Key Points

Key Questions to Answer

1. Who is the COE for?
2. What value can a DLT COE provide to potential consumers?
3. What services and deliverables are offered?
4. Who provides and manages COE content?
5. Who provides and manages COE services?
6. Who provides and manages COE solutions:  use case analysis, requirements, design, RAs, UCAs, SBBs, audits, training, resources, subscriptions?
7. What are the different engagement models for the COE?  contracted options, self service
8. Who and how does the COE partner with other teams?
9. What resources does the COE offer?   access?
10. Candidate services
11. use case analysis
12. platform decisions
13. BOA - Blockchain Opportunity Assessment
14. ATS - application transfer study
15. Architecture capability guidance
16. POC support
17. Education series - internal and external DLT providers
18. Sync with existing DLT curriculum
19. Reviews on new DLT solutions, methods, use cases
20. Analysis and design on:  platforms, security, trusts, regulatory compliance models, development methods, deployment models, operation and support models
21. Tools:  which DLT for a use case?  tutorials on key examples,  basic examples for different DLT types reviewed
22. Factory model for DLT SDP life cycle
23. Customer council on DLT strategy updates ( RAs, UCAs, SBBs ) and tactical solutions feedback

References

Key Concepts

ReImagine Financial Services - Value Chain Economy running on a Digital Asset Platform

A Value Chain Economy of organizations and stakeholders operating solutions that are:

1. Understood
2. Valuable
3. Distributed
4. Trusted
5. Governed
6. Efficient
7. Effective
8. Regulated
9. RAS - Reliable, Available, Serviceable

Value Chain Economies ( VCE ) run on Digital Asset Platforms ( DAP )

Who uses, owns, governs, operates, manages each layer and why?

Trust Engineering is Key to Success

1. DLT is a set of technologies - a new tool in the toolkit

2. DLT can be successful ( Allianz Group ) or fail ( ASX )

3. The difference is DLT engineering for Trust to fit the business use case

The World runs on Trust

Automated Digital Trust ( ADS )

How to do DLT right > Blockchain Opportunity Assessment ( BOA )

Accelerate the Solution Delivery Process for DLT with Hyperledger Firefly

Key Questions on how to move forward on DLT

key questions for on dlt

VCRS = sustainable value, costs, risks, success keys

can a dlt coe help add value

1. do these teams have common understanding of dlt, best practices? no
2. does senior mgt fully understand dlt vcrs? no
3. do clients fully understand dlt vcrs for DvP and more? no
4. is the Citi COE working well - good and bad? it fits their needs well

dlt value proposition

1. what does dlt add that is not well addressed by other options? trusts
2. is dlt less expensive than current state? no
3. is dlt more resilient than current state? probably not with this as spof
4. is dlt faster than current state? no
5. community focus
6. dlt for this community > community not company solution
7. can dlt add more value than current state? maybe
8. what improvements do customers want from this? not clear
9. is there a client community and council? not clear
10. what are the results of client surveys on dlt value? not clear
11. have we separated the logical and physical models of dlt clearly? no

organizing for success

1. do we need a strong product manager for ion w authority? yes
2. do we need a marketing program for these solutions? yes
3. what is the new marketing program? refi extends defi, web3, cefi
4. how should we use dlt in new solutions? not defined here
5. can we learn from others - LOPM? successes and failures - yes
6. do we have a clear view of how to architect dlt for value? no
7. do we have a clear view of how to improve this for clients? maybe
8. do we have a clear view of why clients would run a node? no
9. are we doing normal measurements on initiatives - vcrs? maybe
10. are we doing normal measurements on solution design - factur3dt.io? no

your thoughts?

Potential Value Opportunities

DLT COE - Center of Excellence

DLT History

• DLT represents opportunities, challenges, costs, risks, value to the company and our communities
• Effective DLT solutions are more than choosing the "best" DLT for a use case
• DLT capabilities impact: technologies, business, operations, delivery, community, economics
• Business and technical engineering are key to DLT success

What can a DLT COE offer?

• A DLT advisory group focused on Collaboration, Communication, Coordination
• Research relevant DLT technologies, use cases and solutions with other teams
• Provide architecture design reviews for use cases and solutions
• Share DLT knowledge base, resources and education across the company with Learning team
• Engage with financial and technology communities on DLT opportunities & solutions
• Create DLT best practices guides, Reference Architectures, Consumable Architecture Patterns supporting DLT solution delivery

Citi COE concepts

Hi Jim, great to hear from you.  We can chat on a call as well but a few pointers first. What I have seen from my 11 months running the Citi DLT CoE is that there are

two main types of CoEs, you can choose from:

1) research and innovation, the JPM one is focused on research so that it will fall into this bucket. The goal is to be innovative and evaluate new technology and services as they emerge. Things like MPC, ZKPs, AMMs etc, anything new and exotic. 

2) technology governance, this is what we do at Citi. As a heavily regulated federal bank, we must innovate carefully with emerging technologies.  So our CoE is positioned as a firm-wide technical committee without being a control function. We are evaluating DLTs and use cases and making recommendations to the existing Citi technology Risk and Controls policies and standards. This is a simplification, but I hope it helps. Let me know if this is useful, and we can chat if you want.  Biser

Jim >>

Thanks very much for your insights.

I'd love to setup a call with you in the next few weeks at a convenient time for both of us to share ideas.

Potential Challenges

Candidate Solutions

DLT COE Model

DLT COE Executive Summary
Key Questions for DLT COE
DLT COE Overview
DLT challenges 
DLT opportunities 
DLT COE Services
DLT COE community engagement
DLT COE potential impacts
Key Takeaways - Moving Forward

exec summary

DLT 

• DLT represents opportunities, challenges, costs, risks, value to firm and our communities
• firm has been working in the DLT space since 2015 with Hyperledger and other DLT platforms
• DLT work has been driven by different teams, projects
• firm learning team has created a DLT education roadmap to grow internal skill sets

Why DLT COE?

• Effective DLT solutions are more than choosing the “best” DLT for a use case:
• Engineering ( or re-engineering ) for: business, operations, delivery, support, community
• Deliver architecture, technology, education, services that help drive useful solutions
• More formally engage with the financial community and others on DLT opportunities and solutions
• Provide: architecture standards, use cases, best practices, Reference Architectures, Consumable Architecture Patterns, support for innovation research, POCs, testing, design, delivery, operation
• “Consistency through Collaboration, Communication, Concrete usage versus Coercion” focus

Moving Forward on DLT COE

• Collectively define, agree on DLT COE value proposition and how to implement at firm

key questions >>

• What challenges are addressed ?
• What opportunities and gains may be realized ?
• Who interacts with the DLT COE and how?
• Can a DLT COE improve engagement with external organizations, vendors ?
• Will a DLT COE help improve the appropriate use of DLT, standardize usage, improve reusability, quality and understanding of DLT in firm solutions?

overview >>

Mission

• Help the firm community gain a deeper understanding of what DLT technologies are, how they add value to solutions and support effective use, delivery and operation of DLT solutions at firm with Reference Architectures, Consumable Architecture Patterns, best practice guidelines,  and support for innovation, product, delivery and operations teams

key DLT challenges >>

• Outside firm, DLT has succeeded ( Allianz Group ) and failed ( ASX )
• What is DLT? How to use it? How not to use it? When to use it? Where to use it? Why to use it?
• New concepts:  Tokens, wallets, keys, addresses, dex, HTLC, atomic swap, shared ledger, merkle tree, hash graph, grpc, trust engineering, identities, credentials, ZKP
• Avoid vendor lock-in on vendor DLT platforms - portability, interfaces, adapters
• Avoid DLT, exchange and platform obsolescence
• Managing DLT upgrades and migrations productively, safely
• Lots of DLT information sources - many are biased, incomplete, inaccurate
• Technology significantly different than database, APIs
• For most use cases and trust models, DLT Technology is complex. It depends on, integrates and extends other technologies

key DLT opportunities >>

Value Focus

• Assess new, updated DLT technologies in collaboration with TRI labs teams
• Collaborate on education and understanding of DLT technology, use cases, opportunities, challenges, risks, solutions
• Collaborate with external parties ( Hyperledger, European Blockchain Forum, Vendors, Regulators, other groups ) on DLT solutions, usage, value 
• Identify when DLT can add value in new and existing solutions
• Define custom roadmaps for DLT solutions for different use case models
• Define guidelines on the effective use of DLT in solutions and services
• Create DLT Reference Architectures for different use case types
• Create DLT Consumable Architecture Patterns to provide reusable components lower delivery and operations risks

coe services >>

• provide a Knowledge base SharePoint site
• Share common knowledge all across groups for better understanding
• grow Community connections internal and external 
• Hyperledger, EUBOF, INATBA, GBA, Other related groups
• review Training and education support on new DLT technologies, solutions, opportunities with TRI Labs and the Learning team
• define Architecture standards, best practices recommendations, 
• Reference Architectures and Consumable Architecture Patterns
• provide DLT solution reviews for candidate business and technical use cases
• Support POCs on new and updated DLT technologies, tools, platforms
• support production delivery of DLT solutions

community engagement >>

Audiences

• Management
• Business users
• Technology teams
• Clients 
• Vendors

Engagement Methods

• Outreach - sites, webinars, participation in ITA and other firm, training
• Inbound services - requests, questions, project assignments, reviews
• SDP life cycle support  - define, design, deliver, deploy, operate, support

potential impacts >> 

• Awareness of DLT technology, opportunities, challenges, architecture, capabilities, solutions
• Education - support firm learning team on DLT, external DLT resources
• Programs - internal, external learning sources on DLT engagements
• Knowledge Center - shared knowledge on DLT across firm
• Competitive positioning on DLT strategies, solutions, efforts
• Architecture and design consistency on DLT for use case types
• Coordination of efforts
• Efficiencies on scarce resources
• Reuse of software, solutions from internal and external sources
• Partnerships on key concepts, work, solutions, standards, software
• Consolidation of key activities where it makes sense to improve quality
• Support on the DLT SDP life cycle and operations
• Improvements on DLT technology, opportunities from communities 

takeaways >>

• DLT COE can offer value internally and externally for firm
• DLT COE can start small in scale and grow with opportunities 
• Collectively define, agree on DLT COE value proposition and how to implement at firm
• Define and socialize an operating model and plan for feedback with key stakeholders

Citibank DLT COE

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/program-manager-dlt-center-of-excellence-at-citi-3312500178/

The Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Center of Excellence (CoE) is a firm-wide unit under Citi’s operations & technology organization. The CoE serves as a cross-firm committee with experts from all technology units of the main lines of business and leads from key cross functions such as Legal and Risk. The unit drives policies, standards, and best practices for DLT projects across the technology organization, to ensure Citi drives innovation with DLT in a safe, efficient, and secured environment and processes.

We are looking for a strong program manager to join the existing CoE team, help with day-to-day operations, and lead a global team of technology experts. The ideal candidate is a leader with a DLT/Blockchain background in the financial industry and a track record of leading global tech organizations and programs in large and complex environments.

Responsibilities:

• Manage one or more working groups in an effort to accomplish established CoE priorities and goals
• Utilize in-depth knowledge and skills across multiple development areas to provide DLT oversight across systems and applications
• Review and analyze proposed technical and business DLT solutions for various projects within Citi
• Contribute to the formulation of strategies and best practices guides for the adoption, implementation, and operation of DLT
• Partner and work closely with the respective SMEs from the cross-functional teams like Risk, Legal, and others on identifying the risks associated with the introduction of DLT
• Help develop and establish firm-wide Training programs for DLT and monitor their execution
• Effectively manage various CoE working groups and ensure risks, progress, and status are appropriately captured and reported
• Lead the development and execution of DLT-related media, newsletters, and internal and external outreach for the purposes of the operations of the CoE

Qualifications:

• 6-10 years of relevant experience in the Financial Service industry
• Proven experience as a Program Manager
• At least 2 years in a role related to Blockchain and DLT
• Stakeholder and people management experience
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Advanced project management skills
• Knowledge of industry practices and standards
• Consistently demonstrates clear and concise written and verbal communication
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills
• Great presentation skills – ability to articulate complex topics and technologies in a presentation

Step-by-step guide for Example

sample code block

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