Stanford Launches a Five Year Blockchain Research Program

The crypto market is still in its early stage. And though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies today look bearish, it is true that there are job opportunities waiting for those who specialize in the field. In fact, EOS even paid a researcher $120,000 in one week just to find bugs that can become problematic for the network.

In addition to this, there are schools that are now discussing cryptos in their personal finance subjects while there are curriculums that have focused on coding. Ripple donated $50 million to seventeen universities in support of blockchain education programs.

And now, Stanford has created the Center for Blockchain Research. It was supported by none other than the Ethereum Foundation. The center was established in order to take a closer look at how blockchain technology can help transform different traditional businesses.

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum tweeted this and expressed his excitement to support the initiative.

Other than Ethereum, the Center for Blockchain Research also received support and contribution from Protocol Labs, the Interchain Foundation, DFINITY Stiftung and PolyChain Capital, and cryptocurrency exchange OmiseGo.

Five Year Research

This is going to be a five-year research program. It is going to be led by computer science professors Dan Boneh and David Mazieres. There will also be Stanford professors from engineering, particle physics, and law. Aside from research regarding the potential of blockchain technology, it will also aim to develop courses on blockchain implementation. The course will take a closer look at blockchain technology’s role in finance as well as in data management and other fields.

Dan Boneh mentioned that “blockchains will become increasingly critical to doing business globally”. He also added that Stanford should be at the forefront of efforts to improve, apply and understand the many ripple effects of this technology… Once you get into the details you quickly realize that this area will generate many Ph.D. theses across all of computer science and beyond”.

Practical Use of Blockchain in Oxford

Oxford is the premier example of the academe taking advantage of technology. Oxford University also wants to leverage distributed ledger technology in order to help revolutionize higher education.

Oxford researcher Joshua Broggi, who is the founder of Woolf Development mentioned that “We use a blockchain to create efficiencies by managing custodianship of student tuition, enforcing regulatory compliance for accreditation, and automating a number of processes”. He also mentioned that “Our ultimate aim is this to be a driver of job opportunities and security for academics as low cost alternatives for students”.

It is true that blockchain technology has different uses. It isn’t surprising why universities are already adding blockchain technology as part of their curriculum, not to mention being used within their system.

Apart from creating cryptocurrencies, it is possible for blockchain technology to streamline administrative processes using smart contracts and therefore reducing the overhead costs.

It isn’t surprising if we are going to see blockchain technology being utilized more in schools in the coming years. And also, we can expect more cryptocurrencies to raise funds in order to spearhead and support educational programs that can create more experts that can help the industry.