Microsoft, Blockstack Labs and ConsenSys partner to develop identity platform via blockchain

The partnership was reinforced at the ID2020 Summit in New York in May 2016.

Microsoft intents to launch an open source framework on Azure, where developers can build their own identity applications. Connectivity with the Ethereum blockchain will take place via ConsenSys uPort solution, and Blockstack’s OneName product will be used to integrate the platform with the Bitcoin blockchain.

An early stage framework will be published on its Azure cloud computing platform by the end of August 2016, according to coindesk.com. The platform has seen a number of blockchain integrations since it began offering services focused on the technology in 2016.

The project comes amid growing interest among global organizations in the use of blockchain technology to address long-standing issues related to identity in developing nations. According to the World Bank, as many as 1.5 billion people worldwide lack legal identity, making it much more difficult for them to obtain a bank account and access other services including education and social welfare programs, coindesk.com continues.

Groups like the Commonwealth Secretariat, the executive arm of the Commonwealth of Nations, have also been eyeing the issue, particularly on the applicability of blockchain. The Commonwealth is currently developing its own blockchain messaging service with identity protections.