By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 24th, 2024
Ripple now leads block-chain focused research and academia recently adding 11 top universities to its Blockchain Research Initiative targeting to benefit the whole ecosystem.
Ripple, ranked among the mature companies in the blockchain industry, is now leading developments for block-chain focused research and academia. It lets university students explore various programs besides the regular education system courses. On Feb 07, 2019, Ripple added 11 more universities to its Blockchain Initiative Program.
Their primary target is to spread awareness of blockchain and make the new disruptive technology a part of education. The global settlements network set up its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) in June 2018. Since then, they have added many institutions to the program to accelerate technical development, academic research, and innovation in the blockchain and digital payment spheres.
As we published earlier, Ripple recently partnered with the Institute for Fintech Research, Tsinghua University to offer scholarships. Now, the company is supporting 29 partners to accelerate academic research. The network has committed at least $50 million in funding, technical resources, and subject matter expertise to the first batch of university partners.
The Announcement
Announcing the news on February 7, the firm said that the UBRI program is targeting to expand the blockchain technology ecosystem. In the United States, North-eastern, Morgan State, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, Cornell, Kansas, Georgetown, and Duke Universities have joined. On the international scene, the University of Sao Paulo and the National University of Singapore have also joined.
Addressing the similar context, Ripple’s SVP of Global Operations, Eric van Miltenburg stated:
“Blockchain is an extremely transformational technology and helping advance the best minds in the world, which are already showing interest in this field, is sure to benefit the whole ecosystem.”
He also added that:
“We have added 11 new universities on this occasion and now have a total of 29 schools involved with the program. Expanding the whole ecosystem to a more global, diversified network of UBRI partners will only continue to enrich these projects.”
Many global universities have followed suit and launched internal blockchain laboratories, degree programs, and research centers. Some of the pioneers include the IT University of Copenhagen and MIT in the United States.
What it entails
Ripple is trying to benefit the whole ecosystem with this program. The aim to accelerate academic research for blockchain is excellent. This program is poised to prepare new business leaders in a plethora of fields including developers, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Besides the research program, Ripple encourages universities to host conferences, launch blockchain courses, and offer scholarships to faculties and students.
Cryptography, blockchain, digital payments, and other related approaches are on offer. Miltenburg said:
“We are placing full faith in these institutions and universities, knowing that the students and faculty are the most capable individuals in the blockchain field. We want to help speed up what is already a spark by turning that into a flame to assist these schools to move forward.”
Growth
Although the UBRI program has operated for less than a year, all partner institutions are showing signs of progress. That demonstrates Ripple’s aim of enhancing innovation in the entire blockchain space. For instance, cross-departmental collaboration has emerged at the University of California, Berkeley. A few schools within campus have funded research projects, launched relevant course-offerings, and supported student-led events and activities.
Some of the notable upcoming events include the blockchain UI/UX hackathon. These developments have led to the growth of the Ripple network around the world. Though the cryptocurrency market is still uncertain marred with many challenges, investors still want to invest in this industry. Thus, blockchain companies seem to be taking over the Fintech world.
As we announced earlier, six Blockchain companies including Coinbase and Ripple were named in Forbes Fintech 2019 List. These partnerships coupled with various developments are partially responsible for propelling the XRP token to the second spot in the market capitalization list.
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