Our partnership with Imperial College London: The Digital Asset Research Lab

Block chain technology is poised to reengineer the world as we know it. In fact, there is general consensus that the technology will revolutionize industries as varied as finance, fashion, government and healthcare, among others. While the technology offers a great deal of promise, it is in its nascent stages and there is still much to explore in understanding the future we’re helping build. It’s that perspective that keeps us committed to research and development. And that commitment, in turn, has led to groundbreaking developments like Thunder. Earlier this week, we were excited to announce that we’re furthering our commitment via the launch of the Digital Asset Research Lab. In partnership with Imperial College London, this new Lab will be instrumental to exploring the transformative potential of block chain technology and digital assets.

The Digital Asset Research Lab has been funded as part of a three year partnership with Imperial’s Center for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering (IC3RE). It’s purpose will be to operate as the leading international centre for ongoing research and application related to cryptocurrency and block chain technology.

Joining the lab’s Steering Committee, our CEO, Peter Smith, will focus on identifying and agreeing on the priority areas for research and prototyping. The committee meets twice a year to review, consider, and approve potential projects, as well as oversee the performance of current projects. A big focus for our very first projects will likely be smart contracts and state channels.

Imperial graduate students are some of the best, brightest minds in the world. With this partnership, we’re stoked to help encourage and usher in the next wave of block chain developers.

Originally published at https://blockchain-blog.ghost.io on January 19, 2017.