Microsoft Enters Into Blockchain Contract with Hapoalim — from finance.yahoo.com
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
Microsoft Corp. is fast gaining traction in blockchain technology. The company has made impressive progress in recent times through its deal with Accenture Plc ACN and the launch of Coco Framework for making blockchain-based systems faster and secure.
Microsoft is now bringing the technology mainstream for the financial industry. The company is reportedly collaborating with an Israeli lender, Bank Hapoalim for blockchain technology based digital bank guarantees.
Bank guarantees are a declaration of assurance from a bank that a debtor’s liabilities will be met if an obligation is not fulfilled. Notably, this combination of blockchain with bank guarantee will be the first of its kind in the Israel banking sector. This application, once deployed, will not require clients to visit the bank physically. The documentation process will be less time consuming and secure.
Also see:
Blockchain technology is moving into the shipping industry — with Microsoft and Maersk on board — from finance.yahoo.com by Ryan Browne
Excerpt:
The distributed ledger will be used to capture information about shipments, risk and liability, and to help firms comply with insurance regulations.It will also ensure transparency across an interconnected network of clients, brokers, insurers and other third parties. EY explained that its decision to secure marine insurance data with blockchain was due to a “complete inefficiency” in the sector.
Who Will Build the Health-Care Blockchain? — from technologyreview.com by Mike Orcutt
Decentralized databases promise to revolutionize medical records, but not until the health-care industry buys in to the idea and gets to work.