Key elements: New Centre + 3 years of research funding + Executive-level guidance
Imperial is conducting ground-breaking research into blockchain technology and digital assets as part of a new partnership with Blockchain (GB) Ltd, the company behind blockchain.com and blockchain.info.
As digital assets mature and we see increased adoption, the time has come to investigate the challenges surrounding this nascent but transformative technology. Blockchain is the perfect partner to help us realise that ambition"
Professor Will Knottenbelt
Director, IC3RE
The three-year partnership between the Centre for Cryptocurrency Researcg and Engineering (IC3RE) and Blockchain Ltd. will establish a programme of cryptocurrency and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) research. The centre will aim to become a leading international platform for ongoing research and application activity related to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain, will join the centre's Joint Steering Committee to identify and agree priority areas for research and prototyping. The Joint Steering Committee will meet twice a year to review, consider and approve potential projects, with an intital focus on smart contracts and state channels, two areas both key in scaling up the technology for mass use.
With daily articles detailing the adoption of Distributed Ledger Technologies in everything from revolutionising energy grids to preventing airline fraud the widespread potential applications of the technology for the global economy are clear. Since its launch in 2015, IC3RE has run a large number of blockchain-related projects and now plays a leading role advising UK and international governments on blockchain and distributed ledger technology.
You can read the full news article here and Blockchain's blog post here.
Above, live Blockchain transaction visualisations prepared by researchers in the Data Science Institute (DSI)