In our TSC member profile series, we introduce you to the members of the BSV Technical Standards Committee (TSC) – those who construct the processes and standards that allow the rest of us to build on a powerful platform and within a highly professional ecosystem. 

In the third edition of our series, we speak to committee member Kalev Truusalu – Co-founder and COO at Domineum. 

Background information on TSC member Kalev Truusalu

Hacker, hustler or operator?

There is a saying that every business needs a hacker, a hustler and an operator to be successful. How does Truusalu see himself within the TSC and his profession?

‘At the beginning, I was a hacker, but now I’m more of a hustler. When you start your own business, hacking and hustling are very important, because you need to be able to create a successful product and promote it yourself.’

‘Hacking is not only about writing code, but being able to adapt in a changing market,’ he clarifies. For Truusalu, one of the keys to business success lies in how rapidly you’re able to pivot with changing circumstances. 

‘Historically, the concept of a hacker had negative connotations, but today people have a broader understanding of “hacking”. In business, hacking entails making business processes more efficient and finding shortcuts to solving challenges and addressing needs.’ 

In his opinion, the world needs more of these kinds of problem-solving hackers.

Involvement with e-Estonia project

Truusalu has played a major part in building e-Estonia, which is considered to be one of the most advanced digital societies in the world. 

‘Estonia was one of the first governments to implement e-Government, starting in 1997. As a result, Estonia is one of the most successful countries at providing digital services to its citizens. Last week we had local government elections and it was entirely done over the Internet, as it’s been for 13 years now. In Estonia, this is normal.’

Operating digitally is so normal for Estonians, that the COVID-19 lockdown didn’t affect business at all. Until recently, there were only two government services you couldn’t complete digitally: getting married and buying a property. But since the COVID-19 lockdown, you can now even undertake a property sale digitally. It is only for getting married that you need to show up to a clerk.

‘If we wanted to start a new company during this interview, it would take five minutes to have the company registered, a bank account registered to the company and to get all the permits I need to start doing business.’ 

How does blockchain intersect with the 13-year-old e-Estonia programme? In some ways, the system implemented some of the value propositions of blockchain on their own infrastructure before the BSV blockchain made it possible for anyone to plug into its global data system.

‘Estonia is very advanced in IT services. We use a base layer called X-Road that exchanges data between registries without storing it in more than one place. For example, my address is only stored in the address registry, and if any other service needs to verify it, X-Road will perform that service without storing the data itself.’ 

‘It works very well in Estonia, because we’ve built the infrastructure and legal framework over many years. But when other countries want to implement a similar system, it’s very hard to build underlying infrastructure from scratch.’

Domineum noticed the bottleneck that’s keeping other countries from digitising. When they learned about the BSV blockchain, they realised it would solve the problem for other countries, as it provides them with a secure backbone to run their services on. 

‘It’s the infrastructure for future e-Governments,’ Truusalu declares. And so Domineum started offering the service of helping countries put their public services on the BSV blockchain’s infrastructure. 

Why join the TSC?

Standing as a member of the TSC requires time and dedication. What motivates an international businessman to commit to the task?

‘Domineum chose BSV as our blockchain partner because of their vision for enterprise solutions, so it was an interesting opportunity to be part of the committee that drives the early stages of its development. And luckily for me, my application was accepted.’ 

Who should consider joining the TSC as committee members?

The TSC has been around for two years, and Truusalu has been there since the start. Going forward, existing members can be expected to stand down giving new ones a chance to join. Who would he like to see join the group in future?

‘We currently have an excellent group, as the members are from all over the world, running a variety of different projects. It would be great for this variety to continue as new members are selected.’

Are there particular skills that would be useful to have on the committee?

‘Going back to the hacker, hustler and operator saying, we need to have all of those areas covered,’ he says with conviction.

Truusalu’s hopes for the TSC

Truusalu’s vision for the TSC stands alongside his aspirations for the BSV community. 

‘I hope to see BSV grow and the infrastructure become widely adopted. The TSC has an important role in this: to build the roadmap that directs development of the ecosystem and adoption.’ 

Join the BSV Technical Standards Committee 

If you are interested in participating in the TSC, be sure to register as a contributor so we can let you know about any opportunities that become available.