05 Jul Dutch government to open new campus for blockchain development
‘Fintech ambassador’ and former minister of social affairs and employment Willem Vermeend announced at a media briefing held by Holland Fintech and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) that the Dutch government will open a new campus for financial institutions to collaborate on the development of the blockchain technology and its use for financial services in the Netherlands.
Vermeend believes that “there is a lot of creativity in the Netherlands. The problem is that I have spoken to twenty parties who do not know what each other is doing.” The campus should alleviate this problem by creating a collaborative environment for stakeholders who intend to use the blockchain, which the Dutch Ministry of Finance believes will play a vital role in the financial industry in the future.
Vermeend also believes that it is unlikely that all blockchain campus participants will use the blockchain technology in the same way in the end. Instead, each participant will most likely develop private ledgers for its own use while being able to exchange knowledge and expertise surrounding this innovative technology.
The new blockchain campus, however, is not the first venture into blockchain technology for the Dutch central bank. The DNB stated in its recently published 2015 annual report that it has been experimenting with its own internal digital currency, the DNBCoin, and that it will aim to use blockchain technology to improve its business in the future. Furthermore, the Dutch central bank believes the use of blockchain technology will drastically reduce transaction costs in the financial services industry.
The blockchain campus set to open in September of this year. A location, however, has not yet been revealed.
