Deloitte launches blockchain lab in New York

30 Rockefeller Center is the location of Deloitte’s Global Head Office.

UK-incorporated multinational professional services firm Deloitte announced in a press release it sent to CoinReport that it has opened a client-focused distributed ledger or blockchain lab in New York’s Wall Street district.

New York-headquartered Deloitte provides consulting, audit, advisory and tax services to 90 percent of the largest financial institutions, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500.

Joe Guastella, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP and global financial services consulting leader, said on the occasion, “Innovation is a top priority for Deloitte – we continue to strategically invest in our capabilities to help clients adapt to a world where success or survival depends heavily on innovation.”

“Our ecosystem for education, ideation, strategy, application prototyping and development is there to support Deloitte’s clients and practitioners across industries in harnessing the opportunities and capabilities that blockchain technology has to offer.”

The private company limited said in the release the lab in New York expands on the company’s expansive digital transformation and innovation efforts, named “Grid by Deloitte,” which forms a network of labs around the globe, among other enterprises.

The NY lab at 140 Broadway is the second formal hub in the global network of Deloitte. The first one was opened in Dublin, Ireland, in May of last year. Although, said the firm, several distributed ledger centers have progressively developed within the network of Deloitte, and the company anticipates additional formal labs in 2017.

The American-based blockchain lab has recruited a dedicated team of more than 20 distributed ledger designers and developers. The team is tasked with concentrating on developing strategic blockchain capabilities and proofs of concept into working prototypes to come up with “ready-to-integrate” solutions for financial services clients, said Deloitte in the press release we received.

The lab, said the release, will work together with expert teams from other countries and with Deloitte’s network of over a dozen preferred technology firms.

Eric Piscini, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, who leads the consultancy’s digital transformation and innovation efforts in the financial services industry, stated, “With the technology not yet having reached widespread adoption, 2017 could be the make-or-break year for blockchain technology.”

“Financial institutions have the power and ability to move blockchain to the next level. To get there, companies will need to move away from churning out proofs of concept and begin producing and implementing solutions. That’s a big part of the goal with Deloitte’s blockchain lab.”

Deloitte said in the release that 12 percent of the blockchain-knowledgeable executives it sought opinions from in a recent survey said their firms had some form of distributed ledger in production. Also, noted the survey, 24 percent of the executives said their firms planned to go live with blockchain efforts in 2017.

The NY lab will primarily be concentrated on working with financial institutions. However, Deloitte says the lab will also be working with other industries, as distributed ledger has the capability to create opportunities across all sectors of the economy.

Deloitte’s blockchain team comprises over 800 professionals across 20 countries. The team works with global corporations looking to extend distributed ledger-enabled solutions. So far, the firm has developed more than 30 blockchain-related prototypes, encompassing a large number of uses such as loyalty and rewards solutions, digital banking, trade finance, digital identity and cross-border payments in addition to distinguishable efforts for the investment management and insurance sectors.

Image credit – David Shankbone  (CC BY-SA 3.0)