Amazon (AWS), architect of the adoption of blockchain in France

With cloud services like QLDB, but also private blockchain Hyperledger and public Ethereum in 2020, AWS wants to facilitate the enterprise applications of the blockchain. The brakes are however not technological for Stephan Hadinger, AWS France CTO.

As part of their experiments in the field of blockchain, many companies are choosing to use cloud platforms like those of todayAWS or Microsoft Azure.

These approaches make it possible to limit costs and overcome the technical complexity inherent in blockchain projects. With its technological bricks, AWS aims to build a real blockchain-as-a-service offer simplifying the pilots and therefore the adoption.

A ledger service or a complete Hyperledger blockchain

And the objective for the world giant is therefore to support "the growing interest in the blockchain (s)" declares to Cryptonaute.fr AWS France Chief Technology Officer Stephan Hadinger.

We do not provide cryptocurrency as such. However, we offer all the bricks that allow you to do all kinds of applications, including blockchain, ”he said.

Historically, users of AWS services have started by reserving computing power and installing their own blockchain technologies. However, not all companies likely to exploit the blockchain have the necessary skills. But in addition, their needs sometimes also relate to certain components of the blockchain only.

By surveying its customers, Amazon was able to note that "what interested them, it is especially the ledger part (…) mainly thus on traceability topics. The concepts of consensus and shared systems were more secondary for these customers, ”says the CTO.

To meet these uses, AWS launched a first service, QLDB (Quantum Ledger Database). Technically, this managed service consists of a registry database. It provides a transparent, immutable and verifiable transaction log.

QLDB therefore provides the possibility of "using part of the blockchain technology to have a single write database", while providing proof that the data has not been modified.

Ethereum public blockchain in 2020

For the development of more advanced blockchain applications, AWS this time offers access to a "complete" blockchain. Customers then access open source technology Hyperledger Fabric, one of the most used private blockchains in company.

In 2020, on an as yet undefined date, Amazon will also offer public blockchain Ethereum. Microsoft is also very involved in the Ethereum ecosystem. But whether it is Ethereum or Hyperledger, the objective of a managed service remains the same:

In a few minutes, you have a functional blockchain network. The idea is to remove technological barriers. A client wishing to makeHyperledger Fabric doesn’t need to learn how to configure it. It can start directly on its use cases, "says Stephan Hadinger.

If technological bricks are available today, these uses of blockchain in business remain however still largely at the stage of exploration, recognizes the expert. According to him, this level of maturity justifies the existence of "ready-to-use bricks". They thus contribute to reduce the cost of the blockchain entry ticket.

About the private blockchain debate, public blockchain, AWS sticks to a position of technological neutrality. "We leave the choice" comments the technology manager. "The demand for a private blockchain network is strong, however, that is to say that the exchanges concern only the players in the network," he continues.

When you are a logistics player, you don't necessarily want all your data to be open to everyone. This is also what makes it difficult in terms of blockchain. How to properly adjust the cursor between what is shareable, to whom, and what is confidential. And also to be able to change this cursor permanently, ”concludes Stephan Hadinger.