A Monash University-led group of blockchain technology researchers from Australia and the Pacific region has secured a spot for a USD 50 million (AUD 71.8 million) grant funding from the Algorand Centres of Excellence (ACE) Program.
Placing among the grant’s 10 global winners, the group will use the funding to support its five-year Sustainability Informatics for the Pacific project, which seeks to develop sustainable and innovative blockchain technology for the Pacific region.
Associate Professor Joseph Liu, the project’s lead and director of the Monash Blockchain Technology Centre, said in a statement that their ACE seeks to create a significant real-world impact on the Pacific region “built on a foundation of research, education and community-led participation and support,”
Liu noted that although blockchain technologies are primarily associated with cryptocurrency, they also possess potential benefits for a variety of industries, such as renewable energy optimisation, creating a fair platform for carbon trading, and strengthening supply chains for food and agriculture.
“As part of the Pacific family, we want to ensure that Australia and the region benefit from the best collaborative research for stronger and sustainable technological resources.”
The Monash-led project includes researchers from the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney, Swinburne University of Technology, the University of Fiji, the University of the South Pacific, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Oceania Cyber Security Centre and ClimateWorks Centre.
The ACE will collaborate with Pacific and Australian communities through consultation and training workshops, hackathons, and community meetups to ensure the delivery of support, as well as the long-term community sustainability beyond the lifetime of the ACE.
The ACE award program was launched by the US-based Algorand Foundation in an effort to scale the Algorand ecosystem, a carbon-negative blockchain invented by Silvio Micali, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Turing Award winner.
Hugo Krawczyk, ACE program head and principal researcher for the Algorand Foundation, said the selection process for the program’s final winners was incredibly difficult with the massive number of applications that his organisation received.
“We are delighted to see how many bright, talented people around the globe recognise the ability of blockchain technology to fundamentally change and better the world we live in, and we are very much looking forward to seeing the amazing work the grant recipients do in the coming months and years,” Krawczyk said.
