Spanish telecom multinational Telefónica has agreed to collaborate with the Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE) to launch a network for the development of blockchain-based solutions.
The initiative will include Telefónica along with 64 technology parks hosting 8,157 Spanish companies.
According to the announcement, the goal of the initiative is to apply targets set by the United Nations to eradicate poverty and drive the economic advancement of Spain.
The project will begin with an experimental phase of three months to trial and investigate various processes that can be improved by blockchain applications.
To achieve these goals, big players and startups are collaborating to transform how governments, major corporations, small-to-medium businesses and consumers interact.
In an interview with The Daily Chain last month, Telefónica mapped out its strategy for investing in blockchain technology – through its venture capital arm Wayra.
Says Gary Stewart, the managing director of Wayra UK,
“Wayra was founded by Telefónica’s current CEO [José María Álvarez-Pallete López], and the idea was that it was clear that companies, like Whatsapp, which Telefónica had not taken very seriously, saw the company losing millions of dollars to a business that they didn’t even know existed.
The same thing with Skype – entire business lines being wiped out by startups using technology in a way large corporates had not seen…
I think blockchain is still early in its developmental path, but what Telefónica wants to understand is… It is not likely that we are going to be the ones to come up with whatever ‘It’ is, but let’s make sure that we are paying attention to what the startups are saying it could be…”
With last week’s major endorsement of blockchain technology by China’s President Xi Jinping, world leaders and corporate innovators are on the alert, exploring ways to leverage digital ledgers to drive efficiency, reduce bureaucratic overload, streamline paperwork, improve verification and authentication, lower costs and generate interoperable platforms in frictionless environments.
Telefónica’s latest initiative, which was announced at APTE’s third annual meeting held last Thursday at the headquarters of the Technological Science Park of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), is set to become one of the largest blockchain networks in Spain.