ISO/TC 307 Blockchain and electronic distributed ledger technologies
During the first week of April 2017, our Emerging Technology Lead, Nick Cliff, took part in the first meeting of the international technical committee on standards. The ISO/TC 307 Blockchain and electronic distributed ledger technologies met at the International Convention (ICC), Sydney. Around 100 delegates from the 17 participating and observing countries worked to explore the future of blockchain technology via an International Standard.
Back in September 2016, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved Standards Australia’s proposal for the establishment of international standards on blockchain. In its role as leader of this committee, Standards Australia will help guide the future direction of international standards to support the roll-out of blockchain technology.
At this first meeting, the formalities for the formation of a new ISO technical committee were carried out. A cross section of industry experts, consumer associations, along with government and non-government representatives made up an informed International Committee. A skillful Chair, Mr Craig Dunn, helped in navigating the range of opinions presented to arrive at creating several Study Groups.
The streams where Study Groups have been established are:
- Reference architecture, taxonomy and ontology
- Security and privacy
- Identity
- Use cases
- Smart contracts
Additionally, the committee identified that work may be necessary in future in the areas of terminology, governance and interoperability, with terminology being treated as a priority by the committee.
The Study Groups will be left to scope their topics, with Nick’s continued involvement focussed on the identity stream. Contributing to the development of standards for the payments system forms an important part of our role as an industry association and we look forward to helping industry participate in the shaping of this emerging technology.
The next meeting for the technical committee is due to be held in six months time, in Japan. If you would like more information about our contribution to the identity Study Group, please get in touch.
