Dr Hannah Rudman, Wallet.Services’ Strategic Transformation Director considers why our championing of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in manufacturing and resources and public sectors is also the company’s Massive Transformational Purpose (MTP).
When I was at secondary school in 1989, Sir Tim Berners Lee wrote his paper proposing a World Wide Web of connected computers, which would allow digital exchange of information. I got into it immediately – recognising the potential of the www to open up the internet to become a formidable engine for lowering barriers and empowering individuals, governments and businesses. I learnt and shared music, played in new virtual worlds, launched ideas, researched, connected and collaborated with people internationally, and I bought from markets – previously inaccessible – exactly what I wanted and needed.
The Team at Wallet.Services
But 30 years on, the internet is increasingly centralised. Global tech companies (arguably also media companies) control ever larger chunks of what was invented as a public platform. They subvert its strengths to make huge profits, whilst avoiding being properly regulated and responsibly taxed. The internet has become a place where unmediated content has undermined democracy, and spawned radicalism, grooming and bullying. It has become a black market, facilitating people and drugs trafficking, increasing access to pornography, and over exposing personal and commercially sensitive data. In the first half of 2018, there were 945 cyber attacks resulting in the breaching of 4.5bn data records. This is a grave situation, and reducing the complexity and security risks experienced in everyday digital life is why co-founders Stuart Fraser and Peter Ferry set-up Wallet.Services.
Our Massive Transformational Purpose (MTP) is to change the internet back to a force for good – by enabling cryptographically secured safe and trusted digital collaboration. We are transforming collaborative working, ensuring it is fully optimised by securing data and the people and organisations that own it. Wallet.Services uses a technical approach in its award-winning SICCAR software platform to decentralise networks, applying distributed ledger technologies underpinned by blockchain’s end-to-end cryptography to safely streamline collaboration. As computer scientists, these emerging new secure data sharing technologies have given us purpose, positivity and hope that manufacturing and resources and public sector organisations can work together digitally, in frictionless ways that have not previously been possible.
With our client base growing, we work with governments to solve cross-organisational collaboration challenges where outcomes for citizens can only be achieved with unanimous consent from numerous organisations – such as entitlements, approvals and licensing processes. We also tackle complex supply chain issues within manufacturing & resourcesindustries, such as protecting commercially sensitive data whilst facilitating transparency in highly regulated compliant processes – all via minimal shared IT resource.
Now, with ongoing software revenues and funding secured over the last year, Wallet.Services is scaling up to deliver our MTP internationally, as recently reported by the press in The Scotsman.