India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Canada’s Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) to collaborate on Blockchain education and training in India, tech news outlet CIO reported yesterday, Feb. 22.

BRI tweeted a photo of their co-founder, Don Tapscott, signing the MoU alongside Sanjay Tugnait, CEO of consulting firm Capgemini Canada, and Sangeeta Gupta, VP for NASSCOM:

BRI co-founder and Executive Chairman @dtapscott signed an MoU with @nasscom to help foster #blockchain innovation in India. pic.twitter.com/Mqc6tT1NFZ

— Blockchain R.I. (@blockchainRI) February 21, 2018

NASSCOM and BRI together will establish the Centre of Excellence in India, designed to foster the adoption of Blockchain technologies in education, government, and startups, according to Indian information platform Inc42.

Raman Roy, Chairman of NASSCOM, said that the new alliance aimed at fostering India’s Blockchain environment will “help enhance our vision for a digital economy:”

“We believe Blockchain is a transformative technology for businesses. It is imperative that we identify and explain key application opportunities, issues, strategies and approaches that enable companies and governments to capitalize on this emerging technology.”

In relationship to the partnership, Don Tapscott said, “We need to create an awakening in India, showcase the power of Blockchain,” CIO reported.

A misinterpretation of the Indian Finance Minister’s warnings of a crackdown on cryptocurrencies that finance illegal activities as instead a ban of crypto in the country caused the crypto markets to slump in early February.

In a second misinterpretation of crypto news from India, India’s December 2017 tax policy for cryptocurrency was wrongly reported in the media as a new, strict policy earlier this month, causing the crypto markets to dip again amongst the confusion.

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Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies can be threatened in some ways. Quantum computing is perhaps of the biggest concerns as of right now. The Cardano Foundation and think-tank Z/YN recently released their findings on this potential threat to public key cryptography.

Cardano Wants to Become Quantum Computing-Resistant

Quantum computing is the next logical evolution in the world of technology. It allows for must faster calculations and unparalleled processing power. At the same time, this technology also poses concerns for public key cryptography. Most cryptocurrencies and blockchains rely on this type cryptography. As such, addressing potential future problems at an early stage is incredibly important.

Cardano is one of the cryptocurrencies focused on building quantum-resistant solutions. More specifically, the currency’s developers will support additional signature schemes in the future. Ensuring their cryptography and blockchain is quantum computing-resistant is a top priority as of right now.  This particular cryptocurrency project prioritizes security and interoperability over anything else.

One of the main reasons Cardano is so appealing is because of its intriguing design. At its core, the currency offers special extensions which allow for adding more signature schemes through a soft fork. With this focus on quantum computing, any major security layer can be added without network disruption. Thus, the only question is if and when quantum computing may become a problem for Cardano.

Conducting Research for Industry Standards

According to the recent study by the Cardano Foundation and think-tank Z/YEN, that is only a matter of time. The study concludes how large-scale quantum computing will effectively break the security of public key cryptography. This will have all kinds of different consequences for solutions built on top of this technology. It extends well beyond cryptocurrencies and blockchain as well. Most online communication services in the world rely on public key cryptography as of right now.

It is evident the Cardano Foundation wants to proactively deal with this threat whenever possible. There are some available solutions to nullify this issue, yet an industry-wide response standard will need to be established first and foremost. Cardano Foundation Chairman Michael Parsons added:

“As part of our extensive blockchain research programme with Z/Yen, we are exploring a range of issues from the technological, to regulation and governance and industry applications. The topics explored are forward-looking by their very nature, and the possible impact of quantum computing on the blockchain is a case in point.”

A future without cryptography is unthinkable as of right now. This technology forms the foundation of virtually everything we do online. With a growing interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain, public key cryptography will only become more commonly used as well. The Cardano Foundation wants to lead the charge in addressing future issues associated with quantum computing.

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