WEF Releases Report Assessing Global Blockchain Standards

The Global Standards Mapping Initiative is the most "comprehensive" attempt so far to survey blockchain technical standards, the WEF said.

By Sebastian Sinclair

Oct 14, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:09 a.m. UTC

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The World Economic Forum has teamed up with the Global Blockchain Business Council, an advocacy group, to assess the current state of blockchain technology.

The Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI), released Wednesday, is the most "comprehensive" attempt so far to survey blockchain technical standards, according to the organizations.
The GSMI mapped data from over 30 technical standard-setting entities, 185 jurisdictions, and almost 400 industry groups.
The report attempts to provide a snapshot of the current blockchain landscape by mapping current technical standardization efforts, identifying gaps and recognizing "next steps" for the industry.
The initiative is designed to serve as a resource to move the industry forward by combining industry trends and provide "action-orientated guidance" for the public and private sectors.
"The ecosystem is moving forward with designing and building for scale," the report reads. "However, several questions critical to the success or failure of blockchain remain."
Those questions relate to issues such as a need for increased education for regulators, fragmentation of approaches across different jurisdictions and premature standardizations.
The findings of the report also included concerns regarding terminology and technical design choices for distributed ledger technology (DLT), as well as clarity and guidance for global actors.
The initiative also comes in collaboration with notable entities working in blockchain, including MIT Media Lab, Accenture and the Linux Foundation.
Other collaborators include Hyperledger, ESG Intelligence, Global Digital Finance, ING Group, Six Digital Exchange, the Milken Institute, among others.

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