The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has officially joined Hedera Hashgraph’s panoply of 39 global governing council members, confirming its place as the second academic institution to support the blockchain platform following University College London’s admission last year.

Hedera Hashgraph is an enterprise-grade distributed ledger technology designed to support the creation of new and existing web applications in the decentralized economy.

Members of its governing consortium, which comprises established industry leaders such as Google, IBM, Boeing and Chainlink Labs, among others, pledge to support Hedera’s ambitions in growing its decentralized open-source ledger network. The members fulfill this duty by setting up and maintaining nodes on the public blockchain, casting votes on critical software decisions, as well as increasing publicity for the platform’s work.

The membership model is propelled by a three-year rotation system to ensure democratic principles are maintained.

Represented in this venture by its educational philanthropy arm LSE Enterprise — designed to “enable and facilitate the application of its academic expertise and intellectual resources” — the institution will focus on advancing its development in areas of blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT). 

Having already established strong knowledge of these emerging sectors through its work with regulatory bodies and central banks, this move will further support its ambitions in transitioning academic research into real-world application.

In practice, LSE students and faculty members will be granted opportunities to attend hackathons, thought leadership seminars and research initiatives to enhance their knowledge of technologies in the sector.

Cointelegraph reached out to a senior research associate at LSE, Thamim Ahmed, for further insight into the implications of utilizing blockchain for social and sustainability initiatives. He said:

“The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis demonstrate the need for examining new models and solutions in how organizations and businesses operate and collaborate sustainably in ever uncertain times. Joining Hedera’s Governance Council among 21 other leading enterprises will provide research and innovation opportunities for LSE academics to be at the forefront of thought leadership in socially impactful new governance structures for Web 3.0 platforms.”

From Hedera’s perspective, LSE’s inclusion to the governing council will provide access to a vast network of professionals and industry contacts at the cutting edge of Web 3.0 advancements. 

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Carsten Sørensen, associate professor of information systems and innovation at LSE, shared his thoughts on the partnership:

“Joining the Hedera Governing Council provides a significant step forward in extending our research collaboration and knowledge sharing of digital transformation. In doing so, we aim to significantly extend our research footprint in understanding how DLT and blockchains can play a positive impact on society in pioneering digital sustainable projects.”

Hedera Hashgraph CEO and co-founder Mance Harmon also shared his views, stating, “As a world-renowned, top-ranked academic institution, LSE’s inclusion on the Hedera Governing Council is a fantastic development for our community and the entire decentralized economy.”