EPSRC funds Blockchain technology for Algorithmic Regulation And Compliance project

Seven new projects will explore the potentially transformative opportunities offered by Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in fields such as energy, healthcare and policy-making.

One of which is led by Tomaso Aste, Professor of Complexity Science and Head Financial Computing & Analytics Group, and will look into how Distributed Ledger Technology can overturn current regulation and compliance models, opening the way for more effective regulation in the services industry.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has supported the projects with more than £3.6 million of investment, delivered through the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Digital Economy Theme.

They will look at new uses for digital distributed ledgers, databases which are shared between multiple parties and have the potential to make the systems and services they are applied to more transparent while maintaining high levels of security and privacy.

The best known use of DLT currently is in Bitcoin, a form of digital currency that uses blockchain technology, a distributed ledger formed of unchangeable and digitally-recorded data stored in packages called blocks.

EPSRC Chief Executive Professor Philip Nelson, said: “Distributed Ledger Technology may be synonymous with Bitcoin to many, but as these projects show it has disruptive potential across a wide range of products and services. If this radical promise can be delivered on, it could have a significant impact on the economy and society.”

A Government Office for Science report, published in 2016, said that technical innovations such as DLT could enable “revolutionary changes” that will “ultimately cause major changes in the way in which the economy and society itself is organised and governed”.

The highly multi-disciplinary research projects taking will involve a wide range of academic and industry partners, and consider the technical, economic, legal and social elements of the technology.

Summaries of the projects

Blockchain technology for Algorithmic Regulation And Compliance (BARAC), EP/P031730/1

BARAC will look into how DLT can overturn current regulation and compliance models, opening the way for more effective regulation in the services industry.

Led by: Professor Tomaso Aste, UCL

Grant: £617,000

Partners: London School of Economics and Political Science, University of Reading, King’s College London, Advanced Technologies Solutions SpA, Aesthetic Integration Ltd, BT, Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission, Financial Conduct Authority, Lykke, Morrison & Foerster, R3 CEV

Household-Supplier Energy Market (HoSEM), EP/P031838/1

HoSEM will research the feasibility of how DLT can help to democratise the UK’s energy system by allowing individuals or organisations to trade energy they have generated.

Led by: Dr Ruzanna Chitchyan, University of Leicester

Grant: £459,000

Partners: Lancaster University, University of Exeter, EDF Energy

ARCHANGEL – Trusted Archives of Digital Public Records, EP/P03151X/1

ARCHANGEL will work with major archives (such as The National Archives) to safeguard the integrity of their content (e.g. against degradation or tampering), and to develop new business models to help release value in their content.

Led by: Dr John Collomosse, University of Surrey                   

Grant: £487,000

Partners: Guardtime, Methods Digital Ltd, VoeTek

Co-operative Models for Evidence-based Healthcare Redistribution (CoMEHeRe), EP/P03196X/1

CoMEHeRe aims to transform personal healthcare through the use and management of biometric information recorded by wearable devices. This will allow individuals to securely store and access data which they will be able to share to enable more targeted, personalised patterns of treatment.

Led by: Professor Alan Brown, University of Surrey

Grant: £420,000

Partners: AXA Group, Guardtime

Trusted and Transparent Voting Systems, EP/P031811/1

Trusted and Transparent Voting Systems is concerned with the use of DLT to support trustworthy electronic voting within organisations, managing the voting rights of members such as company shareholders, underpinning the verifiability of electronic voting mechanisms, and exploring the new opportunities for corporate governance and social choice enabled by such technologies.

Led by: Professor Steve Schneider, University of Surrey

Grant: £614,000

Partners: King’s College London, Crowdcube Ltd, Electoral Reform Services, Monax Industries

Distributed Ledgers and Decentralised Energy in sub-Saharan Africa, EP/P031854/1

In collaboration with GSMA's Mobile for Development Utilities programme and ElectriCChain, the developers of the SolarCoin Blockchain, this project will design and test a platform for peer-to-peer electricity exchanges in East Africa with the aim of accelerating access to off-grid solar energy distribution.

Led by: Dr Jamie Cross, University of Edinburgh

Grant: £485,000

Partners: Lancaster University, Newcastle University, ElectriCChain, GSM Association (GSMA)

Smart Money: Precision Data Management for Distributed Ledger enabled Central Bank issued Digital Currencies, EP/P0312001/1

Smart Money will mobilise the power of data to significantly improve decisions concerning policy-making for the control of money supply for the public good, including the development of new Fintech services in the UK’s Digital Economy.

Led by: Professor Panos Louvieris, Brunel University London

Grant: £606,000

Partners: City, University of London, Bank of England, Office for National Statistics