Indian software services giant Infosys is working on 50 different blockchain pilots with a majority of them in non-financial services.
One of India’s largest IT vendors is going all-in on blockchain technology development in areas beyond finance. As reported by local publication Business Line, Infosys’ chief of emerging technology solutions Prasad Joshi pointed to a marked shift in strategies for the software major as it looks to invest and explore in new technologies across multiple industries.
He stated:
Our 500 blockchain specialists and 1,000 consultants form a part of the core group that will take these blockchain technologies to existing and new customers.
The executive revealed details of a blockchain pilot being conducted for an unnamed US coffee company’s retail supply chain. The solution sees transactions and contracts between the coffee company, the coffee growers and other ancillary parties in the supply chain recorded and stored on a blockchain. “With blockchain, you can get a dashboard in which all parties can look at the information and make decisions accordingly,” Joshi added.
In early 2015, CCN.com reported Infosys’ early foray into blockchain development with Finacle, a front-end bank database management system. Last year, the IT giant’s FinTech-forward subsidiary Edgeverve launched a blockchain framework for financial services institutions. While fully-owned by Infosys, Edgeverve is more like a software startup, notably offering salaries on par with the likes of Google and Microsoft.
Edgeverve’s solution has already powered an international blockchain pilot between ICICI and Emirates NBD, India’s largest private sector bank and Dubai’s largest bank respectively. In late 2016, the two banks announced the successful completion of two blockchain pilots. The first proved a real-time successful international money transfer was possible between two physical bank branches while the second pilot saw a trade finance pilot to import shredded steel melting scrap from Dubai to India.
More recently, Infosys’ Finacle software, now evolved as a universal banking solution suite, offered a cloud-based blockchain platform for Qatar’s first private lender, Commercial Bank, to complete a regional money transfer pilot. Trials were conducted on a ‘blockchain grid’ shared by three partner banks in Turkey, Oman and the UAE.
“The network is built on an asset-agnostic cloud-based ledger with which the banks are able to automate inter-organizational processes, reducing the risk of fraud and enabling greater transparency,” Infosys revealed.
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Samburaj is Editor of CCN.com, one of the earliest and foremost publications covering blockchain, and financial technology news. Now focusing on Markets, Showbiz, Sports, and Gaming. He has authored over 2,000 articles for CCN.com. Reach him at [email protected]. Visit his LinkedIn profile here.
