Swiss telecom giant Swisscom announced that it is the first Swiss member to join the global blockchain Hyperledger Project that is being supported by over 100 companies including IBM, Intel, and JP Morgan, among others. The addition of Swisscom will enable the Swiss economy to benefit from cooperation and prototypes.

Swisscom’s addition to Hyperledger blockchain consortium is aimed at promoting the development of a cross-industry blockchain standard. The Swiss firm will join other companies like Airbus, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Börse, Intel,
which are already onboard.

“Hyperledger is setting out on the promising and proven path that has already been taken with Linux: standardization, broad-based support, open exchange of information,” David Watrin, head of the blockchain developer team at Swisscom stated.

The telecom company has been working and researching on the blockchain technology applications since 2015. It estimates that the distributed ledger technology will play an important role in the digital economy and can be used for digital transactions, banking applications, e-voting, and contracts through the IoT.

Swisscom has collaborated with major banks and implemented a prototype for a loyalty program based on blockchain technology. It is currently testing a smart contract platform and is working for off-board trading as part of a KTI project with Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

“Just as the Internet transfers information, the blockchain transfers ownership structures. Switzerland can use blockchain technology to drive the digital economy and assume a pioneering role. We want to provide support as a catalyst with expertise, experience and implementation skills,” Johannes Höhener, head of the FinTech cluster at Swisscom stated in the release.

Swisscom will support the consortium with its expertise in digital banking think tank e-foresight and insights from its in-house projects. It will provide interested parties with access to Hyperledger expertise and help shape further development.