Meet us at: The Future of Distributed Ledger Technology

Digital Catapult will be collaborating with GCHQ and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) at a workshop exploring the future of distributed ledger technology.

Beyond cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) distributed ledger technology (DLT) has value in applications which require chains of provenance, authentication of data and decentralised trust. In Digital Catapult’s recent “Blockchain in action” report, it is envisioned that the commercial model most likely to succeed in the short term is permissioned, rather than permissionless blockchain. This is where ledgers are hosted between known groups of participants and visibility, access and editing rights to shared data are regulated. Some key areas highlighted as being particularly promising include supply chain traceability, smart contracts (software programmes executing across distributed networks) and Govtech (Government data that must be secure but needs to be shared with and accessible by others).

Mathematical sciences have a key role to play in helping to realise the potential of DLT and move the technology forward. The mathematics that underpins distributed ledgers is not trivial: not only does the technology rely on cryptography, but robustness and security of the protocol relies on the mathematical behaviour of the system. Moreover, new functionality such as smart contracts are realised through cutting-edge advances in cryptography, and the need to develop alternatives to energy-expensive proof-of-work calls on careful mathematical engineering.

Who should attend

This event is designed for those interested in understanding use cases and research into distributed ledger technology and blockchain and what the future holds for this technology. Digital Catapult’s Lead Technologist – Blockchain & DLT, Dr Robert Learney will be discussing the business of DLT and creating and new data economy with DLT.

Why should you attend

The workshop will explore appropriate applications of DLT beyond cryptocurrencies and will highlight a number of use cases across various research areas and applications presented by Digital Catapult, GCHQ and EPSRC. There will be a mixture of talks and discussion split across three sessions to include:

• An overview – current situation, a national perspective and Digital Catapult use case partnerships
• Research areas and applications – archives of digital public records, foundations of distributed ledgers, human centred design, DLT in central banks
• Challenges and future opportunities – legal/standards framework and general data protection regulations implications, UK Government perspective, vision and framework for the future

Next steps

If you would like to attend this event, please click here or register below.