Scotland has taken a significant step towards becoming a global leader in digital trust with the launch of a new Centre of Excellence dedicated to making the digital world safer and more resilient.

Edinburgh Napier University is hosting the new Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust and Distributed Ledger Technology, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, and FinTech Scotland, with initial funding from Scottish Enterprise.

The Centre will look to deliver immediate benefits to the financial services sector and beyond, with the team behind the project hoping it will go on to support new start-up and spin-out companies, while working alongside established firms.

Developed alongside FinTech Scotland, the Centre’s initial two-year focus is on delivering actionable research and skills training to support industry-led research calls around areas such as digital payments, digital assets, and digital identity. It will bring together three world-class research labs: Edinburgh Napier’s Blockpass ID Lab, the Blockchain Technology Lab from the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Glasgow’s Trustworthy Connected Systems Lab.

Professor Bill Buchanan, Director of the Centre, framed the stakes clearly:

“We have digitised a great deal of our work, but many aspects of privacy, security and resilience still need to be fully understood. Advances in computing technology will see many of our existing methods of establishing digital trust facing a range of risks, making the work of this Centre all the more significant.“

Nanik Ramchandani, former CEO of the Centre, pointed to the urgency of the challenge:

“In a world where the dark side of AI is making it impossible to distinguish between the real and not, continued innovation to strengthen trust using privacy-preserving technologies is essential.“

The Centre is designed to capitalise on a significant economic opportunity. It aims to unlock the £4.3 billion opportunity for Scotland through the adoption of blockchain technologies, as outlined by the Scottish Blockchain Roadmap, published by the Digital Trust Taskforce in 2023.

The Centre’s aims also align closely with the 2022 FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap published by FinTech Scotland, which highlighted the importance of advancing technologies in digital payments, digital identity, and secure digital assets.

Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland, described the Centre as:

“another important tool that helps us showcase Scotland’s leadership in fintech and digital innovation (…) This initiative complements the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap, developing new technologies that will shape the future of finance and the wider economy”.

While based at Edinburgh Napier University, the Centre’s scope and ambition extend across the UK and beyond, supporting sectors as diverse as finance, energy, healthcare, and public services.