IOTA Unveils I3-Lab for Circular Economy Research at Imperial College London
IOTA, known for its decentralized distributed ledger technology focusing on the “Internet of Everything,” has announced a significant new initiative. The platform is launching I3-Lab, situated within the prestigious Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London, dedicated to advancing research in the circular economy. Details of this initiative were shared via the company’s official X account.
Today, July 3rd, 2024 marks the inauguration of I3-Lab, a part of the @ImperialDyson at @imperialcollege. This state-of-the-art facility, partly funded by an #IOTA Foundation grant, will harness digital tools for circular economy research. ⤵️
[Link to announcement]
[Image of I3-Lab]
— IOTA (@iota) July 3, 2024
In conjunction with this announcement, a dedicated blog post was also published on their website, highlighting their enthusiasm for this endeavor. I3-Lab is described as a cutting-edge research project housed at Imperial College London, with funding contributions totaling up to £1 million from the IOTA Foundation. Additional financial support is expected from Imperial College, as well as grants from the European Union and UK Research and Innovation.
The lab will be located at iCUBE, a specialized facility acting as a nucleus for advancing sustainability research. Named the Imperial IOTA Infrastructure Lab, I3-Lab will focus extensively on enhancing the circular economy through the development and deployment of digital tools.
The platform emphasizes that conventional business models often link resource consumption with economic growth, leading to unsustainable practices. The circular economy seeks to break this link by prioritizing sustainability through methods such as recycling and reuse, leveraging cutting-edge production technologies and techniques.
This initiative underscores the pivotal role of the IOTA Foundation, which has already seen its distributed ledger technology (DLT) adopted in numerous projects that aim to innovate economic models. Notably, I3-Lab aims to pioneer technologies supporting unique business and ownership models aligned with servitization.
Significant Progress Already Underway
These models enable flexible access to and sharing of materials, services, and products on demand. The project has already made substantial strides, securing funding and multiple grants for initiatives like Autofair under Horizon Europe, which includes AI algorithms for fair automated systems. Additionally, iCircular3, focusing on circularity in outdoor tools, automotive sectors, and robotics, is also part of the lab’s current efforts.
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