The Bank of Finland, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, recently organized a seminar to explore the potential applications of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) in various sectors of society.

The seminar aimed to provide a setting for discussion on the possibilities offered by blockchain and DLTs and to bring together the most important domestic actors to reflect on a common view and strategy for making use of new generation technological innovations in both private and public sectors.

In his introductory remark, Governor Erkki Liikanen emphasized on the central bank’s key role of overseer and catalyst of the payment and financial systems.

“Our task is to ensure the reliability and efficiency of the payment system and the overall financial system and to participate in their development. Research into, and support of, new innovations shaping the financial sector constitute part of this work,” Liikanen said.

The seminar was attended by leading researchers in the field and experts from universities, research institutes, government agencies and firms across the country. The speakers represented a wide spectrum of different organisations, including VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Etla), Aalto University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Nets, Microsoft and Fortum.

A total of ten projects were presented at the event, all geared to developing applications harnessing blockchain technology for the needs of industry, the financial sector and public administration. The panel discussion sought to outline guiding principles for combining strengths in this area at national level.