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Standards Australia is playing an instrumental role in global blockchain standardisation.

Blockchain, at the broadest level, is a digital platform that records and verifies transactions in a public and secure manner. It is a decentralised, cryptography based solution with the potential to redefine transactions and the back-office of a multitude of different industries.
International Blockchain Conference 2017

International Blockchain Conference 2017

[music]
[Mark Ebeling]
Blockchain is one of those technologies that is really going to change the world

[Scott Farrell]
Because It's a brand new kind of system, one like none other we've seen before

[Adrian McCullagh] 
The governor of the Bank of England noted that the blockchain is the start of the fourth information revolution

[Rob Hanson]
There's a requirement to signal certainty to the marketplace that blockchain is something that can be used, can be adopted and can produce a lot of value

[Emma Weston]
And one of the ways we can do that is by defining standards but also by having diverse groups of people come together to discuss the technologies and the applications that most affect us

[Gilbert Verdian]
To me this is an interesting technology because it adopts multiple components of security and has a new method to deliver those components

[Maxim Shevchenko]
Not only in financial sector but also in distributed ledger, into government

[Pietu Pohjalainen]
You can do smart contracts which allow you to express the intention of contract between parties in very specific terms

[Masanori Kusunoki]
I think standardisation is a very important part for accelerate blockchain
adoption and development

[Adrian McCullagh]
We don't know where this technology will end up but we do know that it's going to influence every business – and society – over the next 50 years.
27 Apr 2017

In April 2016, Standards Australia submitted a New Field of Technical Activity (NFTA) proposal on behalf of Australia for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to consider developing standards to support blockchain technology.

The proposal for an NFTA to ISO was intended to establish a new ISO technical committee for blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. The new committee would be responsible for supporting innovation and competition by covering blockchain standards topics including interoperability, terminology, privacy, security and auditing. This decision resulted in the creation of ISO/TC 307, Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies.
 
In September 2016, ISO announced that Australia will manage the Secretariat of ISO/TC 307 after approving Standards Australia’s proposal for new International Standards on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.

ISO/TC 307 has met twice, most recently in Tokyo. Work is progressing in many areas including reference architecture, terminology, smart contracts, and security and identity. Separate study groups were established to focus on governance and interoperability, and additional research is underway on supply chain and trade facilitation.

Prior to the inaugural meeting of ISO/TC 307, Standards Australia established the mirror committee IT-041, Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies, to provide an Australian voice to inform our vote at the ISO level. 
 
Standards Australia continues to engage proactively to promote Australia’s leading role in the development of international blockchain standards, and to provide opportunities to share technical information.




Activities and Events

In February 2017, Standards Australia hosted a Blockchain Standards Workshop with more than 50 participants representing government, industry, academic and consumer organisations and featured international and local speakers. This activity, complemented by data from a survey, culminated in the production of a Roadmap for Blockchain Standards, identifying priority areas for standardisation in blockchain. This formed a forward work-plan for IT-041, and greatly contributed to Australia’s leadership on international blockchain standards.

On 6 April 2017, immediately following the inaugural ISO/TC 307 meeting in Sydney, we hosted the International Blockchain Standards Conference, featuring speakers from throughout Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas.  The conference brought together representatives from international standards bodies, the finance sector, regulators, policy-makers and startups, provided an overview of blockchain technology trends and opportunities, through standardisation, to enable interoperability and wider use of the technology.

In June 2017, Standards Australia participated in the Blockchain for Finance Conference in Singapore, profiling the process of international standards development as it pertains to blockchain. The presentation provided a chronology of the process to establish the ISO Technical Committee on blockchain and distributed ledger technology, and identified opportunities for standardisation to lift capability and embed baseline operating models, including in the fintech sector. 

In September 2017, in collaboration with Austrade and the Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA), Standards Australia partnered to deliver the Shanghai Blockchain mission. The mission focused on exposure opportunities for Australian businesses in the Chinese market (with a heavy emphasis on payment platforms), standardisation (including a structured roundtable dialogue), and international engagement with blockchain companies from other markets.