On Oct. 1, two of the three largest enterprise blockchain communities, the Hyperledger Project (Hyperledger) and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, announced plans to join forces. The alliance between the two communities aims to build common standards and data formats between the two platforms that will serve as a basis for all other implementations and corresponding customizations. If implemented effectively, this could be a major step toward interoperability between the Ethereum and Hyperledger blockchains.

The world's largest telecom firm recently announced plans to launch a blockchain-as-a-service platform that will track the movement of goods from production to consumption. The platform boasts use cases across industries including manufacturing, retail and healthcare and can also be paired with other blockchain platforms and "internet of things" tools to enhance automation and monitoring capabilities.

Another global software company recently announced new services that will promote the integration of blockchain platforms into existing business infrastructures. The company plans to launch two new consortia that aim to spur blockchain innovation between customers and partners by identifying industry-spanning blockchain use cases, areas for cross-industry collaboration and further benefits of blockchain networks. One consortium will focus exclusively on the pharmaceuticals and life sciences industries while the other will focus on the agribusiness, consumer products and retail industries.

According to a major national bank, blockchain will eventually be a multibillion-dollar opportunity for technology companies that plan to pair blockchain with existing cloud computing operations to improve supply chain operations. The bank's analysis is based on the assumption that 2 percent of servers will be used to run blockchain, at $5,500 per server, per year. In another recent report, a technology research company predicts that blockchain technology in the United States manufacturing sector will grow significantly from 2020 to 2025. According to the report, the market for blockchain technology in the manufacturing industry is expected to be worth $30 million by 2020 and grow at a compound annual rate of 80 percent to $566 million by 2025.

In international developments, the ID2020 Alliance recently launched two pilot programs that will explore the use of digital identities as a means to provide resources to vulnerable populations. One pilot enables access to better healthcare outcomes by linking electronic medical records to individual users through iris recognition. The other pilot facilitates the transfer of liquid petroleum gas subsidies through a biometrically validated digital wallet, thus modernizing the delivery of resources to users who may not have access to a mobile device. In Sierra Leone, the United Nations and microlending nonprofit Kiva are seeking to build a blockchain-based identity and credit-score system. With 80 percent of the country's citizens lacking identity documents and a mechanism to prove their creditworthiness, modernizing Sierra Leone's Credit Reference Bureau through this blockchain-based system could transform the country's financial inclusion landscape and accelerate economic development. And in the U.K., the national property register is moving into the second phase of its research project on the use of blockchain and distributed ledgers for land registration and the purchase and sale of property.

To read more about the topics covered in this week's post, see the following:

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.