At the Andalusia Technology Park in Malaga, the Alastria Network was presented, of which your company is one of the promoters. Could you explain in a simple way what this Network consists of and what its objectives are?
Alastria is a multisectorial consortium promoted by companies and institutions for the establishment of a Blockchain infrastructure, which supports services with legal effectiveness and in accordance with Spanish regulations.
It is important to remember that the association is non-profit and its ultimate goal is to provide a common infrastructure for members to launch their products and services on, whether profitable or not. To put it simply: it's like building roads so that members can set up service stations, restaurants, carwashes or rest areas.
Many already consider Blockchain to be the most disruptive technology since the advent of the Internet, and one that will profoundly transform the digital context of our society.
Therefore, ALASTRIA's objective is to bring together, around a single network, a group of entities that share the purpose of enabling a Blockchain environment, in which its participants will benefit from an interoperable infrastructure to establish and deploy their solutions. It also aims to facilitate pilot projects and promote an innovative ecosystem.
Blockchain is a technology in the consolidation phase and it is at this moment when different solutions to the requirements of this new digital environment are appearing. Therefore, for the consortium, it is a priority to propose and implement the most suitable standards to ensure the operability of this common infrastructure.
Another of the fundamental objectives is that the protocols that are established will have to respond to interoperability criteria with any other DLT environment, public or private, favouring the implementation of the services and developments that the members carry out for this environment.
Endesa wanted to be part of this National Multisectoral Platform on which people and organizations develop and operate distributed registration applications in accordance with the legal framework. That is why we are part of the driving team and we want Malaga to be aware of the initiative first hand.
What does it mean that the Alastria Network is a hybrid blockchain? What are the differences and benefits compared to public and private ones?
"Public Blockchain" are those where anyone can download a program to a computer and be part of it. Today they have a number of limitations. The rules of the game are not adaptable, and when you want to use this type of network for a real business case, it does not meet the guarantees that companies need. For example, suitable environments for configuration, secure support, service level, customer service, or compliance with current legislation on data protection.
This is leading to the emergence of distributed, but private, infrastructures, which are mainly intended to gain in efficiency and scalability, as well as to facilitate certain functionalities on the"public Blockchain". Private means you enter by invitation, and not everyone is welcome. They usually have a very specific purpose.
ALASTRIA tries to combine the advantages of public and private networks, configuring a"hybrid" network that enables a single digital space, with specific values for its members (who are identified) and based on extended protocols and standards of Blockchain technologies. All the companies that want to enter and collaborate (always under the umbrella of ethics) have their own space; it is open to any type of service or product of its members and to facilitate the development and construction of new digital assets.
The hybrid (or permissible) Blockchain model seeks to bring together the benefits of both public and private blockchain:
- Based on open, widespread and proven Blockchain protocols that allow the greatest flexibility, development and operation of Smart contracts.
- Extended programming languages, supporting broad developer communities.
- Open access, but controlled and specifically regulated for the protection and security of all.
- Speed and scalability in the execution of transactions.
- With legal digital identities in order to enable legally binding services in Spain.
- Ensures privacy of transactions.
What benefits can blockchain technology, and this network in particular, bring to relations between companies and entities?
Blockchain enables a new digital environment, a turning point in the processes of digital transformation of the economy and society. "Almost everything" can change.
We are witnessing the birth of a technology which, beyond transforming the Internet, proposes new ways of optimising our relations, saving administrative costs, encouraging sectoral cooperation and embracing all the conceivable possibilities offered by the Internet of information in a second wave of technological change.
Furthermore, this national initiative, due to its scope and participants, generates a unique context for the development of this technology and could place Spain among the countries that are trying to lead the new context.
The new digital spaces enabled by blockchain technology are in continuous evolution as their architecture becomes more functional. This will make it possible to resolve more complex transactions than those devised for original cryptomoney (not the object of Alastria) and to adapt to changing future needs.
Smart Contracts are the fundamental piece of the new programming, of the common language of this new environment. ALASTRIA will enable the technological infrastructure that supports the most advanced models of Smart Contract with a completely multisectoral approach and guaranteed privacy.
What are Alastria's next steps and what do you think APTE, as a non profit partner of this Network, and its members can collaborate in?
Digitization of ecosystems goes beyond the digital transition of individual enterprises. It requires the generation of inter-company collaborative platforms. APTE is a precursor of this model.
The objectives of Apte and Alastria are intimately related. Both want to strengthen the business ecosystem, maintain operational relations with universities, research centers and other educational institutions. We seek to encourage the formation, growth and development of knowledge-based companies. Promoting technology transfer and promoting innovation among companies and organizations will be a key element to be at the forefront of the international scene.
If we look at the principles of the Blockchain network that we want to implement, we will again find meeting points between APTE and Alastria. There will be private multi-stakeholder transactions, where secure data exchange will be allowed but on the premise that no one dominates the ecosystem (decentralized) and complies with the regulation.
Alastria is taking its first steps. It is organizing itself, writing agreements, alliances, and developing a blockchain infrastructure that will serve as a hub for innovation and the launch of new digital products and services.
In December-January we will be ready to make a massive call for all those who want to install a node, can do so, so that we begin to create this network.
The first semester will be one of collective learning: we will be able to do tests but we will not be able to carry out real cases.
What would we like to do to add value?
We will start with the business network of Malaga, where Alastria could carry out ideation sessions to identify those challenges that could be solved with Blockchain. The challenges would have to solve a particular case of a company.
Once the definitive challenges of each company have been established, Alastria will publish them in a web space with the aim of getting startups nationwide to solve the challenge.
Subsequently, a feasibility study of the proposed solution will be carried out and the interest of potential investors in its financing will be studied, giving priority to direct financing of the company issuing the challenge. The intellectual property of what has been developed would belong to the startups.
All this is subject to having an operational testnet on which to develop the solution.
But it is important to keep in mind that this is a project of many. Ideas are not written in stone. We will build the road and adjust it to suit the circumstances.
Hopefully we will be able to create the digital future that quality employment in Spain requires.
