Former NATO general secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen appointed adviser

It has been announced that Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former secretary general of NATO, has been appointed strategic adviser at the Baar-based Concordium company.

In addition to being secretary-general of Nato between the years 2009-2014, Rasmussen was also the prime minister of Denmark between 1998 and 2009.

Concordium was founded by Lars Seier Christensen, who also co-founded the Danish online financial institution, Saxo Bank. The idea behind the Concordium project is to create a secure and reliable network to be able to create a global forum for all sorts of transactions, to which individuals, companies or authorities could have access. Anyone wishing to be active on the network would first have to be identified by an ID validation mechanism, with every transaction able to be traced back to wherever it started from. It is through this that the inventors of the network feel much increase in efficiency and reduction in costs could ensue. If all goes according to plan, it is hoped the network will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2020.

Christensen himself said that, bearing in mind the enormous potential of the Concordium network, it was essential to be able to make use of the knowledge of people with invaluable strategic expertise, hence Rasmussen will be playing a central role in the company’s global expansion strategy, for example in areas where blockchain technology is used for secure and confidential communication, and for identification purposes for local and state authorities not least when it comes to e-voting.

The Danish politician is convinced of the great potential of blockchain. “Only now are we beginning to realise what great advantages blockchain technology can have, not least in our democratic processes,” he said.

The article also pointed out how a pilot test using blockchain technology in relation to the possibility of providing citizens in the city of Zug last year with a digital ID went ahead trouble-free.