WISeKey International announced launch of Trust Protocol Association (Association), an independent, not-for-profit membership organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
The purpose of the Association is to establish a new Trust Protocol for the Internet by combining traditional Cryptographic Trust Models with permissioned blockchain transactions through strong authentication provided by the OISTE WISeKey Root of Trust, and create a new Global Trust platform and an ecosystem of governmental, technology and business partners, each representing a certification node with the possibility of having multiple certifications nodes per country.
Founded in Switzerland in 1998, OISTE was created with the objectives of promoting the use and adoption of international standards to secure electronic transactions, expand the use of digital certification and ensure the interoperability of certification authorities’ e-transaction systems.
The OISTE Foundation is a not for profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, regulated by article 80 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code. OISTE is an organization in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and belongs to the Not-for-Profit constituency (NPOC) of the ICANN.
The association will promote the use of blockchain technologies internationally, facilitate rapid adaptation and on-boarding of blockchain-based solutions, and foster stronger collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors.
Additionally, during the Davos Annual Cybersecurity Roundtable, a closed-door event attended by over 500 delegates, including a large Chinese Blockchain delegation (which also joined the Association), WISeKey committed to the establishment of a number of new interconnected Blockchain Centers of Excellence in China.
These new centers will be interconnected via three hubs – Geneva, Toronto and Beijing – a Trust Triangle operating under a Common Trust Protocol, using WISeKey’s PKI hardened blockchain technology to deliver trust and security, while maintaining the core blockchain values of transparency, auditability and traceability.
Blockchain-based solutions aim to override the need for a central authority by distributing information previously held in a centralized repository across a network of participating nodes. While Blockchain is not owned by one individual or organization, anyone with an internet connection (and access, in the case of private blockchains) can make use of and help maintain it.
When a transaction is made on a blockchain, it is added to a group of transactions, known as ‘blocks” – each block is then added to the database in a chronological, immutable chain. Each block is stamped with a unique cryptographic code, which ensures that records are not counterfeited or changed.
“The creation of new Blockchain Centers of Excellence and the Trust Protocol Association represent important steps to overcome a tremendous trust deficiency and foster stronger collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors for the adoption of the latest deeptech technological blockchain standards in a safe and trusted manner,” said Carlos Moreira, WISeKey’s founder and CEO.
