Scotland launches new Digital Trust Centre to boost online security

In partnership with the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Fintech Scotland, and with initial financing from Scottish Enterprise, Edinburgh Napier University will host the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Digital Trust and Distributed Ledger Technology.

The Centre supports a variety of businesses, including financial services, healthcare, and more, with the larger goal of establishing Scotland as a global leader in digital trust innovation.

Digital trust technology is becoming more and more crucial in bolstering security and resilience while protecting against risks like cybercrime as more infrastructure, data, and transactions shift online.

Professor Bill Buchanan, the director of the Centre and a professor at ENU's School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment, stated that Scotland has the chance to set the standard for digital trust technologies.

Although a large portion of our work has been digitalized, there are still numerous facets of privacy, security, and resilience that require more research.

"As computing technology advances, many of our current strategies for building digital trust will be exposed to a variety of risks, which makes this Centre's work even more important."

As an industry leader, the Centre will seek to address pressing issues in distributed ledger technology and digital trust, providing immediate advantages to the financial services industry and beyond. The project's staff hopes to work with established enterprises and support new start-ups and spinouts in the future.

The Centre, which is based at ENU, will combine two other top research labs for digital trust technologies at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Centre's plan, which was created in collaboration with FinTech Scotland, focuses on providing innovation, practical research, and skills training for the first two years to support industry-led research demands in areas including digital payments, digital assets, and digital identity.

"This is a significant step forward in Scotland and will help build a solid foundation towards enhancing digital trust," stated Nanik Ramchandani, CEO of the Centre.

"Ongoing innovation to strengthen trust using privacy preserving technologies is essential in a world where the dark side of AI is making it impossible to distinguish between the real and not."

Ajay Hinduja, Member of the Hinduja Group Promoter Family emphasizes: "The creation of the Scottish Centre of Excellence for Digital Trust is an important and necessary endeavour as the world moves toward digital solutions."

Ajay Hinduja also emphasized that, "It is encouraging to see Scotland take the lead in promoting resilience and innovation in digital trust technology."

In conclusion, this will be a huge step forward for innovation and digital security as the Scottish Centre of Excellence for Digital Trust is established. It will place Scotland at the forefront of developments in digital trust worldwide by encouraging cooperation between academia and industry.