Blockchain Center

The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is a think tank and research center which investigates implications of the blockchain technology, crypto assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) for companies and their business models. Besides the development of prototypes, it serves as a platform for managers, startups, technology and industry experts to share knowledge and best practices. The Blockchain Center also provides new research impulses and develops trainings for students and executives. It focuses on banking, finance, mobility and, “Industrie 4.0”.

Workshop "Landesgruppe Hessen des Blockchain Bundesverbands e.V" on June 25, 2019, in Frankfurt: To energize the blockchain scene in Hessen, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center organizes a workshop to discuss the continuous disruption of the blockchain technology. At the moment, startups are using the decentralized approach, combined with data autonomy to provide new values to customers and to open up sources of income for data suppliers. At the event, an open discussion will take place about the legislative proposal on the regulation of crypto assets, updates on new electronic securities act and more. Experts in the field such as Alireza Siadat (Simmons & Simmons), Alexandra Rimpu (Commerzbank AG), Thomas Hempel (Commerzbank AG), Oliver Nägele (Blockchain Helix), and Roman Kessler (Make Europe), will be leading the talks.
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Course "e-Learning Master Class on Blockchain Business Strategy": Blockchain technology is mostly associated with crypto currencies in public discussion, especially Bitcoin. It remains a widely discussed topic due to significant uncertainty, to what this technology is all about. Blockchain technology has thought proved its potential to be a solution to almost every problem of digital infrastructure. This course aims to provide participants with comprehensive knowledge about the concept and capabilities of blockchain technology from a potential business perspective. Participants will learn about best practices and how a blockchain project can be successfully implemented through the analysis of real case studies and use cases. The course is developed for business strategy professionals, business developers, finance professionals, entrepreneurs.
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Course "Certified Blockchain Expert" from September 25, 2019, to January 20, 2020, in Frankfurt: This course is designed for everybody who wants to acquire IT and business skills in blockchain technology. The course has an IT track and a business track such that it is suitable for both IT experts and business developers who seek to understand blockchain technology and crypto currencies. Among others, we focus on the Ethereum and the Hyperledger platforms. From an IT perspective, this includes writing smart contracts and decentralised applications (DApps). Further, from a business perspective, we provide an understanding of the variety of possible blockchain use cases and business models. The program consists of two 4-day weeks and a final term paper.
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Research

• Joint research projects with corporates

• Studies on blockchain applications

• Compiling technical whitepapers

Community

• Well established network in the DLT/blockchain ecosystem in Germany, Europe and Asia

• Organization of conferences, meetups, seminars and webinars

• Workshops for top managers and decision makers

Education

• Lectures about DLT and blockchain for bachelor, master and MBA courses

• Supervision of theses on various blockchain-related topics

• Certificate program to become a blockchain experts

• Digital Innovation and Fintech: dedicated bachelor program

Prototypes

• Development of prototypes in Ethereum, Hyperledger, R3 Corda, and IOTA

• Decision support with regard to (i) organizational and (ii) architectural IT decisions

• Support with implementation of blockchain solutions

Startups

• Advising startups on DLT/blockchain related topics

• Establishment of B2B or investor contacts for startups

• Support for marketing and public relations

The Blockchain Bundesverband (Blockchain Association Germany) promotes the use of blockchain technology at the business location Germany. The association represents interests of startups and companies that want to develop business models based on blockchain technology. The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is a founding member.

MAMA is a trade body which represents asset management companies, investors, technology providers, service providers and ecosystem players interested in working towards a new vision for asset management using blockchain and other supporting decentralized technologies. The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is a founding member.

The International Token Standardization Association (ITSA) is a non-profit organization aiming at the development and implementation of market standards for the identification, classification and analysis of DLT- and blockchain-based cryptographic tokens, including the International Token Identification Number (ITIN), the International Token Classification (ITC) framework and the International Token Database (TOKENBASE). The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center is a founding member of ITSA, contributing a large share to the aforementioned projects. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Sandner currently serves as Chairman of ITSA.

Selected publications

Comparison of Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric and Corda: With this paper, we provide a brief analysis of the most notable differences between the distributed ledger technologies (DLT) Hyperledger Fabric, R3 Corda and Ethereum. Our intention is to give decision makers new to DLT guidance for what use cases Hyperledger Fabric, Corda and Ethereum are most suitable. Read more.

Application of Blockchain Technology in the Manufacturing Industry: The following paper shows both the high potential of blockchain for the manufacturing and machine tool industry in the future, as well as the challenges that occur with that technology. Several use cases of blockchain technology will be presented and discussed in this paper. Furthermore, we want to show the conditions under which blockchain solutions might be most beneficial and if blockchain will become a key technology to transform many industries. Read more.

Solving Challenges in Developing Countries with Blockchain Technology: Blockchain technology can solve development problems as it improves existing instruments and enables the development of new ones. Blockchain-based applications particularly address institutional weaknesses and financial inclusion because they restrict deception, corruption and uncertainties. In the future, the blockchain can also be a development vehicle empowering people directly and mitigating power asymmetries. Read more.

Blockchain Technology in the Pharmaceutical Industry: With this paper, we present a blockchain-based solution to increase supply chain security for the pharmaceutical industry. Supply chain security is one aspect that has recently won attention, when the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) has been implemented in the U.S. to, amongst others, fight the counterfeit drug problem. During the second “{Life Science} meets IT” hackathon in Heidelberg a team of enthusiastic young professionals and students developed a prototype solution that is able to guard people’s life with a patient-empowering blockchain solution and won the first price with their prototype LifeCrypter. Read more.

Identifying Leading Blockchain Startups on a Worldwide Level:The blockchain startup ecosystem is unique for the interconnectedness amongst startups from different industries. Startups are in many cases the drivers of innovations. A comprehensive understanding and overview of a particular startup ecosystem can therefore be beneficial to understand which products or services are really demanded by customers. Read more.

Selected past projects

• Development of e-mobility prototype based on the blockchain technology with INVERS
• Proof of concept (PoC) on trading loans using Ethereum
• Blockchain workshop with the Advisory Board of the Deutsche Bank
• Blockchain workshop with the Board of LBBW
• Joint workshop with Deutsche Bundesbank (6th Central Banking Workshop on “Blockchain Technology: Opportunities and Challenges”)

Conferences and seminars

• Crypto Asset Conference in Frankfurt (CAC 2019)
• German Blockchain Week (GWB 2019)
• East West Crypto Conference (EWCC19)
• Crypto Startup School (CSS 2018)
• Course "Certified Blockchain Expert" (more information)
• IoT & Finance workshop in cooperation with Bosch
• 3. Forum: Blockchain im Finanzbereich

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