IOTA Launches DLT Research & Innovation Network From Norway

Norway has always been world-leading in adopting digital technologies across both the public and private sectors and is now awaking to the potential of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT). The IOTA Foundation has teamed up with leading Norwegian clusters, research, and academic institutions to create a new DLT research and innovation network.

Taking its roots in 2016, the network took shape under the lead of Wilfried Pimenta of the IOTA Foundation through an open innovation process and a series of IOTA workshops hosted at partner facilities focused on the IOTA Tangle for eHealth.

Alpha Venturi workshop on Blockchain in eHealth at Oslo Cancer Cluster, 2016

Initiated together with Oslo Medtech, Oslo Cancer Cluster, NTNU CCIS, The Norwegian Centre for E-Health Research, and Alpha Venturi (network manager), the network has the ambition to grow as an international cross-industry network of research and academia experts involved with DLT research and innovation.

David Sønstebø, the Founder of IOTA, who is originally from Norway, and Wilfried Pimenta are both directly involved with key Norwegian and Nordic stakeholders, from both the public and private sectors. Dr. Navin Ramachandran from the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, and also a member of the IOTA Foundation, specializes in the use of distributed ledgers in healthcare. The new network will grow as a key contributor to the region’s transition to the digital economy.

We will kickstart by addressing the eHealth opportunities through a series of workshops and events. The network will be launched on the 21st of June 2017 in Oslo at a joint event where DLT technologists, European eHealth experts from the partnership together with the EU Commission (DG CONNECT), Microsoft, SINTEF, and the Digital Health Revolution initiative (Finland) will explore the potential for DLT in eHealth.

The official Press Release can be found here.
You can reach out to the network manager here.

Founding partners of this initiative include:

IOTA Foundation is a non-profit foundation with the purpose of developing, maintaining, and standardizing new open-source protocols based on distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The IOTA tangle provides a revolutionary open-source DLT which is scalable and lightweight, and makes it possible to transfer value or data without any fees.

Alpha Venturi is a Norwegian strategic innovation and venture launchpad specialising in Distributed Ledger Technologies.

Oslo Medtech is a Norwegian health innovation cluster aimed at enabling high-quality care by developing and industrializing world-class health solutions through our members and ecosystem, both for the Norwegian and global healthcare market. The cluster has over 200 members and the full health value chain is represented.

Oslo Cancer Cluster is an oncology research and industry cluster dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by accelerating the development of new cancer diagnostics and medicines. It is a national non-profit member organization with about 90 Norwegian and international members, representing the entire oncology value chain.

NTNU Center for Cyber and Information Security (CCIS) is a national center for research, education, and competence development in cyber and information security. The center is hosted and operated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and unites 25 public and private partners.

The Norwegian Centre for E-health Research is tasked with contributing to a common national ICT solution for health and care services. The new research and assessment center collects, produces, and communicates knowledge required by the authorities to develop a knowledge-based policy on e-health.