Dortmund Home to New European Blockchain Institute
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The European Blockchain Institute is currently being set up in Dortmund. Partners are the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering (ISST) as well as the Chair of Enterprise Logistics and the Chair of Materials Handling and Warehousing of TU Dortmund University. The regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia has granted funds of € 7.7 million for the new institute.
The digitalization of the economy is leading to new business models and more efficient work processes. Blockchain technology plays an important role here. To further advance its technical application especially in logistics, the European Blockchain Institute is being set up in Dortmund. On Tuesday, 5 May 2020, Professor Andreas Pinkwart, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy, presented the grant agreement to Professor Michael ten Hompel and Professor Michael Henke.
“An important contribution beyond our region’s borders”
Minister Pinkwart said: “We find ourselves on the threshold of a new stage in the digitalization of the economy. Technologies such as blockchain, the internet of things or artificial intelligence are changing business and commerce radically and opening up completely new possibilities for enterprises. The European Blockchain Institute will give a significant boost especially to the logistics sector in North Rhine-Westphalia and also make an important contribution beyond our region’s borders.”
Blockchain technology facilitates safe, decentralized and transparent data storage. This allows enterprises to share data from peer to peer and to maintain their digital sovereignty at all times. The European Blockchain Institute’s mission is to explore the practical application of blockchain technology in logistics. The goal is to make a wide variety of application examples available for the entire sector in North Rhine-Westphalia via an open source platform.
International focus
An example for a blockchain application in logistics is the smart Euro pallet: In place of consignment notes in paper form and protracted, manual invoicing processes, goods can be invoiced in real time with the help of a blockchain. With several hundred million Euro pallets and thousands of logistics companies in the region, blockchain technology offers genuine added value.
The institute has an international focus and will have a team of 25 staff. This will further strengthen the region’s excellent ecosystem, which only recently won first place for the Digital Hub Logistics in the Champions Challenge of the European Digital Innovation Hubs.
With around € 6.8 million, the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) has been allocated most of the regional government’s funding. € 280,000 will go to the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering (ISST), € 260,000 to the chair for enterprise logistics of TU Dortmund University and € 350,000 to its chair for materials handling and warehousing.