March 30, 2022 Emily-Jane Hyde
Category : News

The Cyber Quarter are delighted to announce that in February, our Centre Director, Professor Prashant Pillai was appointed as the Group Chair of the IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group.

Source: IEEE UK & Ireland Blockchain Group website

The IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group was founded in November 2018 with the vision of an active and dynamic forum focused on member value. The aim of the IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group is to serve as a forum for professional networking, learning, and growth for our IEEE UK and Ireland members in the rapidly emerging Blockchain field and to organise events covering the start-of-the-art Blockchain technology and applications.

Coming from their website, “Blockchain, as a disruptive technology, is a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary specialism.  It is by far the most forward thinking, impactful, and disruptive emerging technology family that the Future Directions Committee and the IEEE has sought to embrace.“

Prashant provided us with a short interview about how he feels about his new appointment and the future of the group:

Why did you get involved in the IEEE blockchain group?

I got involved in the group for 2 reasons really. Firstly, within Cyber Quarter – The Midlands Centres for Cyber security and the University of Wolverhampton, we carry out a lot of R&D around Blockchain. We have had a few externally funded projects in this area, a granted patent and a university spin-out company Cydon Ltd. Distributed Ledger technologies including Blockchains have enormous applications across various sectors and it is a key research area for us. The second reason for getting involved was to really engage with the wider community. IEEE groups like these provide an excellent forum for bringing all professionals in an area together. This not only helps with looking into current technical challenges and future R&D opportunities, but also look at how we can train the next generation of Blockchain leaders and entrepreneurs for the country.

What are you most looking forward to in this role?

I am looking forward to working with the other committee members of the Blockchain group and help develop a series of activities for the coming year. We have setup a monthly webinar series on Blockchain and are looking at other events like a Blockchain Summer School, Blockchain accelerators and an international conference around this area.

What do you see for the future of the IEEE group? How can other people get involved?

With over 100 members in the group already, it provides an excellent platform to explore the breadth and depth of Blockchain related activities in UK and Ireland. However, as DLTs and Blockchains are still a relatively new area, we know there is a lot more that can be done regionally and nationally. We want more organisation to join the group and help shape the activities of the group. The membership is open to everyone in UK and Ireland. Anyone who is interested can directly contact us via our website or LinkedIn Group page.

The newly formed UK & Ireland Blockchain Group is currently seeking members with relevant competence and interest in all domains and specialisms. With more than 421,000 IEEE members in more than 160 countries, now is the perfect time to find out more information about IEEE and this Blockchain group. Follow the links below to stay up to date with upcoming events and activities of the group.

Website IEEE UK and Ireland Section:  https://www.ieee-ukandireland.org/

Website IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group: https://www.ieee-ukandireland.org/future-directions/blockchain/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/ieee/