AWS announces new program for blockchain integration
Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced it is investing in blockchain technology through its partner ecosystem program. According to the company, the AWS Blockchain Partners Program supports customer integration of blockchain solutions with systems built on AWS. Among the Blockchain Partner Solutions available as one-click deploy include: Sawtooth Supply Chain, Sawtooth 1.0, R3 Corda, PokitDok and Blockapps Strato.
“AWS provides the broadest and deepest capabilities with the largest global infrastructure for building end-to-end blockchain solutions,” wrote Ale Flores, global segment lead for blockchain at AWS, in a company blog post announcing the portal. “We invite you to check out current blockchains and review reference architecture, deployment strategies, and development tools on our new portal page.
Blockchain is a technology that helps keep record of transactions made online. It has grown in popularity in recent years due to the digital currency bitcoin. The technology allows users to forward bundles of records called blocks into a chronological chain. Using blockchain, users can keeps tabs on digital transactions through a decentralized, distributed approach, while eliminating the middleman. According to a recent report published by IndustryARC, the blockchain market is expected to cross $6 billion by 2023.
The news follows AWS CEO Andy Jassy reportedly expressing disinterest in the technology at the company’s annual re:Invent conference in Las Vegas last month. According to Jassy, the company did not see many practical use cases for blockchain beyond using a distributed ledger. He said many use cases that blockchain seeks to address can be resolved by other means.
Other service providers have been more eager to embrace blockchain services. In March, for example, IBM released its “Blockchain as a Service” based on the open source Hyperledger Fabric, version 1.0 from The Linux Foundation. Then in October, Oracle jumped on board the blockchain bandwagon with its Blockchain Cloud Service.
Flores added in the blogpost the company is accepting proposals from those involved in healthcare and life sciences, financial services, supply chain management, security or compliance. The company will also be deploying an AWS Blockchain Competency next year.
