Leading the way forward
The University of Nicosia (UNIC) was the world’s first university to formulate a holistic strategy in leveraging the ground-breaking nature and disruptive potential of blockchains in 2013. It has since announced a Digital Currency Initiative (2013), launched a full MSc degree in Digital Currency (2014) and a series of professional development courses on blockchains (2015). Further, it has proposed to the Cypriot Government a comprehensive framework for developing Cyprus into a hub for blockchain research and innovation development1.
Furthermore, UNIC is a member of the Blockchain Education Network (https://blockchainedu.org/), a group of prestigious universities around the world coordinating their student-led activities on blockchain research and experimentation and has established relations with MIT (Digital Currency Initiative at the MIT Media Lab) on their projects Blockcerts (an open standard for verifying academic certificates on the blockchain) and the BSafe network. UNIC has been a global pioneer in these issues as it was the first institution to verify certificates via blockchain in summer 20142. Moreover, UNIC in collaboration with Global Training (https://globaltraining.org/), has launched a Blockchain Training Series which brings together some of the world’s foremost academic and business experts to build the largest portfolio of Continuous Professional Development courses on blockchains to date. In addition, they collaborate with Australia’s leading legal experts on blockchain technology (www.adroitlawyers.com.au) on regulatory aspects of blockchain and with renowned experts, such as Andreas Antonopoulos, author of “Mastering Bitcoin”, Charles Evans, Associate Professor of Finance and Economics at Barry University (USA), Ghassan Karame, Manager & Chief Researcher of the Security Group at NEC Corporation (Germany), and others, on course delivery and consulting. Relationships have also been established with other top universities such as Imperial College London, George Mason University, University College London and Boston University and large organizations and associations such as Accentureand the Association of Financial Professionals (AFP-USA).
What are blockchains?
Blockchains represent a core segment of technology innovations that create significant opportunities for a major and disruptive refresh of a wide spectrum of infrastructure and applications. Blockchains can be radically disruptive on their own, as well as underpin other innovations, such as smart contracts and the Internet of Things. Among the compelling cases of using blockchains to innovate existing markets and processes are: finance (e.g. redesigning clearing and settlement systems), real estate (create tamper-proof records of home/land ownership), voting (increasing transparency and combating fraud), health (enabling individuals, health care providers and medical researchers to securely share electronic health data, without compromising patient privacy), shipping (using blockchains to streamline and secure cross-border supply chain operations), and many others. For the first time in history, a technology exists that allows an unmediated process of transparent and incorruptible activity, while keeping sensitive personal or business information private and secure. It has been called ‘the World Wide Ledger’ by D. Tapscott, who maintains that ‘with its advent, we will not need to trust each other in the traditional sense because trust is built into the system itself’3 – a truly revolutionary phenomenon that the Economist has called ‘the trust machine’4. The phenomenon will have profound consequences for the world, just like the Internet had a couple of decades ago, enabling new forms of finance (digital currencies, like Bitcoin), new forms of commerce (such as machine-to-machine transactions) and new forms of economic organization (such as decentralized autonomous organizations).
This disruptive potential, coupled with the complex and far-reaching nature of blockchains, has created significant interest and research. Governments, public policy makers and organizations are formulating blockchain engagement strategies, realizing that, those that do so first, will gain a significant advantage in this fast-changing ecosystem. The EU Parliament passed a resolution on virtual currencies (VCs) and blockchains (DLT) on 26 May 20165, which ‘stresses that VCs and DLT have the potential to contribute positively to citizens’ welfare and economic development’, while at the same time ‘notes that VCs and DLT schemes entail risks which need to be addressed appropriately so as to enhance their trustworthiness’. Moreover, it has approved a task force dedicated to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies6. Similarly, the US Congress has launched the so-called Congressional Blockchain Caucus on 26 September 2016. According to Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)7, ‘the blockchain has boundless potential: from cryptocurrencies to supply chains to banking to property titling, blockchain-based solutions have the ability to decentralize cybersecurity and revolutionize many industries. It is vital for Americans, businesses, and members of Congress to learn about blockchain so the U.S. can continue to secure its stance as the global leader of ingenuity’.
At the same time, central banks and financial services authorities are also actively researching blockchains. For instance, the Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has reportedly ‘encouraged her fellow central bankers to accelerate their studies of new financial technologies, specifically mentioning bitcoin, the blockchain, and other distributed ledgers’ in a closed-to-the-press event, attended by representatives from more than 90 central banks in June 20168. Similarly, the European Central Bank has stated that it ‘intends to assess their [“blockchain” or “distributed ledger technologies”] relevance for the different services it provides to the banking communities (payments, securities settlement as well as collateral)’9.
Such interest points to an immediate and urgent need to study blockchains and develop world-class know-how and innovation leadership at the European level. Achieving excellence and world leadership in this field may prove to be a significant driver of economic growth in the future, contributing positively to consumer welfare and financial inclusion.
Why Cyprus?
Cyprus is an ideal base for this, since the country, despite its small size, can already claim to be among the leading global players in the emerging field of blockchain research, education, innovation, and technology development. Indeed, the Digital Currency Initiative of the University of Nicosia has gained worldwide attention and coverage from various media, including the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Time, USA Today, Euronews, France 24, Reuters, Wired, and many others10. Similarly, the launch of the world’s first MSc in Digital Currency has propelled the University of Nicosia into a league of a few select universities in the world that provide academic education related to blockchains – further to the University of Nicosia and the Universty of Cambridge, this group includes universities such as MIT, New York University, Princeton University, Duke University, McGill University and a few other world-class institutions.
Moreover, it must be noted that Cyprus, taking into account its unique characteristics, has designed, developed and currently deploys its customized Smart Specialization strategy, referred to as S3Cy. S3Cy approaches research, technological development and innovation as a set of tools ‘for the amplification and enhancement of the efforts initiated for overcoming the current economic crisis and as an important diachronic agent for the restructuring and post-evolution of the Cyprus economy and society’11. Within this context, the S3Cy primary objectives include, among others, the development of new competitive infrastructures and centres of excellence, the strengthening of the RTDI system in order to produce high calibre results that can be used for increasing the competitiveness of the economy, and the development of linkages and synergies with research centres, higher education institutions, businesses, policy makers and others. With Cyprus already having achieved worldwide recognition of its leading position in blockchain research and innovation, the development of a Centre of Excellence is seen as a natural step forward that will be a significant driver of the realization of S3Cy.
UNIC aims to unlock the blockchain potential via a Center of Excellence (CoE) based in Cyprus. It aims at the formation of a three-dimensional ecosystem of stakeholders (researchers, businesses, and the Cypriot state) that will gather in and around the CoE to actively pursue knowledge creation, exchange, and commercialization. Unlocking this potential will have profound positive consequences for the competitiveness of the economy, the creation of jobs, and the global positioning of Cyprus and of the EU as a whole.
[1] https://digitalcurrency.unic.ac.cy/media-coverage/unic-digital-currency-initiative/
[2] https://www.coindesk.com/university-nicosia-issues-block-chain-verified-certificates/
[3] https://blockchain-revolution.com
[7] https://polis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398230
[10] https://digitalcurrency.unic.ac.cy/media-coverage/
[11] Smart Specialization Strategy for Cyprus,
https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/10157/443591/S3CY_Executive%20Summary_EN.pdf
