By Jamie Redman,

The “Big Four” multinational professional services firm Deloitte now focuses onmachine learning, blockchain technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The company also announced it’s forming “Deloitte Catalyst” to harness these powerful innovations for its business and clientele.

Deloitte Catalyst: Over 50 Cutting-Edge Use Cases

The company says Deloitte Catalyst will enable over fifty use cases related to automation, language processing, machine intelligence, and distributed ledger technology. The special branch’s activities will focus efforts on pairing larger companies with the right startups. After that, it will seek to create “identified use cases, proofs of concepts, prototypes, and pilots,” says Deloitte.

Currently, Deloitte Catalyst is a formation of initial startup partners. Companies working with the firm include Narrative Science, Kira Systems, Ayasdi and the blockchain loyalty platform Loyyal. Deloitte LLP CEO Cathy Engelbert believes the Catalyst program gives market influencers quicker access to these technological advances.

“Deloitte Catalyst is enabling Deloitte and our clients to more easily tap the power of innovation.— Many businesses are searching for ingenuity amongst disruption given today’s economic climate, and they need an efficient way to access the latest advances in science and technology,” stated Engelbert during the announcement.

Deloitte Focused On Researching the Bitcoin Landscape and Blockchain Solutions

Deloitte has been a big believer in financial technology, blockchain, and machine learning for some time. Back in March, a Deloitte report said incumbents should “reexamine” their role when facing these disruptive technologies. The paper also stated the encroaching digital ledger payment system would be the “most disruptive.” In fact, Deloitte believes blockchain will “gain significant traction” by the year 2020.

One example of the many proof of concepts Deloitte is experimenting with is LenderBot. Working with firms Stratumn and Lemonway since July, Deloitte has revealed a micro-insurance proof of concept. The platform allows custom insurance for products established on the Bitcoin blockchain acting as the third party intermediary.

Furthermore, in Deloitte’s Toronto office lobby, the company has installed a Bitcoin ATM as a permanent fixture. Iliana Oris Valiente, co-founder of Rubix, Deloitte’s blockchain subsidiary told Bitcoin.com the machine helps clients understand blockchain more visually. “It’s the best way to illustrate the power of the technology when you have a client from a different country, and you can send them the currency without going through any banks,” she said.

Catalyst Allowing Deloitte to ‘Operate at the Nexus of Innovation Supply and Demand’

Deloitte Catalyst hopes to push more innovation into this growing economy of financial technology and machine learning. For instance, the company says with startups likeNarrative Science the firm is using natural language generation. The theory is this protocol will enhance “data from fraud investigations, regulatory compliance, inventory management, financial analysis and audit and tax filings.”

Deloitte Catalyst’s relationship with blockchain startups will explore use cases and prototypes harnessing loyalty rewards, digital banking, identity, and cross-border payment rails. The Catalyst formation gives the Big Four firm and clients hands-on access to all these technologies in real time. Craig Muraskin, managing director of Deloitte LLP’s US Innovation Group explains:

“Deloitte Catalyst represents our ability to operate at the nexus of innovation supply and demand,”