The RBS innovation engineering team has built an ethereum-based platform as a prototype for a national payments system. The project is called Emerald, and it is set up as a Deferred Net Settlement (DNS) system in order to explore the limitations of the technology. RBS said that it had modified the underlying Ethereum platform in order to optimise it for speed and privacy. The bank contracted consultancy firm GFT Technology to test the payments system on Google’s cloud platform. According to RBS: “The test results evidenced a throughput of 100 payments per second, with six simulated banks, and a single trip mean time of three seconds and maximum time of eight seconds. This is the level appropriate for a national level domestic payments system.” RBS says the project will be developed as an open source initiative.
Fujitsu sets up IoT test environment
The Japanese technology company has created a test environment for firms that want to test internet of things (IoT) devices. The test environment is located in Fujitsu’s Digital Transformation Center in Tokyo. Firms will be able to run connectivity tests on their applications using the IoT environment with support from in-house engineers. The test environment will be open to firms who used Fuitsu’s Cloud Service IoT Platform or Ubiqituouswear data conversion solution to develop their IoT systems, and it will be hosted on the cloud.
Bank of America teams with Microsoft to develop Blockchain as a Service
Microsoft and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) announced a partnership to develop distributed ledger technology on the cloud. They will make use of Misrosoft’s Azure cloud platform to execute a blockchain transaction between the two firms. Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Microsoft, said: ”By working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on cloud-based blockchain technology, we aim to increase efficiency and reduce risk in our own treasury operations.
Cloud platform provider implements API test automation for DevOps
Restlet, a provider of tools to design, develop, and test APIs as a service, released a new version of Restlet DHC, an API testing tool. It is intended facilitate DevOps through automated testing. The new version allows testers multiple tests to be saved and connected together and it has improved integrations with Jenkins and Maven. Jerome Louvel, founder of Restlet, said: “Our new version of Restlet DHC meets the needs of DevOps team that want to thoroughly test their APIs throughout the development, test, and deploy cycle. Restlet is bridging the gap between API and DevOps communities, helping to drive API standards and working with popular DevOps technologies like Maven and Jenkins.”
Galitt introduces automated testing for VISA payments
Galitt, a provider of testing tools for card payments, has said that VISA has confirmed the latest versions of its KaNest-ICC VIS and KaNest-ICC VCPS test suites, for contact and contactless respectively. The upgraded tools allow users to automatically generate standardised tests for faster testing. They also provide users with additional data about exchanges between the card and the terminal. The tool runs the test is run in one step, freeing the tester from having to remove and reinsert cards. Once the test is executed it generates a test report in .csv or .xml format.
Marlin Equity Partners buys QualiTest
London-based global investment firm Marlin Equity Partners has acquired QualiTest, an Israeli software testing company. The investment fund has bought the company from Kedma Capital, Goldrock Capital, and Eli Margolin. Eli Margolin, CEO of Qualitest, is expected to keep his position after the acquisition. The company has offices in the US, the UK, and India, as well as Israel. QualiTest’s co-founder and CEO, Ayal Zylberman, said: ““We are excited to have found a strong partner in Marlin to help support us in accelerating our organic growth, executing our ambitious acquisition strategy and delivering outstanding value to our customers.”
