2018-8-30 19:31 |
Oxford’s University College is following in the footsteps of Stanford University in establishing an in-house research lab for blockchain technology. The college lays the foundation of a Blockchain Research Centre under the leadership of its Fellow Professor Bill Roscoe FREng. The center will conduct studies to “focuses on bringing the blockchain to the mainstream.”
Green Mining TechnologyIn order to achieve its vision, the blockchain research lab will focus on green mining technology. The mining process is a power-intensive process and consumes energy not just to run the mining rigs but also for the cooling systems. This leads to extensive noise and huge power bills.
Talking about the aims of the center, Professor Roscoe said:
“The new centre focuses on bringing the blockchain to the mainstream. This vision will be achieved by using green mining technology and embracing regulation through appropriate Know Your Client (KYC) guidelines.”
KYC is another pain point for digital currencies and blockchains. Because of the anonymity of existing blockchain systems, governments find it hard to enforce KYC and anti-money laundering laws.
The center will aim to bring an interdisciplinary approach to blockchain analysis by bringing technology, law, business and economics together. Several other leading institutions will also contribute to their projects.
Old Meets New at OxfordFounded in 1249, University College is the oldest educational institution at the Oxford University. It counts Professor Stephen Hawking, former US President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Clement Attlee as alumni.
Professor Roscoe, who heads the institution’s blockchain initiative, first arrived at the institution in 1975. He became a fellow in 1983 and a full professor in 1997. He was the head of the university’s Computer Science Department between 2003 and 2014. He has 30 years of research history in automated verification and concurrency, in addition to applied cryptography and payment protocols.
He is joined by several leading blockchain researchers at the center, who are all working together to improve blockchain mining efficiency and create trust models. Other focus areas of the group are privacy models and escrow systems in blockchain, along with a fair exchange model to support safer distributed-ledger-based exchanges. The team has explored new approaches to develop secure, long-term cryptography that could respond to the changes in the evolving industry.
University College Launches Blockchain Research Centre in Oxford was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.
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