IOHK, the 3rd generation blockchain research and development company, today has signed an MoU with the Georgian government.

The MoU will see a 2-year collaboration between the parties designed to help the country toward its aim of being a premier hub for international business by embedding blockchain technology into government services.

The Georgian government has identified its university sector – and, the work currently underway to ensure comparability with higher-education qualifications across Europe, as an area where IOHK’s expertise will be vitally important, in addition to ensuring that the country’s qualifications are also securely verified.

The Ministry and IOHK will be working together to develop blockchain-enabled solutions to:

Support fintech businesses based on blockchain technology and digital assets

Help the Ministry to improve the security of confidential data, using 3rd generation blockchain technology

Assist the Ministry in integrating smart contract functionality into its services

Support the Ministry’s current work to ensure qualifications from Georgian universities are comparable with higher-education qualifications across European

“Georgia has had an exciting journey from its previous ranking of 112th on the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index, to our current position of 6th, ahead of many established hubs for international business, including the US and UK. However, we are still on that journey and are hopeful that leveraging IOHK’s world-leading expertise, particularly in 3rd generation blockchain technology, will help us to progress even further toward our goal of being the world’s leading country for secure, digitally-enabled international business.” – Mikheil Batiashvili, Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport

IOHK will organize a series of workshops, meetup, forums, and other events – with the first taking place before this fall, in order to identify the most pressing challenges and the existing skills base in the country.

That scoping work will inform the design of a range of feasibility studies, looking at the technical, commercial, operational and other areas that need to be addressed as part of a wider project to embed IOHK’s blockchain technology across Georgia’s business, government and education sectors.

“We are incredibly excited to be working with the Georgian government on a range of projects across business, education and government services. A combination of a strong university sector in the country and a ‘can do’ attitude on the part of the government has seen the country rapidly establish itself as one of the world’s most attractive hubs for international business. We’re pleased to now be a part of that journey and look forward to developing the blockchain ecosystem in Georgia and helping its people to solve the challenges they face.” – Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOHK