SIA and R3 have launched a strategic partnership aimed at speeding up the global development and adoption of blockchain applications by leveraging SIAnet’s 600 nodes provided to financial institutions, corporates and public administrations.

As part of the partnership, SIA will build a secure and protected network called SIAchain, which will be integrated with R3’s Corda platform to enable SIA customers to run CordDapps – applications designed specifically to meet the needs of institutions across the banking and finance sector. The first CorDapps on SIAchain will be available from the first quarter of 2018.

The main goal is to allow the use of CorDapps through the SIAchain infrastructure, which guarantees their full availability and use, ensuring a standardised operating context, to registered members of specific communities. Banks, companies and public administrations have an ever-increasing need to cooperate efficiently in the management of complex processes, reducing times, costs and operating risks.

Corda is an open source, blockchain-inspired distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform that removes costly friction in business transactions by enabling institutions to transact directly using smart contracts, while ensuring the highest levels of privacy and security. It is the outcome of over two years of intense research and development by R3 and its 100+ members. Applications on Corda use common code and protocols to ensure interoperability.

“The collaboration with the R3 consortium is a milestone in our blockchain strategy. We will integrate on SIAchain, which rests on roughly 600 nodes of the SIAnet network throughout Europe, the most advanced technologies available and we will develop innovative applications for financial institutions, corporates and public sector” said Massimo Arrighetti, CEO of SIA.

“We designed Corda as an open source platform specifically to encourage partnerships such as this. Working with our partners we are growing a diverse ecosystem of interoperable applications on the platform, each providing a unique solution to the challenges faced by financial market participants. In addition, leveraging connectivity to existing networks such as SIA’s helps speed up adoption and implementation of DLT across global financial markets”, affirmed David E. Rutter, CEO of R3.