10 leading blockchain scholars form research group to advance industry

New York. 18th December 2018 – An all-star team of academic blockchain scholars across North America and Europe is pleased to announce the formation of a multi-national research organisation, Insolar Research, which is poised to bridge the gap between blockchain science and real-world enterprise adoption. 

Insolar Research is a subsidiary of Insolar and comprises 10 leading academic blockchain scholars from institutions including York University, ETH Zurich, and Princeton University. It is currently undertaking an ambitious slate of research and proof-of-concept pilot projects that span multiple research areas, industries, and partner collaborations.

Among its ranks is Prof. Henry Kim, co-director of York University’s blockchain lab in Toronto and one of the leading academic scholars in North America, and Prof. Alexandru Butean, Senior Lecturer Professor in Computer Science and architect of the Blockchain Society in Estonia. Eight other scholars round out the team’s growing membership, each contributing a mix of blockchain expertise with other industrial research specialisations, such as cryptography, security, IoT, and AI/ML.

In keeping with Insolar’s open source values, Insolar Research will freely publish and share its findings with the world.

“Insolar Research is a vital component of the Insolar ecosystem,” says the company’s CEO Andrey Zhulin, “It brings thought leadership and academic rigour to our technology platform and advances the frontiers of knowledge for the greater community, creating a rising tide that lifts all boats.”

Projects which Insolar Research is currently conducting include:

• Investigating how a modern society would function if blockchain technology were applied at all levels. This project closely follows EU directives for 2020 and creates the architecture, requirements, and tools necessary for public institutions and enterprises to integrate their services to achieve fairness in an unfair world.
• Businesses remain hesitant in their adoption of blockchain technology. SimuChain simulates how blockchain technology can impact the business processes of an enterprise organisation, decreasing uncertainty and demonstrating tangible benefits.
• Making the case for how blockchain technology can improve supply chain provenance and food safety. This project leverages smart contracts to execute provenance tracing. 
• A two million euro project that will create the factory of the future by using IoT products and services to optimise the interplay between humans, computers, and their environment. This project is funded by the Romanian government and its specifications were drafted following discussions with top industry leaders throughout Europe.
• Proposing a blockchain-enabled electricity microgrid that incentivies the use of local, renewable energy sources to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
• Investigating how blockchain technology impacts the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and how the organisation can provide standardised technical specifications for the provenance and authenticity of goods.
• Examining how adopting blockchain technology can increase the global competitiveness of food manufacturers and exporters in Canada, especially in Ontario.
• Investigating how tightly coupled blockchains for different enterprise operations (e.g., Financing and Operations) can increase productivity, improve resource allocation, and minimise the risks and costs of information asymmetry in business transactions.