RSK’s IOV Labs Launches New Blockchain-as-a-Service Platform

IOV Labs, which oversees Bitcoin smart contract platform RSK and its Infrastructure Framework (RIF), has partnered with blockchain firm Grupo Sabra on a joint venture called Extrimian. The company will offer RSK Enterprise Cloud, a blockchain platform for enterprises and governments. The launch continues a recent flurry of activity by IOV Labs, whose new blockchain platform will rival existing enterprise solutions like Hyperledger.

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Blockchain-as-a-Service for Big Business

RSK Enterprise Cloud was designed to simplify the process of setting up blockchains and smart contracts. Aimed at facilitating the mainstream adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency, RSK Enterprise Cloud is a blockchain-as-a-service ecosystem that enables the setup of highly technological blockchain stacks within minutes, according to the press release.

Grupo Sabra co-founder and CEO of Extrimian, Guillermo Villanueva, said that initial tests revealed the existing blockchain infrastructure to be found lacking. He added:

“RSK Enterprise Cloud is a platform created by developers for developers that comes as a result of more than six years implementing blockchain projects within our enterprise and government customers. We faced all the complexity of working directly with the base blockchain protocols and realized that Extrimian was the missing piece to enable mainstream adoption,” said Villanueva. 

The new product will allow for greater flexibility in setting up blockchain networks, and will enable businesses, government agencies, and big enterprises to easily integrate their existing IT frameworks onto distributed ledger technology. Notably, RSK Enterprise Cloud allows for the creation of “consortium networks,” which allows users to set up their own network within a network.

Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar, CEO and co-founder IOV Labs, said, “Extrimian gives businesses exposure to the benefits of blockchain technology without the complexity. It enables them to go to market quickly with a native application while tapping into the many benefits that DLT has to offer.”

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From Argentina to California

The latest product offering by IOV Labs and Grupo Sabra continues a trend that has seen the firm become a mainstay of the burgeoning enterprise blockchain sector. Earlier in 2020, IOV Labs partnered up with Argentine regulators to create a blockchain solution aimed at tracking the distribution of natural gas in the country. 

Initially working with Argentina’s largest natural gas distributor, Gasnor, IOV Labs and Grupo Sabra were eventually tasked with creating a blockchain framework for all nine of Argentina’s major natural gas distributors. Known as Gasnet, the venture is already under way, and Gasnor and the Argentine regulator are both running nodes on the network.

More recently, in August IOV Labs combined with the California Energy Commission to create a blockchain-based ride-sharing program focusing on green energy. EVShare received $9M of its $20M funding from the Californian government, and will initially operate in some of the state’s most economically disadvantaged areas. The venture includes the creation of solar-powered ride-sharing vans, aimed at reducing the state’s carbon footprint. IOV Labs will provide the blockchain infrastructure to facilitate the creation of digital tokens that will be used to reward citizens who reduce their environmental output.