BlackBerry Set to Launch Blockchain Medical Data Platform with Swiss Startup ONEBIO
Global technology giant and former smartphone behemoth, BlackBerry announces the launch of a blockchain medical data platform in partnership with Swiss-based startup ONEBIO.
BlackBerry, a company that once controlled 50 percent of the global smartphone marketplace, is now turning its attention to security with the launch of its new Enterprise of Things (EoT) platform BlackBerry Spark.
According to a release, together with technology developed by ONEBIO, the new blockchain medical data platform aims to create an “ultra-secure” ecosystem for patients, labs and healthcare providers.
Utilising the BlackBerry network operation center (NOC) to power ONEBIO‘s peer-to-peer marketplace for biodata, it aims to create a secure global system for storing and sharing patient medical data that can be entered by patients, laboratories, and Internet of Things (IoT) biometric devices.
The BlackBerry press release states that the new blockchain medical data platform will ensure that patient data is tamper-proof, thus allowing it to be shared with researches anonymously, in the hope that it will streamline medical research and improve patient outcomes.
The Global Commission, which works to end the diagnostic chaos for children with rare diseases, and Shire, a leading global biotech company, have been invited by BlackBerry to be the first to use its blockchain ledger solution to provide real-time, actionable analysis with the aim of increasing the speed to diagnosis.
Furthering it’s pivot into the healthcare technology service area, the the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), which pioneers the prevention and cure of melanoma, has selected BlackBerry to enable researchers, scientists and doctors at different hospitals to securely share critical research data and patient records.
Having already completed successful trials of the BlackBerry blockchain medical data platform, Ernie White, Chief Information Officer of MIA stated that it is:
“accelerating how our researchers can freely collaborate in a very regulated environment, while maintaining data integrity. BlackBerry Workspaces strikes that balance between security and ease-of-use”
According to the CEO and current chairman of BlackBerry, John Chen, the company aims to introduce its ‘hyper-secure’ technology to a variety of regulated industries such as automotive, financial services, and government. Chen stated:
“At BlackBerry, we are applying our expertise in security, data privacy, and communication work” to “improve patient outcomes while ensuring security and data privacy.”
As users become more informed about privacy and personal data, the blockchain ‘identity’ use case is taking shape, with blockchain platforms offering ‘users’ more control in a variety of ways, from Guardtime‘s UK NHS blockchain platform, offering 30 million British patients instant access to their primary care information using a smartphone, to the internet blockchain browser Brave looking to disrupt Google.
A few Smartphone manufacturers are also looking at developing devices that are optimised for blockchain technology. As per a previous BCTech Report, HTC announced the release of a blockchain phone this year, and Nokia have recently partnered with blockchain startups in an effort to begin utilising the nascent technology.
