Europe's IT Systems Agency Explores Blockchain At Industry Roundtable

An EU agency focused on the interoperability of IT systems discussed blockchain during a recent industry event.

Eu-LISA, formed in 2013 to help members of the European Union share information across borders, held a roundtable on 8th June that saw the agency hear from a group of companies about their work on interoperability.

It's a subject that invoked blockchain and, while it seems like eu-LISA isn't doing much more than gathering information right now, it's a noteworthy development given the agency's role in connecting information systems across the EU.

The agency said in a release:

"Accenture, SAP, Guardtime, Augmentiq and SAS all provided interesting input in their presentations, recounting experiences related to implementation of interoperability elsewhere, considering the potential architectures for interoperable systems including blockchain technology and considering questions of data quality and analytics."

The development comes amidst a widening effort within the EU to explore potential applications for blockchain as it relates to the management and oversight of the economic bloc.

The European Commission is actively funding research in this area, committing €500k in April to back a pilot project that creates a so-called 'observatory' through which officials and member state representatives can share information.

At the same time, EU officials have spent much of the past year advocating for stronger oversight of digital currency activities due to fears over the pseudonymous nature of the tech.

EU flags image via Shutterstock