We are putting together a group of academics from Europe and North America to advance the blockchain industry, linking the worlds of theoretical research and real-world use cases.

Even today, with so much public and industry interest, blockchain technology still has not been adopted for industry use. Just like the early days of the internet, it promises much, but there is a gap between the theoretical use potential and real application.

That is why we have convened a team of 10 leading blockchain scholars to form a research group to bridge that divide between potential and reality. Insolar Research comprises some of the best academic minds from around the world, from institutions including York University, ETH Zurich and Princeton University. Its task is to link scientific research with enterprise adoption, helping to make blockchain a part of our everyday reality.

Insolar Research will become a vital element of the Insolar ecosystem, bringing academic rigour to our platform. But this will not just be of value to Insolar, as we seek to build partnerships with businesses. It will position us as thought leaders and advance the frontiers of knowledge for the blockchain sector, the business community, and society as a whole. In keeping with our open source values, the group will freely publish and share its findings with the world, benefiting the entire crypto and open source communities.

Key people

Insolar Research is starting out as a small group, each member of which brings unique expertise and experience to the table. Professor Henry Kim is co-director of York University’s blockchain lab in Toronto, and one of the leading academic scholars in the field in North America. ‘We are pushing the boundaries of blockchain science,’ he explains. ‘More than that, it’s bringing science to real-world enterprise use, showing companies the tangible benefits of blockchain and solving the urgent hurdles they face in adopting it.’

Professor Kim is joined by Professor Alexandru Butean, Senior Lecturer Professor in Computer Science and architect of the Blockchain Society in Estonia, as well as eight other academics. The group’s membership covers blockchain but also other critical areas for this rapidly-growing industry, including cryptography, security, IoT, and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.

Projects and areas of interest

The group is embarking on several pilot projects that are designed to explore blockchain adoption across a variety of industries and cover a number of different research areas. These include:

Supply chain provenance and food safety , using smart contracts to enable trustworthy tracing for products of all kinds. Another project will unpack the effect blockchain might have for the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), and the role the organisation could hold in creating standardised specifications for provenance and authenticity of goods to be recorded on the blockchain.

, using smart contracts to enable trustworthy tracing for products of all kinds. Another project will unpack the effect blockchain might have for the (UN/CEFACT), and the role the organisation could hold in creating standardised specifications for provenance and authenticity of goods to be recorded on the blockchain. Manufacturing , in a 2 million euro initiative that will use IoT services to create the factory of the future, via a partnership with the Romanian government. The project will use new technologies to streamline interactions between humans and computers within the facility.

, in a 2 million euro initiative that will use IoT services to create the factory of the future, via a partnership with the Romanian government. The project will use new technologies to streamline interactions between humans and computers within the facility. Power generation , by means of a blockchain-enabled microgrid that encourages the use of local and renewable energy.

, by means of a blockchain-enabled microgrid that encourages the use of local and renewable energy. Food manufacturing and export, seeking to understand how blockchain can make Canadian producers more competitive in a global market.

In addition, Insolar Research will be undertaking broader, more conceptual briefs. For example, the group is looking at what impact blockchain would have if integrated across all levels of society — following EU directives for 2020 — with the aim of giving fairer access to global services. The SimuChain project simulates blockchain’s effect on business processes, which will help companies see the benefits and address uncertainties. Finally, they are researching how blockchains for distinct business processes might be linked to improve productivity and reduce costs.

This is just for starters. We intend to welcome new members to Insolar Research over time, and explore new areas of interest to inform Insolar’s core technology and business development.

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