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11. March 2021The European Blockchain Institute has initiated a research partnership with Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. This makes the university part of the European blockchain network, which aims to further develop promising applications around the technology, including customs and hazardous goods processing.
(Dortmund) The European Blockchain Institute (Blockchain Europe) is now living up to its name: Researchers at the Dortmund location have now brought on board their first international scientific cooperation partner, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The partners will jointly research topics such as customs or hazardous goods processing, which can be made tamper-proof using blockchain technology. For this research area, data and knowledge from other European countries are essential to help breakthrough cross-border applicable technologies.
Helping Blockchain Technology Breakthrough Across Europe
“We are very pleased to have Windesheim University of Applied Sciences as an international research partner who will develop and validate use cases for blockchain technology together with us. Only through exchange at the European level can we meet the requirements from other countries and thus help blockchain technology achieve a breakthrough across Europe. We set out with this goal in May 2020, and this international research cooperation is an important step towards that, with more to follow in the coming months,” emphasizes Prof. Michael Henke, head of the institute at Fraunhofer IML.
In collaboration, the researchers aim to further expand the European blockchain network, where so-called blockchain nodes are operated at different locations. Additionally, an open-source database is to be created that maps projects from Germany and the Netherlands. The project partners continue to work on various use cases where blockchain technology can be applied. The focus is on supply chain management. “With the help of blockchain, we can monitor the journey from potato to fries and check whether, for example, the cold chain has been maintained from the processing process to delivery to retail,” explains Maximilian Austerjost, who coordinates the cooperation on the German side as project manager of Blockchain Europe.
Expanding Networks
With the cooperation, both teams can also expand their respective networks in Europe. Through the co-design of the Blockchain Living Lab “Spark!”, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences already has a broad network of blockchain-enthusiastic companies and research institutions in the Netherlands.
At the European Blockchain Institute, Fraunhofer IML, the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST, as well as the chairs for corporate logistics and for materials handling and storage at the Technical University of Dortmund are set to significantly advance blockchain technology. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization, and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia has been funding the project since May 2020 with around 7.7 million euros.
Graphic: © Fraunhofer IML
