Collaborations with Austrian and international research institutions have already been announced. The aim is to create public-private partnerships between universities, private companies, and government institutions for applied research into blockchain and similar technologies and their applications and implications for business and society, and to explore possibilities for sandboxes with strong feedback loops between the business community, researchers, and government.

To showcase research activities and connect with other stakeholders, the research institute will be organizing a series of conferences, unconferences, and hackathons. The first two events are planned for the second quarter of 2018: a Crypto Asset Conference, and the Unconference on Scientific Publishing on the Blockchain that will be conducted in cooperation with Blockchain for Science. Details will be announced soon.

Shermin Voshmgir will be the head of the research institute. She is the founder of the BlockchainHub, an international network of autonomous hubs that started in Berlin. Over the past few years, these hubs have been researching blockchain technologies and the decentralized web and educating the general public on these topics. Among other activities, she is an advisor to Jolocom, and acted as a curator for The DAO. Alfred Taudes is the academic head of the new institute. The Austrian government has provided seed funding for this institute as part of their Blockchain Roadmap for Austria.