Swisscom is developing new blockchain platform on hyperledger for Swiss Post

Today Swiss Post and leading phone and internet company Swisscom announced they’re working together to build a 100% Swiss private blockchain infrastructure.

The two announced Thursday that they are using Hyperledger Fabric to build their “simple, secure and sustainable” private blockchain infrastructure, intended to be utilized by their own, as well as other companies’, applications.

The announcement indicates that the system is more energy efficient than public blockchain offerings, stating:

“In contrast to “public blockchains” (e.g. bitcoin and ethereum), this private blockchain infrastructure requires much less energy, since it can only be used by identified users who have a contractual relationship with the providers of an application. This enables more efficient agreement procedures as well as significantly higher security and performance.”

The companies are planning their first pilot applications in the middle of next year and didn’t disclose what these might be. However, they will reveal more details at the Hyperledger Global Forum in Basel next week (Discount code at bottom). The platform will be based on Hyperledger Fabric 2, which has yet to be released. The companies also intend to make their platform available to other Swiss organizations.

On the basis of distributed ledger technology, Swiss Post and Swisscom will check each other and thus help to establish trust. In contrast to "public blockchains" (e.g. Bitcoin and Ethereum), this private blockchain infrastructure requires much less energy, since it can only be used by identified users who have a contractual relationship with the providers of an application. This enables more efficient agreement procedures as well as significantly higher security and performance. This is an important prerequisite for many companies to launch their own applications based on blockchain technology.

Swiss Post, for example, stores its temperature measurement data on a blockchain during the transport of pharmaceuticals. With "Blockchain for Utility" (B4U), PostFinance is running a pilot project together with Energie Wasser Bern (ewb). This enables owners of houses with a photovoltaic system to automatically bill their tenants via a blockchain for the electricity they receive from the system. Swisscom is working with its subsidiary daura on a digital share based on blockchain technology.