THE TEAM
Centre Leads
The Scottish Centre of Excellence integrates with three internationally leading research labs in Digital Trust and DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology). It includes a partnership between Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh University, and Glasgow University, as well as a collaboration with FinTech Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.
The leads with the Centre include:
Prof Bill Buchanan, Edinburgh Napier University.
Prof Aggelos Kiayias, University of Edinburgh..
Prof Lei Zhang, University of Glasgow.
Nanik Ramchandani, Edinburgh Napier University.
3
Leading Labs
Prof Bill Buchanan
Director
Awarded an OBE for services to Cybersecurity and Innovation, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FSRE)
Prof Aggelos Kiayias
Lead, UoE
Lead for the Blockchain Lab at the University of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).
Prof Lei Zhang
Lead, UoG
Professor of Trustworthy Systems (Autonomous Systems & Connectivity) at the University of Glasgow.
Nanik Ramchandani
Chief Executive
Extensive track record of enterprise and innovation, including over 20 years of experience in the finance industry.
Prof Sukanlaya Sawang
Enterprise
Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier University. As the founding Director of the Centre for Business Innovations and Sustainable Solutions (CBISS)
William (Bill) Buchanan is a Professor of Applied Cryptography in the School of Computing, Edinburgh and the Built Environment at Edinburgh Napier University. He is a Fellow of the BCS and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. Bill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to cybersecurity, and, in 2024, he was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). In 2023, he received the “Most Innovative Teacher of the Year” award at the Times Higher Education Awards 2023 (the “Oscars of Higher Education”), and was awarded “Cyber Evangelist of the Year” at the Scottish Cyber Awards in 2016 and 2025. Bill has led research which has led to four successful spin-out companies (Zonefox, Symphonic, Cyacomb and MemCrypt.
Aggelos Kiayias is a professor at the University of Edinburgh and the chief science officer at Input Output Global (formerly IOHK). He received his PhD in 2002 from City University of New York. He is chair in cyber security and privacy, and director of the Blockchain Technology Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh. In 2021, Aggelos was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), and was recently awarded the BCS Lovelace Medal 2024 for his transformative contributions to the theory and practice of cyber security and cryptography. H works in areas of blockchain technology and distributed systems, cryptography, e-voting and secure multiparty protocols, as well as privacy-enhanced identity management.
Lei Zhang is a Professor of Trustworthy Systems at the University of Glasgow. He received his PhD degree from the University of Sheffield in Sept. 2011. He joined the University of Glasgow in Jul. 2017 as a Lecturer and was promoted to Senior Lecturer and then Professor in Aug. 2022. Prior to joining University of Glasgow, he was a Research Fellow at the 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC, Now 6GIC), University of Surrey until Jun. 2017. Professor Lei Zhang’s research interests mainly focus on modelling, analysing, designing, optimising and implementing Trustworthy Connected Systems by considering digital connectivity, fault tolerance, resilience, reliability, security, privacy and safety. Dr Zhang has academia and industry combined research experience on 3G/4G/5G/6G telecommunications and networks, and trustworthy distributed systems for IoT, blockchain, consensus, and connected autonomous systems.
Nanik Ramchandani is an entrepreneur with over twenty-years experience in the financial services industry, managing wealth, and advising families on global investments. Passionate about building solutions to solve the biggest challenges of our time. A strong believer in ‘technology for good’ and its impact in shaping a better world. Worked, studied, and lived in 12 cities. MBA from INSEAD and IIM Calcutta. Member of Mensa UK. Current interests in fintech, cybersecurity, and distributed ledger technology based innovations. Nanik is currently the CEO at LastingAsset, a Trust-tech business on a mission to counter fraud. Chief Executive (part-time) at the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust and DLT, a pioneering collaboration to boost the Scottish economy by increasing the adoption of Trust-tech.
Sukanlaya (pronounced su-kan-la-ya) Sawang is Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier University. As the founding Director of the Centre for Business Innovations and Sustainable Solutions (CBISS), she leads multidisciplinary research initiatives that foster trust, transparency, and resilience in digital and business ecosystems — key priorities aligned with the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust and DLT. Her research focuses on innovation adoption, business wellbeing, digital transformation, and ethical technology use, with particular emphasis on how emerging technologies can support the development of sustainable and trustworthy systems. Alongside her academic leadership, Professor Sawang provides expert advice to businesses on growth, digital transformation, and responsible innovation through Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects and entrepreneurship initiatives. With over 4,000 citations and a strong record of publication in leading journals, her work advances the responsible adoption of innovation and contributes to building more sustainable, digitally enabled societies.