The Blockchain Research Insitute just added 16 powerful allies, FedEx and Tencent among them

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There are now over 50 companies in the alliance working on 70 research projects which will all be released and free for all to use.

In March this year, a league of industry giants came together for a common goal: blockchain research. Blockchain Research Institute is a Toronto-based non-profit project founded by big companies, including Accenture and IBM.

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and the Chamber of Digital Commerce are also members of the think tank which was initiated by Blockchain Revolution co-authors Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott. They have been delegated to minimize redundancy in the industry: “We don’t want to duplicate anything that’s already being done,” Don Tapscott said in an earlier interview.

And now, only seven months since its conception, the research effort has gained 16 more allies, bringing the total member companies to over 50. FedEx, Tencent, Deloitte Canada, Barrick Gold, and Fujitsu are among its newest members.

Tencent‘s blockchain CEO Ray Guo believes this allegiance will be a significant catalyst for the advancement of blockchain technology. “Blockchain Research Institute provides a great platform for Tencent and other members of the institute to carry out Blockchain research and discussion, which is of great significance to Tencent and the industry. We believe that the Blockchain+ era is coming!”

Michelle Ash, chief innovation officer at Barrick Gold thinks the research will be highly beneficial in ushering in mass adoption in industries. “Blockchain is a transformational technology that every industry and organization needs to understand. The best way we have found to understand the impact is to take part in shaping it.”

According to their press release, 70 projects are currently in progress focusing on a variety of areas they refer to as “vertical opportunities,” including financial services, manufacturing, retail, energy and resources, technology, media, healthcare and government.

The best part about it? Their research will be published and free for all to use, share, and build work upon as they will be released under a creative commons license.