WISeKey (SIX: WIHN) and the Argentina Investment & Trade Promotion Agency Sign Cooperation Agreement to Establish a Blockchain Center of Excellence in Argentina to Position the Country as a Major H…

Zug, Switzerland, Buenos Aires, Argentina; April 5, 2017 – WISeKey International Holding (SIX: WIHN), a leading Swiss cybersecurity and IoT company, today announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with Argentina’s National Investment & Trade Promotion Agency (the ‘Agency’) to establish a Blockchain Center of Excellence in Buenos Aires and position the country as a major hub of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 
WISeKey’s global presence in Argentina has already started with the localization of its Cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) in the territory, which enables the provision of digital identities to persons and secure devices connected to a Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The WISeKey RoT Argentina localization brings innovative security solutions that, together with the OISTE unique trust model, provide complete end-to-end cybersecurity solutions to protect the interactions of persons, applications and connected devices.
The localization of WISeKey RoT Argentina is the first milestone to a more ambitious plan to establish a Blockchain / 4^th Industrial Revolution Center of Excellence in Buenos Aires, which is expected to become operational in Q3 2017.  The Center of Excellence will offer a Blockchain Platform to Argentina and foreign enterprises, facilitating the rapid adaptation of on-board Blockchain based solutions and services.

During the last few months, WISeKey has announced the establishment of Blockchain Center of Excellences in USA, China, India and Africa and now is moving to Argentina as the first LATAM country to host this technology. To support this endeavor WISeKey announced several strategic partnerships with global enterprises including SAP, MasterCard, Microsoft and CenturyLink and is working with experts in industry, government, and academia to address the most relevant Blockchain developments with practical, standards-based solutions using available Blockchain technologies.

WISeKey is also member of the International Blockchain Research Institute founded by Don Tapscott, co-author of the bestselling book, Blockchain Revolution –  https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/don-tapscott-announces-international-blockchain-research-institute/.

The International Blockchain Research Institute announced its new initiative at the second annual DC Blockchain Summit hosted by the Chamber of Digital Commerce, which was held on March 15 & 16, 2017.

Founding members include Accenture, IBM, SAP, Digital Asset, NASDAQ, PepsiCo, Centrica, Liberty Global, the Government of Ontario, University Health Network and blockchain pioneers Nuco, Paycase, Artlery, Votem, Cosmos, YouBase and WISeKey. This initial list is expected to grow and include members of governments, companies and organizations from around the world.

WISeKey launched this year at Davos high profile Blockchain initiatives allowing countries to develop Switzerland as a hub for smart cities and trusted blockchain https://davos.wisekey.com/2017/.  WISeKey is currently implementing Blockchain county wide projects in several parts of the world:

1. China: https://www.wisekey.com/press/wisekey-to-establish-a-join-swiss-china-blockchain-center-of-excellence-to-deploy-a-trusted-blockchain-platform-in-china/
2. Mauritius: http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155917
3. Rwanda: https://smartcitiesworld.net/news/news/wisekey-to-launch-blockchainiot-centre-of-excellence-in-rwanda-1437
4. India: http://www.enterpriseinnovation.net/article/wisekey-bajaj-electricals-team-iot-platform-1936230587
5. New York: http://www.iotm2mcouncil.org/wisekeyusny
6. Geneva Switzerland: https://davos.wisekey.com/2017/

In process:

7. Gibraltar/La Linea
8. Buenos Aires Argentina

In that regard, the Buenos Aires Blockchain Center of Excellence will conduct research, rapid pilot prototyping, co-creation of use cases and IP creation on Blockchain technology and platforms.

This agreement marks the beginning of a strategic partnership in which the Agency will support WISeKey throughout the process to establish the Blockchain Center of Excellence and secure the investment in Argentina.

“Due to its highly qualified human capital, with outstanding technical skills, Argentina offers strong fundamentals to become a major hub of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are very excited to cooperate with WISeKey for this new project which is expected to have a significant contribution in the creation of quality jobs in the country and is an indication of the great economic and social potential that data centers related projects have in Argentina,” stated Andrés Tahta, Executive Vice President of the Argentina National Investment and Trade Promotion Agency.

Carlos Moreira, WISeKey’s Founder and CEO, noted, “The urgent need to secure IoT in Argentina and globally, became more imminent following the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack few months ago in the USA, which was the largest of its kind in history. This massive assault on the US and European internet structure, affected millions of internet addresses and temporarily crippled the servers of popular services such as Twitter, Netflix, and PayPal.  Additionally, what made this attack more dangerous was the primary source of the malicious traffic attack, was a malware called Mirai botnet, a simple malware program readily available online. While experts agree that IoT remains unsecure, this attack should serve as a wake-up call to quickly improve security.

“Thus far, a lot has been done to improve corporations’ ability to improve response once attacked, but there has been no real strategy to find a solution to prevent such attacks in the first place.  WISeKey’s technology provides just that. a much-needed solution to secure IoT and user identities and minimize risks.”
As part of WISeKey’s commitment to position Argentina as a major hub on Blockchain, AI, IoT and one of the leader the  Fourth Industrial Revolution, WISeKey is in the process of cooperating with participating companies on building points of view, proof of concepts, policies, educational materials including addressing all the distributed ledger capabilitie
s across different Blockchain schemes (public, consortium and private), with industry verticalization and domain specialization (IoT, transactions, messaging, etc.), underpinned by the best underlying technologies from startups, our key partners and from the community. For more information visit https://www.wisekey.com/iot/.
WISeKey will be localizing in Argentina an IoT Blockchain which is constantly growing as new blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. Each WISeKey node gets a copy of the WISeKey Blockchain and gets downloaded automatically upon joining the WISeKey network. Through the WISeKey Blockchain app users are always in control of their digital identity stored on their mobile, IoT sensor and or computer and it is only the user who determines which identification attributes are shared with social media, credit cards, merchant sites etc., never disclosing the Personal Identifiable Information (PII) if not required or necessary. WISeKey uses Blockchain as a public, immutable ledger that allows third parties to validate that the original Identity or Attribute certifications provided by a Third Trusted Party has not been changed or misrepresented. Keeping control of Digital Identity is key to protecting user’s personal data. WISeKey technology is also provided as a software development kit (SDK) to third parties wanting to use this method of identification for their identities requirements.
At the heart of this platform is the OISTE-WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust which has been actively used since 1999 by over 2.6 billion desktops, browsers, mobile devices, SSL certificates and Internet of Things’ devices. The OISTE WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust is ubiquitous and universal, and a pioneer in the creation of Digital Identities.

WISeKey Argentina is part of WISeKey’s global expansion strategy having as a goal the development of joint ventures with strategic partners on a national level.  This strategy has permitted WISeKey to deploy its information technology security and the IoT in emerging economies in India, Brazil, China and now Argentina. These joint venture companies are developed in these countries with strategic partners have paved the way for WISeKey to enter these markets and eventually gain market share by providing trusted and secure services to government and corporations that are in need for cybersecurity solutions such as, digital identity and privacy, secure mobile communication, secure cloud computing, the Internet of Things, secure semi-conductors, Blockchain and other high-demand innovative technologies offered by WISeKey.

The WISeKey alliance with its new partners creates a synergy between leading companies whose values and product portfolio provide state-of-the-art technology and cybersecurity services. This initiative also contemplates that WISeKey offers in the future its services and solutions from a highly secure data center located in the region.

About WISeKey

WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems with a patented process. WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of on-line transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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About the Argentina Investment & Trade Promotion Agency

The Argentina Investment and Trade Promotion Agency contributes to the social and economic development of the country by:

• Attracting and facilitating high-quality investment in strategic sectors.
• Helping Argentine companies expand their businesses in international markets.
• Promoting an improved business climate and regulatory environment.
• Generating detailed market information and insights that add value to investors and Argentine companies.

Our mission is to contribute to the creation of quality jobs in Argentina by promoting investment and international trade. We aim to be the strategic partner and single point of contact for companies, facilitating streamlined and transparent processes.

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Disclaimer:

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.