UST Delivers API Prototypes for Retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Experimentation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
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 in 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.