How blockchain can improve information-sharing in STEM fields

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Disclosure: The author is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned below.

When working on a shared project, it’s infinitely important to keep everyone on the same page. However, this becomes more difficult when group members are spread across the world. In addressing this issue, there are few tools more adept than blockchain.

One such example is Matryx, an open-source platform for decentralized collaboration in scientific research, which was recently introduced by Nanome, the creator of a virtual reality software for scientific research and development.

In fact, Matryx’s solution works for any STEM field where researchers from all over the globe work together on the same problem. The platform was created with the aim to remove the redundancies and inefficiencies that are present in the collaboration models we still use today.

“Our goal is to make Matryx the de facto standard for decentralized collaboration, proving that a global community of collaborators will yield innovation faster than work attempted in siloed teams,” said Nanome CEO Steve McCloskey.

Taking cues from blockchain

Though scientists and tech geniuses around the world have advanced the research on subjects like gene editing, virtual reality, space physics, and other modern concepts, the way they share information is still somewhat dated. It’s not uncommon for important discoveries in the field to go unheard of until the researcher puts his or her findings in a published journal or chooses to announce them at a conference or university.

For time-sensitive discoveries, like fleeting glimpses of a neutron star implosion, others might even use email or Twitter to spread the word.

Matryx and similar companies understand that blockchain allows for data to live in the public realm while allowing it to exist in a secure and verifiable state. Companies like Ripple, for example, use this blockchain benefit to create an ecosystem for financial information and transactions, while others such as Datum give users more control over how they share their data.

One important reason why the old, inefficient ways of sharing information have survived so long is that scientists, engineers, and mathematicians needed to be certain that they would be credited for whatever work they had done. This is crucial not only for receiving attention and accolades but also for acquiring the funding necessary to continue research. For such a problem, blockchain platforms kill two birds with one stone.

STEM influencers can safely host their research, products, processes, and more on the Matryx blockchain as digital assets. Because of the permanence and irrefutability of blockchain’s ledger, there can be no doubt about the order in which progress was made or about whose assets were involved in a discovery. Should a breakthrough be made, it will be effortless to trace the participants and reward them accurately for their contribution.

Even in terms of sharing smaller datasets, researchers are encouraged to exchange value via smart contracts that use MAT, a token that monetizes tighter collaboration.

Waste not, want not

There have been countless examples when studies have overlapped. Regardless of why this happened, every minute is precious when it comes to scientific discoveries. Labs working on human resilience in space, for example, would be grateful for an excuse not to run a multimillion dollar test that another team had already completed. Blockchain products like Matryx represent a possible solution to this issue.

When a particle physics scientist makes a change to his notes in Switzerland, Matryx’s network nodes are all updated and notified in real time. While his small alteration may not be significant to him, it may impact other researchers greatly.