Seminar participants included leading researchers in the field and experts from universities, research institutes, government agencies and firms throughout Finland.

The aim of the event was to provide a setting for discussion on the possibilities offered by blockchain and distributed ledger technologies and to bring together the most important domestic actors to reflect on a common view and strategy for making use of new generation technological innovations in both private and public sectors.

At the event, a total of ten projects were presented, all geared to developing applications harnessing blockchain technology for the needs of industry, the financial sector and public administration. The speakers represented a wide spectrum of different organisations, including VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Etla), Aalto University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Nets, Microsoft and Fortum. The panel discussion sought to outline guiding principles for combining strengths in this area at national level.

In his introductory remark Governor Erkki Liikanen pointed out the Bank of Finland’s key role of overseer and catalyst of the payment and financial systems.

‘Our task is to ensure the reliability and efficiency of the payment system and the overall financial system and to participate in their development. Research into, and support of, new innovations shaping the financial sector constitute part of this work,’ Governor Liikanen specified.