Bill Buchanan is a Professor in the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University, a Fellow of the BCS, and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to cybersecurity.

Bill lives and works in Edinburgh, and is a believer in fairness, justice, and freedom. His social media tagline reflects his strong belief in changing the world for the better: “A Serial Innovator. An Old World Breaker. A New World Creator.” He has a strong belief in the power of education, and in supporting innovation from every angle.

Over the years, Bill has developed a deep love of all things related to cryptography, especially in the areas of Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP), homomorphic encryption, lightweight cryptography, quantum-robust cryptography, and blockchain methods.

Bill is a prolific creator of academic and research work, and is now working on books related to Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and AI and Cybersecurity. Over the past few years he has also developed one of the most extensive cryptography sites on the Internet (asecuritysite.com). His work has included 29 academic books and over 280 academic papers, along with being an editor-in-chief for the Journal of Cyber Security Technology and for a Cybersecurity series of books.

In 2018, in partnership with Blockpass IDN, he set up the world’s first blockchain identity research laboratory. he also currently leads the Centre for Distributed Computing and Security, and The Cyber Academy.

Bill’s research has led to three successful spin-out companies, including Zonefox, and he has developed a number of patents. Bill’s work has shown extensive impact, and this was awarded an “Outstanding Contribution to Knowledge Exchange” award at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange awards, and a Cyber Evangelist of the Year award in 2016. Recently his work on Secret Shares received “Innovation of the Year” at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards.

Bill regularly appears on TV and radio, related to computer security and has given evidence to both the UK and Scottish parliaments. He was also included in the FutureScot “Top 50 Scottish Tech People Who Are Changing The World”.

Bill’s work has involved the transformation of our current thinking within a number of knowledge domains, including health and social care, law enforcement, and government services. At the core of this work is the building of new citizen-focused worlds, and in creating trusted worlds.

You can follow Bill on Twitter at @billatnapier and on YouTube at https://youtube.com/user/billatnapier. He also blogs on cryptography, cyber security, and his love of Edinburgh at https://medium.com/@billatnapier.

On joining the IOTA Research Council

I believe that we live in a digital world that was created in the 20th Century. We thus need to build a more trusted world, and put the rights of the citizen at the centre of this world. This new world will respect privacy, consent and ownership, and we should be able to trust every single transaction. We are now in a phase of rapid rebuilding, and very few areas of our lives will remain untouched. I think this will be one of the most significant eras in the whole of human existence, and will be a time that builds the foundations of our future. Being involved in a research council leadership role in IOTA will provide me with the opportunity to inform the future, making decisions which will help build a solid foundation for our next generation.

We are delighted to welcome Bill Buchanan to the IOTA Research Council. His vast experience, strong motivation and sharp focus on building our future society, make him an ideal candidate to provide academic oversight of our work. We look forward to working closely with Bill and his team. Please give Bill a warm welcome.