Russia starts work on blockchain standards
Russia’s Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology is forming a committee that will develop the standards for the application and safety of DLT and blockchain.
Russia is increasingly seeking to fit blockchain into some framework and while the authorities are still mulling how to adapt the laws to this new technology, the Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology (also known as Rosstandart) has made some steps towards establishing standards for distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and blockchain.
According to an announcement on the Agency’s website published on Tuesday, the body is establishing a new tech committee on the standardization of DLT and blockchain.
Those willing to participate in the new committee may send their applications not later than October 11, 2017, to [email protected].
The committee will deal with issues such as the architecture standards, areas of application and requirements for the software based on DLT and blockchain. Issues of security and confidentiality will also be on the agenda of the new committee.
Interestingly, Russia refrained from joining an international tech committee on blockchain when it was created in 2016. We are curious to see whether Russia’s new body dealing with blockchain standards will form any links with similar international organizations.
The Russian authorities are increasingly exploring blockchain and its possible applications in various economic areas. The ranks of defendants of blockchain in Russia have recently seen the addition of Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications expects the legal provisions for the legalization of the DLT technologies like blockchain to be in place in 2019.
There are sceptic views too. In June this year, following a meeting of several of its internal commissions, Russia’s Security Council said that blockchain, regardless of its numerous advantages, leaves open many questions regarding information security. That is why, the Council recommended that before this technology is used in the financial sector, the questions regarding the information security provided by blockchain systems be studied by regulators and businesses.
