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European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI)
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European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI)

In fact, this is a new initiative of the European Commission to provide a wide range of cross-border digital public services. Thus, it inevitably attracted the attention of many people around the world, especially cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiasts.

It is interesting to note that the origins of EBSI date back to 2018. During this time, EU member states, some countries from the European Economic Area, such as Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as the European Commission have entered into cooperation to create a European blockchain. The partnership, or EBP, is focused on harnessing the enormous potential of blockchain technology, along with expanding opportunities for cooperation in providing a wide range of cross-border digital public services.

The main purpose of EBP was one of the first factors that laid the foundation for EBSI. At the same time, EBP member states have also focused on attracting companies, the blockchain community and academia to their decision-making enterprises. Some of the institutions that performed these duties included the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), and the European Union Blockchain Observatory and Forum.

European Blockchain Services Infrastructure

The European Blockchain Services Infrastructure is an innovative flagship initiative of the European Commission. A unique feature of EBSI is that it is the first blockchain infrastructure implemented throughout the EU to ensure the availability of public services for European citizens. It will also focus on improving the reliability of public services for European citizens. Some of the main principles underlying the European Commission initiative include:

  • Work for the benefit of society
  • Data compatibility
  • Transparent management
  • Compliance with EU regulations, such as eIDAS and GDPR regulations.
  • Open source software
  • High scalability support
  • Energy efficiency without using Consensus Proof of Work

The answer to the question “what is the EBSI blockchain?” shows that it is an open and public infrastructure. The purpose of the infrastructure is to offer, support and protect the ecosystem, with the possibility of interaction to ensure the development, launch and operation of digital services in the public sector throughout the EU, without border restrictions.

Most importantly, the infrastructure must comply with European values of environmental friendliness and data independence. It also focuses on addressing global issues such as corruption in the supply chain and climate change.

The EBSI blockchain can work to provide public services with significant levels of scalability, compatibility, better throughput and continuity of service. In addition, it will also provide a reliable guarantee of the highest possible level of privacy and security. As a result, EBSI can enable public administration and related ecosystems to simplify the verification of information and improve the reliability of services. At the moment, the European Commission plans to implement the infrastructure within three years.

The architecture of the EBSI blockchain

The next important factor in understanding the European blockchain services infrastructure is its architecture. Please note that the infrastructure was developed in the form of a public blockchain with permissions. The network nodes will be managed by the European Commission, including the 27 EU members and individual members of the European Blockchain Partnership in certain regions.

At the moment, the peer-to-peer infrastructure network includes 36 operating production nodes, 11 more are at the configuration stage. However, it is still too early to make a judgment about the infrastructure, since it will take almost three to five years from concept to deployment. In the course of its development, EBP aims to turn from an investment fund into a full-fledged investment development platform, with financing in the amount of 1-2 billion euros.

The infrastructure includes three separate layers that have unique functions:

  1. Basic Level: Will include the basic infrastructure along with other elements such as the necessary storage, blockchain and connectivity.
  2. Core Services Layer: Will serve as an essential element to support all EBSI-related use cases and applications.
  3. Additional layers in architecture: deal, in particular, with certain use cases and applications.

Examples of using EBSI

Understanding the architecture, obviously, will push to the next main factor in the introduction of the European infrastructure of blockchain services. Interestingly, iterative infrastructure development focuses on the selected set of use cases. Over time, the use cases of EBSI will expand. Some of the most notable initial infrastructure use cases include the following.

  • Diplomas

The EBSI blockchain can transfer the management of credentials into the hands of their holders, so that citizens can easily manage their education documents, while significantly reducing the cost of verification. At the same time, the use of a new infrastructure for the distribution and management of diplomas also uses blockchain to increase confidence in the authenticity of credentials.

  • Notarization

Blockchain can also serve as a decisive incentive for the development of reliable digital control logs in agreements. In addition, you will not need intermediaries to automate compliance assessment in time-sensitive processes. The infrastructure can also provide better flexibility for verifying data integrity.

  • Reliable data exchange

Blockchain technology can help secure data exchange between EU authorities. The infrastructure may be useful for exchanging sensitive data, such as IOSS VAT identification numbers. In addition, it can also support the import of a single window for tax and customs authorities.

  • A single digital identity for Europe

Another striking use case associated with the EBSI blockchain concerns the creation of a common digital identification capability. Users can create and control their identity across borders without relying on centralized authorities. At the same time, the infrastructure can also facilitate compliance with eIDAS regulatory precedents.

Other use cases that are currently being developed can also play a crucial role in the further expansion of the infrastructure. The three most promising uses of EBSI that may gain recognition in the future include:

  • The ability to manage cross-border and interdepartmental processes of applying for asylum.
  • The use of European social security numbers to ensure access to social services without any border restrictions.
  • Financing of small and medium-sized businesses through the use of blockchain.

It is also important to note that the future of the European blockchain services infrastructure will attract more private companies. Thus, it can potentially offer new opportunities to save money and improve the efficiency of transactions, and interaction between the public and private sectors.

Blockchain technology undoubtedly has many advantages, especially cryptographic security, although it has several problems.

Advantages of the EBSI blockchain

In fact, this can bring clear benefits to EU citizens, national administrations, as well as institutions of the European Union.

  • EU citizens can get the opportunity for simpler and safer cross-border transactions with public services.
  • National administrations could explore ways to simplify administrative processes, along with improving efficiency and building trust among citizens.
  • European Union institutions can also discover the value of simpler administrative processes using the EBSI blockchain. At the same time, they could also address regulatory compliance issues, along with improving the efficiency of the provision of cross-border public services.

Interestingly, the European blockchain services infrastructure also has many promising advantages in general, such as:

  • Simpler administrative processes with less effort to verify information and audits, as well as decentralized trust services.
  • Increasing trust from external stakeholders through transparency of smart contracts and the use of an EBSI wallet with Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) and verifiable credentials.
  • Increase in efficiency by improving security, fault tolerance and performance.
  • Transparency along with the ability to track transactions and data in the infrastructure.
  • Increased compliance with regulatory requirements with special attention to eIDAS and GDPR.
  • Better data harmonization with simple anomaly identification and distributed registry technologies.

Conclusion

You won’t find this blockchain project on Coinmarketrate.com , or other resources of the crypto community. EBSI is an initiative of the European Commission, and as they claim, meets the public interest. Blockchain-based infrastructure can simplify access to public services without border restrictions throughout the EU.

With the support of the European Commission and the EU member states, the EBSI blockchain is now undergoing significant changes. The implementation of the infrastructure would bring clear benefits to Member States and institutions. But as for the citizens, we’ll wait and see.