pre-Built Blockchain Software Assets
New software capabilities
via the IBM Cloud are based on experience from IBM’s largest blockchain
initiatives and experience with production blockchain networks across shipping,
manufacturing, supply chain and finance. Designed to help organizations speed the
deployment of code from months, to just a few days, participants in the program
will have first access prior to the general availability of the code.
These assets include IBM
innovations incorporated into major projects across global trade digitization,
supply chain finance, transaction settlement, procurement trade finance, supply
chain visibility and food safety. Initial software assets include:
·
Document
Store –
allows network members to store and control documents and related events in a security-rich
environment. This provides a source of validation to support mission-critical
business processes where the lack of proper documentation can delay outcomes
and potentially void the transaction.
physical and digital, throughout their lifecycle, from creation to decommission
as immutable transactions. It provides the capability to track an asset’s
owner, location and status, and any supporting documents relevant to the asset
at each stage of the business process.
provides all workflow orchestration on the blockchain network. It provides
tamper-resistant document maintenance and authorization features, and answers
communication requests among network members to support each transaction’s
integrity.
network, including the registration and authorization of member organizations
and their individual users.
The software assets will complement Hyperledger
Composer, a collaboration tool for building blockchain business networks, and
one of the Hyperledger projects hosted by The Linux Foundation. Hyperledger
Composer is an open source tool for developing and deploying chaincode, and the
efficient development of business logic in Smart Contracts.
Organizations can learn more about pricing and
apply to the IBM Blockchain Founder Accelerator program by visiting http://ibm.com/blockchain/accelerator.
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