Bengaluru, May 24 (IANS): Software major Infosys Ltd has joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance for using Blockchain database across verticals, said the IT firm on Wednesday.

"The alliance connects Fortune 500 enterprises, start-ups, academics and technology vendors with Ethereum, a decentralised platform that runs smart contracts," said the city-based company in a statement here.

Applications on the Ethereum platform run as programmed without downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference.

"The alliance will enable us to adopt Blockchain in enterprises across industries, including insurance, pharma, retail, energy, utilities and services sectors," said the company.

As a distributed database, Blockchain maintains records in the form of blocks, which are secured from tampering and revision. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block.

Blockchains are an open, distributed ledger that records transactions between two parties in a verifiable and permanent way. The ledger can be programmed to trigger transactions automatically.

"We invest in emerging technologies and innovation-led thinking to deliver value to our customers," noted the outsourcing firm.

With proof-of-concept projects across industry sectors, especially in financial markets, Ethereum is an architecture for smart contracts, scalability and network security.

"Ethereum allows us to develop robust standards and capabilities enabling the technology to reach its potential," added the statement.