The European Blockchain Institute (Blockchain Europe) is now living up to its name: the scientists at the Dortmund site have now brought their first international scientific cooperation partner on board: Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. In future, the partners will conduct joint research into topics such as customs and dangerous goods processing, which can be made tamper-proof using blockchain technology. Data and knowledge from other European countries are urgently needed for this area of research in order to help cross-border technologies achieve a breakthrough.

"We are delighted to have an international research partner on board in Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, which is working with us to develop and validate use cases for blockchain technology. Only through an exchange at European level can we also meet the requirements from other countries and thus help blockchain technology achieve a breakthrough throughout Europe. We set out with this goal in May 2020 and this international research cooperation is an important step on the way there, which will be followed by others in the coming months," emphasizes Prof. Michael Henke, Institute Director at Fraunhofer IML.

The researchers want to work together to further expand the European blockchain network, in which so-called blockchain nodes (network nodes) are operated at different locations. In addition, an open source database is to be created that maps projects from Germany and the Netherlands. The project partners are continuing to work on various use cases in which blockchain technology can be used. The focus here is on supply chain management. "We can use blockchain to monitor the path from potato to fries, for example, and check whether the cold chain has been maintained from the processing stage to delivery to the retailer," explains Maximilian Austerjost, who is coordinating the cooperation on the German side as project manager of Blockchain Europe.

The cooperation will also enable both teams to expand their respective networks in Europe. Windesheim University of Applied Sciences already has a broad network of blockchain-enthusiastic companies and research institutions in the Netherlands thanks to its involvement in the "Spark!" blockchain living lab.

At the European Blockchain Institute, the Fraunhofer IML, the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST and the Chairs of Corporate Logistics and Materials Handling and Warehousing at the Technical University of Dortmund will play a key role in advancing blockchain technology. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been funding the project with around 7.7 million euros since May 2020.