Collaboration accelerates the exploration of API solutions for retail CBDC systems

LONDON and MELBOURNE, Australia, June 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — UST, a leading digital transformation solutions company, has announced its role as an Innovation vendor for Project Rosalind, an experiment in application programming interface (API) prototypes for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of England (BOE) via the BIS Innovation Hub London Centre. Uniting leading innovators from their respective industries, Project Rosalind developed and tested prototypes for an application programming interface (API) specifically built to distribute retail CBDCs.

CBDCs have the potential to positively disrupt and drive innovation across several sectors. UST collaborated with the BIS and BoE on the development of the API layer as well as the exploration of a range of use cases for the CBDC ecosystem. A prototype API layer was developed for the project, featuring thirty-three API endpoints grouped into six functional categories. More than thirty use cases identified and explored by public and private sector collaborators served as testing and validation for the architecture and features of the APIs. The success of Project Rosalind proved that API layers can be used by central banks to safely distribute CBDC to consumers via private sector service providers while simultaneously enhancing privacy, accountability, and convertibility.

UST played a pivotal role organizing the API development work, running innovation sessions as well as building a secure and functional API layer. UST also partnered with Quant, the blockchain for finance pioneer, to provide the underlying infrastructure and blockchain platform.

In a press release by BIS, Francesca Hopwood Road, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub London Centre, said, “The Rosalind experiment has advanced central bank innovation in two key areas: by exploring how an API layer could support a retail CBDC system and how it could facilitate safe and secure CBDC payments through a range of different use cases.”

“Digital Currency has the potential to transform financial enterprises and revolutionize the end-user experience. The success of Project Rosalind with UST showcases how public-private collaboration and innovation can significantly accelerate time to market for solutions and result in tangible benefits for everyone. I’m proud of the work that we have done on this project and how it exemplifies our focus on transforming lives,” said Krishna Sudheendra, Chief Executive Officer, UST.

“At UST, innovation is at the center of all our transformation projects, and we put those principles into practice through this partnership. By leveraging our engineering experience and approaching the collaboration with an agile and aligned mindset, we were able to combine the strengths of each company to deliver an outstanding product,” said Tanveer Mohammed, Head of Innovation for UK, UST.

The prestigious London Innovation Hub Centre was established by BIS in 2021 and is one of six international nodes working to develop public goods in the technology space to support central banks and improve the functioning of the financial system.

UST’s work on Project Rosalind is just one of its many high-profile collaborations as part of its commitment to driving digital transformation. Over the past two decades UST has established itself as a key business transformation partner across a range of dynamic industries. For more information on UST and its work driving digital innovation, please visit the UST website.

Project Rosalind demonstrated that a well-designed application programming interface (API) layer can enable a central bank ledger to interact with private sector service providers to safely provide retail CBDC payments. The project has also demonstrated the potential of a CBDC system to enable a robust ecosystem to foster innovation, and to help meet the future needs of a more digitalised society. The key learnings and outcomes from the successful collaboration have been released and can be found here.

About the BIS Innovation Hub London Centre

The BIS Innovation Hub has a threefold mandate:

  • We identify, in a structured and systematic way, critical trends in technology affecting central banking in different locations, and develop in-depth insights into these technologies that can be shared with the central banking community.
  • We develop public goods in the technology space geared towards improving the functioning of the global financial system.
  • We serve as the focal point for a network of central bank experts on innovation, with regular events to promote exchange of views and knowledge-sharing. These efforts complement the well established cooperation within the BIS-hosted committees.

The BIS Innovation Hub London Centre was established in 2021. Its current project focus areas are central bank digital currency (CBDC), next generation financial market infrastructures and supervisory technology (suptech).

To learn more, visit bis.org.

About Quant

Quant is the foundation of the blockchain economy. Assets of all kinds, from currencies to carbon credits, are being tokenised on blockchain, making their ownership immutable, their provenance traceable and their use easy to manage. Our patent-pending technology makes this simple, trusted and future-proof. We work with financial institutions and other enterprises to dramatically reduce their time-to-market, create new revenue lines, and mitigate risk by delivering enterprise-grade solutions built with security and compliance front of mind. Founded in 2018, Quant is UK-based with a US presence. We spearheaded the Blockchain ISO Standard TC307 adopted by 57 countries and solved interoperability with the creation of the world’s first interoperable blockchain platform, Overledger.

To find out more, visit quant.network

Media contact, Quant

Andrew Carrier
Chief Marketing Officer
andrew.carrier@quant.network

About UST

For more than 23 years, UST has worked side by side with the world’s best companies to make a real impact through transformation. Powered by technology, inspired by people, and led by our purpose, we partner with our clients from design to operation. Through our nimble approach, we identify their core challenges, and craft disruptive solutions that bring their vision to life. With deep domain expertise and a future-proof philosophy, we embed innovation and agility into our clients’ organizations—delivering measurable value and lasting change across industries, and around the world. Together, with over 30,000 employees in 30+ countries, we build for boundless impact—touching billions of lives in the process. Visit us at www.UST.com

Media Contacts, UST:
Tinu Cherian Abraham
+1 (949) 415-9857

Merrick Laravea
+1 (949) 416-6212

Neha Misri
+91-9284726602
media.relations@ust.com

Media Contacts, U.S.:
S&C PR
+1-646.941.9139
media@scprgroup.com

Makovsky
ust@makovsky.com

Media Contacts, U.K.:
FTI Consulting
UST@fticonsulting.com