On Wednesday 28 October 2020, AFNOR brought together blockchain professionals to place the spotlight this technology which is in need of voluntary standards such as the future NF B01-001. A market survey shows that blockchain technology is spreading rapidly in many sectors and could contribute to economic recovery.

Finance, luxury goods, supply chains… blockchains are increasingly common throughout the economic fabric. This technology, intended to fully secure online transactions and serve as a trusted third party to record all information, has its own professionals, grouped together in a new federation: the FFPB (French Federation of Blockchain Professionals). On Wednesday 28 October 2020 in AFNOR premises, the FFPB presented a survey conducted with 125 user organizations and which paints a picture of the French blockchain ecosystem. “Over half of the companies in the SBF 120 index have publicly stated that they have blockchain projects,” it states. However, the specialized players are for the most part VSEs and mainly located in the Ile-de-France region. A significant proportion (41%) – including both small and large enterprises – have raised capital for development amounting to 53 million euros in total. 

Blockchain: for a “Block in France” technology

While the level of expertise is high, particularly on use of the Ethereum protocol (the most cited, ahead of Bitcoin and Hyperledger), the survey illustrates the need to rapidly strengthen the training offer given short-term recruitment prospects. Nevertheless: “The French ecosystem seems to have built a fertile breeding ground in the market for blockchain-based services and products,” states the survey report. One example is the use of cryptocurrency payment systems.

But regretfully as yet there is no specific French hallmark: the survey highlights strong demand for a “Block in France” blockchain developed by entities headquartered in France and with an architecture resulting from national R&D. “Blockchain is a chance for France to reclaim a digital sovereignty that has been strongly eroded by previous missed opportunities around technological shifts,” says Member of Parliament Jean-Michel Mis (LREM, Loire), co-founder of the FFPB with the entrepreneur Rémy-André Ozcan. A goal to be pursued alongside the post-Covid economic recovery plan.

This is where standardization has a role to play. Standards are beneficial in that they provide a framework, describe best practices and develop a common language. We are talking here about voluntary standards made by and for professionals and not about the regulatory framework, which by the way is considered inadequate by 58% of respondents to the FFPB survey. Normative work has been undertaken under the aegis of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO, Technical Committee TC 307) leading to publication of ISO 22739. This standard provides a common vocabulary to be used in the field of blockchain technologies with precise definitions to aid understanding.

Blockchain: voluntary standards to build confidence

Sylvain Cariou, CEO of Crystalchain and Chair of the AFNOR standardization commission (©DR).

Work is ongoing in a purely French framework with AFNOR hosting and leading a standardization commission composed of fifteen professionals to develop the future standard NF B01-001. Estimated publication: July 2021, after public enquiry. “The objective of this standard is to propose a classification of levels of veracity of information to be incorporated in a system using blockchain technology: “reasonable confidence”, “probative value”, etc. Here’s an example: the blockchain will record the information that I have one billion dollars in my bank account in a tamper-proof manner. But what proves to you that this information is authentic? The standard will give confidence levels to attest to the truthfulness of the source. The technology, no matter how secure, cannot prove that the recorded data reflects the reality it is intended to reflect, both in terms of accuracy and completeness. This standard is the link of trust that connects the physical world to the digital world secured by the blockchain,” says Sylvain Cariou, CEO of Crystalchain and Chair of the AFNOR standardization commission.

The commission brings together start-ups and entrepreneurs and welcomes you if you would like to contribute as a user, an electronic archiving and document management professional or provider of blockchain technology for financial or traceability applications. Tomorrow’s standards are being written today… and certainly not without you!