Samsung SDS, the internet technology solutions unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group, launched a new blockchain technology-based digital platform for enterprises Thursday. With the release, the company said it aims to become a forerunner in bringing the next-generation ledger technology to the wider market.

Named Nexledger, the blockchain-based cloud computing platform for enterprises aims to appeal to corporations looking for a cost-efficient method of managing digital financial transactions and data exchange.

Alongside Nexledger, the IT solutions firm also unveiled a digital identification service and a digital payment service running on blockchain technology.

Widely known as the core technology underpinning the bitcoin digital currency, blockchain refers to a ledger that maintains a continuously expanding list of data records or transactions from different parties.

The digital records are lumped into “blocks,” then cryptographically lumped into a “chain” using complex algorithms -- hence the name blockchain. The self-operational ledger cannot be altered once updated, only added to, and is shared with everyone in the network in real-time, making it transparent and secure.

The technology is often touted as the future of financial transactions, as a highly secure, transparent and efficient way of tracking the movement of assets between different entities on a large scale.

The Nexledger platform has been designed for adoption by not only the finance sector including banks but also other industries, Samsung SDS said. Client corporations can build their own services into the blockchain platform to meet varying needs, it said.

“In developing our blockchain platform, we thought hard about how to merge our strengths and know-how from our system integration service expertise with the advantages of blockchain technology,” said Song Kwang-woo, vice president of finance consulting and distributed ledger technology at Samsung SDS, in a press conference.

“We believe blockchain technology will have the greatest impact among businesses that involve a large number of data exchanges,” Song said.

The Samsung company, together with blockchain firm Blocko, have already been working to apply its Nexledger platform to local credit card company Samsung Card since October 2016.

They have already built a membership authentication service based on its blockchain digital identity technology and plan to launch a blockchain digital point swap system for Samsung Card members in the future.

Samsung SDS expects that the new distributed ledger technology will require some time before it is adopted by more corporations in and out of the finance sector, though its presence will grow bigger in the years ahead.

Samsung SDS’ foray into blockchain technology development began in 2015, when it formed a new body dedicated to the futuristic finance technology. It invested in local blockchain venture Blocko last year and has obtained seven patents on its self-developed blockchain technologies. 

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)