Dr. Susan Rea Appointed Vice-Chair of IEEE UK & Ireland Blockchain Group
The Nimbus Research Centre extends our congratulations to our Principal Investigator Dr. Susan Rea who has been appointed Vice-Chair of the IEEE UK & Ireland Blockchain Group; UK & RoI section of the global IEEE Blockchain Initiative. This reflects Susan’s high international profile in research and in Blockchain in particular. Susan took some time to speak to us more on being awarded this fantastic new role.
Why did you get involved in the IEEE blockchain group?
It aligns with my own research interests and is a great opportunity to promote professional networking, growing collaborations between academia and industry to leverage the full potential of blockchain in driving digital transformation.
What excites you most about the emerging technology?
The focus for the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative is to develop a more human-centric Internet, supporting the core values of decentralisation, openness, inclusiveness and privacy protection with the objective of giving the control back to the end-users, in particular of their data. Blockchain is a key enabling technology in realising the NGI as it enables more decentralised, trusted, user-centric digital services, which can stimulate new business models for the benefit of both society and the economy.
What are you most excited about your new role?
New collaborations and the opportunity to lead initiatives that contribute to the development and promotion of blockchain technology across scientific and industrial communities.
Who would benefit from the IEEE blockchain group, how can they get involved/ in touch with you?
This is an opportunity for anyone interested in blockchain technology, from early stage researchers to industry experts, to drive the evolution of blockchain from the technology, business, regulatory and societal perspectives.
Susan Rea is a principal investigator at the Nimbus Centre at Cork Institute of Technology where her current research interests focus on Internet of Things & Cyber Physical Systems, specifically embedded infrastructure management using distributed ledger technology and cybersecurity for large-scale next generation networks.
She leads research programs in the area of networks and distributed systems for smart cities applications with more than 14 years of research management experience. She has been actively involved in several EU-funded & national projects in these areas and is currently the lead investigator of the DigiBlocks project funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland under the SEAI Research, Development & Demonstration Funding Programme 2018 (18/RDD/262). DigiBlocks investigates the application of Blockchain technology to district scale energy services in order to provide a trusted mechanism for data provenance, traceability and verification. In addition she drives client engagement and support for EU funding acquisition to support the research activities of the Nimbus Centre, securing funding from National and EU sources.
Who are the IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group
“IEEE’s core purpose is to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. They will be essential to the global technical community and to technical professionals everywhere, and be universally recognized for the contributions of technology and of technical professionals in improving global conditions. IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group was founded in November 2018 to focus on IEEE Blockchain Initiative (BCI), such as Pre/Standards, Education, Conferences and Events, Community Development and Outreach, Publications, and Special Projects for our UK and Ireland Section.
Blockchain, as a disruptive technology, is a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary specialism. It is by far the most forward thinking, impactful, and disruptive emerging technology family that the Future Directions Committee and the IEEE has sought to embrace.
The vision of the IEEE UK & Ireland Blockchain Group is for an active and dynamic forum focused on member value. The aim is to serve as a forum for professional networking, learning, and growth for our IEEE UK and Ireland members in the rapidly emerging Blockchain field and to organise events covering the start-of-the-art Blockchain technology and applications” – IEEE UK and Ireland Blockchain Group
If you are interested in becoming a member of this group please see: https://www.ieee-ukandireland.org/member-centre/
