IBM Has Teamed Up With Columbia University To Leverage Columbia’s Academic And Scientific Networks

By Sumedha Bose

Continuing its foray deep into the blockchain space with a series of fresh moves, IBM has announced that it is now partnering with the illustrious Columbia University to develop its blockchain prowess more effectively by taking help from the best minds of Columbia. The brand new Columbia-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency, as it is called, aims to bring together the sharpest brains, the “leading thinkers” as Hybrid Cloud Senior Vice-President and IBM Research Director Arvind Krishna called them, to implement the most superior
techniques in the blockchain sector.

This appears to be a particularly great opportunity for developers and innovators as this new “innovation accelerator” becomes open to students, faculty members and the members of the larger community of startups. After having successfully conducted a series of bank transfers using blockchain in the last two weeks, notably in
collaboration with major players like HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Rabobank etc, IBM is out to make the best of its magnificent and frankly stupefying momentum.

Revealing a side that caters to not just the business aspect but also the academic facet of the Blockchain, IBM has also announced the launch of a 12 week long online course as free certificate courses that will be taught by Praveen Jayachandran, an IBM India researcher, and co-signed by IBM.

IBM is also preparing to throw its weight behind a stablecoin. The coin in question is the Stronghold USD, competing against the Tether (USDT) that has recently seen quite a bit of controversy. CNBC has reported that Stronghold USD has a solid potential to outshine Tether since it is backed by genuine reserves of US dollars that are legitimately insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, if we are to consider the fire that stablecoins are often known to come under, it is still only a matter of speculation and conjecture whether or not the IBM stablecoin can truly outshine its competitors and fulfill the promises it made.

The fact that Columbia University has tied up with IBM to lend its intellectual backing to the blockchain space proves that the overall trend of Ivy League colleges bringing in their high-flying talent into crypto and Blockchain is anything but a mere fad. Indeed, schools like Duke, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc., are only some of the major institutes that have begun offering courses in virtual currency and blockchain technology.

Sumedha Bose

Sumedha uses words as her crutch to get by in life. She takes a keen interest in debating, dancing and destroying the patriarchy in her free time.

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