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Hedera has announced the latest member of its governing council – the tech giant Hitachi. Hedera’s President Charles Adkins told Cryptonews why having household names join the ranks is relevant.

Hedera Lending Credibility with Hitachi America

The Hedera Council’s

newest member is Hitachi America, Ltd. According to the press release, it plans to start creating proofs-of-concept for end-to-end supply chain and sustainability solutions on Hedera in the next year.

Charles Adkins told Cryptonews that having these major names join the council specifically, and the industry in general, is key.

This is a nascent technology, he said. At this stage, it’s important to have key partners who can demonstrate their trust in the technology.

He added:

“These well-known names lend credibility and recognizable branding to people all over the world who are still on the fence about utilizing this technology in other ways for themselves.”

Also, Bill Miller, co-chair of the membership committee for the Hedera Council, commented that distributed ledger technology (DLT) is “blossoming into real-world applications at massive scale.”

This process, he argues, requires support from household industry names such as Hitachi.

“Web3 infrastructure is increasingly attractive to large enterprises, who have never before been able to demonstrate the transparency and accountability of supply chain and other systems that are so urgently needed in today’s times,” Miller said.

Already Developing Blockchain Technology Solutions

Adkins told Cryptonews that the governing council looks to engage in meaningful discussions with organizations that have a deep interest and commitment to implementing decentralized technology.

Being a part of the council “allows them to have a voice in the room to discuss with other wonderful companies how to navigate the future.”

The announcement noted that Hitachi brings new capabilities to the Council, strengthening the network through its technical and research capabilities. Furthermore, it brings expertise and innovation in machine learning and generative AI technologies. This has increased the varied expertise that forms the Council’s knowledge base.

Per the press release,

“Hitachi and its affiliates have already employed their technological expertise to develop valuable blockchain technology solutions in payment systems, supply chains, predictive maintenance, and mining.”

Hitachi America is headquartered in California and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. It brings to the table industrial solutions expertise, said the press release. The company offers a range of electronics, power and industrial equipment and services, energy, industrial, health care, IT, OT, mobility, and IoT with operations throughout the Americas.

Ravigopal Vennelakanti, Vice President and head of Hitachi’s Big Data Analytics Solutions Lab, commented that Hitachi sees real-world potential in DLT solutions built on Hedera.

“Hedera addresses emerging needs in supply chain resiliency, clean energy, IT/OT and the semiconductor industries, for example,” Vennelakanti said. “Its unique DLT provides the single truth and tokenization mechanisms for distributed workflows that are needed to address these challenges.”

Equal Vote in Adding Members

Hedera is an open-source, proof-of-stake network governed by the Hedera Council. The latter is a consortium of diverse, global organizations and enterprises committed to network innovation and Hedera’s continued decentralization.

Council members are chosen by having discussions and finding alignment before bringing them forward for a council vote, Adkins said.

Its forty members include Boeing, Chainlink, DBS Bank, Dell, Deutsche Telekom, IBM, LG Electronics, The London School of Economics, University College London, Nomura Holdings, Shinhan Bank, Standard Bank Group, Ubisoft, and more.

The members share an equal vote in the direction of Hedera’s software and services. They also run the initial network nodes.

As for Hedera’s plans for 2024, the President said it intends to “keep improving engagement with the community and improving in all other areas of governance and network performance.”

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