St Petersburg University hosts meeting of the consortium on the basis of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre

The event was attended by representatives of: OOO "Web3 Integrator"; the non-commercial partnership "RUSSOFT"; OOO "Findinamika"; AO "Computer Development Centre"; Innopolis University; the State University of Management; the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; the Sobchak International Banking Institute; and the Bonch-Bruevich St Petersburg State University of Telecommunications. Representatives of the companies AO "Nexign" and JSC "Digital Solutions", interested in cooperation with the consortium members, also presented.

At the meeting "Consortium: present and future. Opportunities and prospects for a profitable partnership", the participants described the opportunities and tasks of the organisation, and made proposals for their implementation together with the members of the consortium. Ideas were shared that could make it possible to consolidate efforts in working on new and existing projects. Since quite a large number of universities took part in the event, it was possible to discuss educational issues at the meeting. While commercial companies expressed their need for young talents, the universities spoke about the need to implement thousands of student projects that are in search of technological and financial support.

The main purpose of the meeting is to exchange ideas and proposals, the possibility of their application in the activities of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University and the consortium members.

Dmitriy Shishmakov, Head of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University

‘During the meeting we discussed issues of cooperation in the development of a decentralised system of interbank communications, and the Digital Portfolio project to name just a few. We managed to have a frank, honest conversation, and find support and ways of interaction,’ said Dmitriy Shishmakov, Head of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre at St Petersburg University.

Dmitriy Shishmakov presented the projects developed by the team of the Centre to the guests. He spoke about the logistics blockchain system "Trevo" and its expansion for identifying and monitoring the movement of cultural objects — the "Edemes" software product. He also shared the results of the work done on a decentralised system for the exchange of interbank financial messages — the analogue of the SWIFT system.

The Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre was established at St Petersburg University in 2018. Currently, it is the leading competence centre of the National Technology Initiative programme for the development of blockchain technology and ecosystems in Russia. A consortium has been created on the basis of the centre together with the non-commercial partnership "RUSSOFT", which unites leaders of scientific and educational institutions, and industrial partners.

After the discussion, it was proposed to form a field of competencies for the participants to update information about their capabilities, knowledge and experience. Agreements on research and development of product standards have become important aspects. Standardisation in the field of blockchain would greatly simplify the certification of developments. Experts stressed that the development of standards is not just a formal requirement for a product, but also an opportunity to implement their projects more effectively and increase the level of trust in them.

The meeting allowed laying the foundation for the future productive activities of the consortium for the next six months, taking into account the rapidly changing external environment. The draft roadmap prepared during the meeting will make it possible to effectively organise joint work and cooperate in the development of domestic products based on distributed ledger technologies.