Blockchain research facility to be open in London, backed by UK government
Innovate Finance, a London-based Fintech members association, is opening a blockchain lab in partnership with the Hartree Centre, the high performance computing and data analytics research facility founded by the UK government in collaboration with IBM; the lab will aim to develop practical use cases for blockchain technology as well as discover new ways in which it can improve anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) applications. It will also investigate digital currencies, and the potential they can offer to the financial sector in helping to deliver greater efficiencies and customer services. The blockchain lab is scheduled to be up and running in October, according to the company statement.
Innovate Finance will join forces with Hartree Centre to open a lab dedicated to Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term research, with the aim of bringing it closer to adoption by financial services companies.

Innovate Finance is a London-based independent, nonprofit organization promoting the advancement of FinTech in the UK. Since launching last year, 120 members have joined.

The lab is scheduled to open in October. It will attempt to discover new use cases for distributed ledger technology, such as anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) applications. It is hoped that the research will yield uniform standards making the technology feasible across multiple financial institutions.

“We are excited about the prospect of our members openly collaborating to deliver use cases to the wider community. If we can use the lab to develop open standards for the blockchain in financial services, we will be moving one step closer to accelerating the mass adoption of this breakthrough technology,” said Innovate Finance CEO Lawrence Wintermeyer.

Hartree Centre is a high performance computing and data Analytics Analytics Analytics may be defined as the detection, analysis, and relay of consequential patterns in data. Analytics also seeks to explain or accurately reflect the relationship between data and effective decision making. In the trading space, analytics are applied in a predictive manner in an attempt to more accurately forecast the price. This predictive model of analytics generally involves the analysis of historical price patterns that are used in an attempt to determine certain price outcomes. Analyt Analytics may be defined as the detection, analysis, and relay of consequential patterns in data. Analytics also seeks to explain or accurately reflect the relationship between data and effective decision making. In the trading space, analytics are applied in a predictive manner in an attempt to more accurately forecast the price. This predictive model of analytics generally involves the analysis of historical price patterns that are used in an attempt to determine certain price outcomes. Analyt Read this Term research facility. It was created by the UK government in collaboration with IBM in 2012.

IBM has already been getting its hands on the blockchain through its ongoing development of the Internet of Things. It has also reportedly been working on a government-backed digital currency system, powered by the blockchain, for which it was reportedly seeking the cooperation of central banks.

London, a global leader in FinTech, has also recently become a hotbed for blockchain innovation. Most recently, UK-based Barclays announced its opening of two blockchain labs. UBS, which unveiled its blockchain lab at Canary Wharf’s Level39 FinTech space earlier this year, recently reported its development of a 'Utility Settlement Coin', a prototype for settling transactions among multiple financial institutions.