Blockchain-as-a-Service and open-sourcing of platform code among a slew of blockchain announcements from IBM

IBM determined not to miss out on the predicted blockchain boom

IBM has made a slew of announcements around blockchain technology, demonstrating its intent to get in on the blockchain boom that began with the emergence of the crypto-currency bitcoin a few years ago and which is now attracting the attention of governments, finance, manufacturing and many other sectors.

A blockchain is a type of mutual distributed ledger (MDL). All transactions written to it are visible to all, shared peer-to-peer across multiple machines and impossible to alter or delete. Because of the total number of developers working on blockchain and related applications it has been described as "the biggest IT company in the world". However, many areas of development are still at an early stage, and despite its potential in other areas, most use cases still revolve around crypto-currencies.

IBM has released 44,000 lines of code to the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger Project, a collaborative open-source endeavour that aims to promote a cross-industry open standard for the development of distributed ledgers.

"As with any early-stage, highly complex technology that demonstrates the ability to change the way we live our lives and conduct business, blockchain demands a cross-industry, open source collaboration to advance the technology for all," writes Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation.

IBM also announced a Blockchain-as-a-Service offering on its Bluemix cloud platform together with DevOps tools to allow developers to create, test and deploy blockchain applications in the cloud or on IBM z System servers.

In addition, the firm's blockchain plans include its supercomputer-based Watson IoT Platform, which the company will deploy for Internet of Things applications including smart contracts - machine-to-machine transactions that are fulfilled automatically when certain conditions are reached. RFID information, barcode-scan events and other device-created data will be pulled together and used by blockchain-based ledgers to enable such smart contracts, IBM says.

The company recently opened the Watson Internet of Things global HQ in Munich to drive cognitive computing research and develop the next generation of cognitive IoT apps, something that IBM has dubbed "Industry 4.0 innovation".

The technology giant will also open a number of "IBM Garages" in London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo to hot-house the creation of business-oriented blockchains, and IBM Global Business Services will expand its blockchain consulting practice for clients in finance and logistics. The financial sector has become particularly interested in blockchain in recent months, seeing the technology as a way to increase the security of transactions, reduce fraud, decrease costs and provide an incorruptible audit trail. Among the blockchain partners listed by IBM is the London Stock Exchange Group.

"We believe this technology has the potential to drive change across the industry but will need to be developed in partnership with customers and industry participants under an open-source approach," said Moiz Kohari, EVP, group head of technology innovation of the LSE Group.

Interested in open source? Come along to the Computing Enterprise Open Source Summit in July. Registration is free for most delegates.