Exploring Sustainable IoT with Blockchain Lab

Industrial blockchain technology IOTA has established a cutting-edge research lab at Imperial College London, with a primary focus on exploring the potential applications of its distributed ledger technology within sustainable systems across the Internet of Things (IoT).

The newly inaugurated Imperial IOTA Infrastructure Lab (I3-Lab) is dedicated to conducting research in the realm of circular economy leveraging digital tools. Situated within iCUBE, a specialized space designed to be the epicenter of sustainability research, the I3-Lab is poised to drive innovation in this field.

One of the key strengths of IOTA's distributed ledger technology lies in its versatility, as it is already being utilized in various projects that aim to revolutionize economic models. For instance, the Trade Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP), digital passports for batteries, and agricultural digital twins are just a few examples of the technology's real-world applications.

According to Dominik Schiener, chairman and co-founder of IOTA, the blockchain technology has been engineered to be energy-efficient by employing a proof-of-stake approach. Notably, a standard server has the capacity to process up to 10,000 tokens per second, with ongoing efforts within the company to enhance this throughput to 100,000 tokens per second.

The I3-Lab has already secured additional grants and funding for several noteworthy projects. These include Autofair, a Horizon Europe initiative focused on developing fair AI algorithms, iCircular3, a project delving into circularity within the realms of robotics, automobiles, and outdoor tools, and CoDiet, a research endeavor aimed at combating diet-related diseases through the use of diet-monitoring technology and personalized nutrition.

With a team comprising five PhD students and numerous senior researchers, the I3-Lab is set to expand its workforce to approximately 25 individuals. Notably, IOTA has previously supported grant work for Professor Robert Shorten at Imperial College, with Dr. Pietro Ferraro, now a part of the IOTA team, having played a pivotal role in this grant as a postdoc. Dr. Ferraro's contributions to the development of the IOTA Congestion Control algorithm and his co-authorship of several publications on IOTA underscore the caliber of talent driving innovation at the lab.

Sources: www.iota.org; www.imperial.ac.uk