IOG funded blockchain research initiative with University of Edinburgh create 1st decentralization index

The initiative is aimed at scientific research and establishing research standards.
In a first, the collaboration may have created a diagnostic tool for blockchains.
This follows several research initiatives associated with various universities.

New research collaboration with University of Edinburgh

A research hub in the University of Edinburgh has been funded by Input Output Global

(IOG). Input Output Group is behind the Cardano blockchain platform, a decentralized finance solution. Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood founded the for-profit company in 2015.

Previously, IOG had instituted a Blockchain Technology Lab with the Informatics Lab of the University. It has also funded such initiatives in Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania.

The research hub – called Input Output Global Research Hub – is a collaborative effort between the University of Edinburgh and IOG. Its aim is to conduct scientific research and set research standards for the distributed ledger technology and the blockchain industry.

The collaboration will focus on development in Haskell, the coding language on which Cardano is based upon. Haskell is a relatively lesser known language. It is known to be fast and mathematically pure.

Edinburgh Decentralization index (EDI)

The collaboration has created a decentralization index called Edinburgh Decentralization Index (EDI), a live tracker for the level of decentralization of blockchain networks.

In August, IOG funded a similar initiative in Stanford University – Blockchain Research Hub. In the same month, Charles Hoskinson funded the establishment of the Hoskinson Center for Formal Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Decentralization is at the heart of what makes blockchain technology so unique and so potentially revolutionary. By decentralizing a system, we’re putting power back into the hands of everyday users and investors. What we’re currently missing is universally accepted industry standards which define to what extent projects are decentralized. The EDI will allow us to ensure that users have full transparency around what they are participating in,” Hoskinson stated in a blogpost revealing the development of the index.

The EDI could also lay the groundwork for the characterization of digital assets. With some debate over how assets should be classified, decentralization has become an important factor. As a result, the EDI could become a useful tool for lawmakers and regulators.” The blogpost noted.

Researchers at Edinburgh will develop the index after examining decentralization metrics. “It will then operate in the same way as other industry indexes, such as the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index from the Cambridge Centre of Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, which provides a live tracker of how much energy the Bitcoin blockchain is consuming.” the post added.

“IOG has been working with the University of Edinburgh for some time, and I’m thrilled that this new research hub will let us continue to advance our industry,” stated Hoskinson.

“Working with leading institutions like Edinburgh to set up these blockchain research hubs is essential to our vision of making academic rigor an industry standard.”