[Munich] The Hashgraph Association, a non-profit organization accelerating the broad adoption of the Hedera network globally, and the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy (IMW) have announced a collaboration to launch an “Innovation Challenge” for researchers across all the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany to submit their ideas for solutions that have not yet been solved or insufficiently addressed by blockchain/distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the world’s leading applied research organization, while the Fraunhofer IMW is a Leipzig-based socio-economic institute. The contest will offer three innovative project ideas the opportunity to develop their research ideas and initiatives into enterprise-grade solutions and decentralized applications (dApps) on the Hedera Network.
The winning project ideas are expected to resolve real-world problems and will be selected based on criteria of utility, disintermediation, network effects, and economic benefit, while taking into consideration total number of transactions, accounts created, and total value to be locked on the Hedera network. Each winner will be awarded the opportunity to participate in the “Hashgraph Innovation Program” - a professional training and innovation program that empowers startups, enterprises, and governments around the world to develop enterprise-grade solutions on the Hedera network. The winning project ideas will receive professional coaching, engineering support, and grant funding of up to $250,000 to realize their ideas.
Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, said: “Fraunhofer’s prestige and reputation as a center of excellence in research is just one of the reasons why we have launched this innovation challenge for their application-oriented institutes and research units. In this contest, quality use cases will be rewarded above all. We have seen time and again that projects built upon a solid foundation and commitment to utility will beat those based on hyperbole and flash. The researchers at Fraunhofer are amongst the brightest minds in Europe and this contest aims to apply DLT to truly groundbreaking ideas and the co-creation of new innovative products and applications for the private and public enterprise sectors. I hope to see some special project ideas stemming from the Fraunhofer community take advantage of the vast, real-world possibilities that the Hedera network affords.”
Dr. Robin Bürger, Head of the Innovation Financing Unit at Fraunhofer IMW, said: “The Hashgraph Association and the Fraunhofer IMW share many core values: a commitment to innovation, bridging established and disruptive technologies, and producing value in the real world from research-backed initiatives. It is a privilege to host this contest with The Hashgraph Association, and we look forward to working with them to expand the horizons of human discovery enabled by distributed ledger technology.”
The DLT innovation contest will allow Fraunhofer researchers to pitch project ideas that can be implemented on the Hedera network - a responsibly governed decentralized network with the lowest carbon footprint of any blockchain/DLT network in the world today, according to a recent study conducted by the University College London (UCL). Current projects on the network include the LG ART LABS NFT platform, the NEURON Drone Surveillance Network, and The Starling Framework for Data Integrity, a comprehensive set of tools and principles that empowers organizations to securely capture, store and verify human history.
Stefan Deiss, Director of the Hashgraph Innovation Program, said: “We are excited to collaborate with Fraunhofer on this initiative and look forward to evaluating and selecting the most innovative ideas from its 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany.
