With Projeto Ilíada, from RNP, Brazil will invest in blockchain technology – Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation

With the advancement of blockchain technology, which acts as a type of decentralized database that records transactions securely and without the possibility of change, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) launched the Eliada project with the aim of accelerating its adoption in Brazil.

To this end, MCTI has invested R$23 million to create a laboratory to study the use of blockchain and how the technology can be applied in the Brazilian context. The department has partnered with the National Network for Education and Research (RNP), the Center for Research and Development in Telecommunications (CPQD), and Softex.

“The Ilíada project aims to contribute to the maturation of the blockchain ecosystem in Brazil through technological research and development actions to keep up with the latest in blockchain technology, so that the country can master the technology,” explains RNP’s Deputy Director of Research, Development and Innovation, Leandro Ciuffo, who is responsible for implementing the project.

This will be the first lab of its kind in the country, which will also have a virtual testing environment so researchers can conduct blockchain experiments in a controlled environment.

“CPQD has actively collaborated in the development of the blockchain ecosystem in Brazil. We participated, from the beginning, in the RNP’s CT-Blockchain activities, when the first ideas about the scope of the Ilíada project were born,” recalls Reinaldo Formigoni, Director of Blockchain Solutions at CPQD.

In addition to the lab, the project should also build a national blockchain observatory and create a website to aggregate information about the technology in Brazil. Through the portal, any citizen will be able to follow and contribute to the mapping of applications, research groups and companies developing blockchain-based solutions in Brazil, as well as monitor the programming of events, courses, news, studies and use cases.

Technology

Web 3.0, dubbed the “next generation of the Internet,” aims to change how online interactions happen. Instead of the current model, where services and data traffic are controlled by large corporations, this new model will feature decentralized solutions across the Internet, without any company or individual controlling it.

This provides a greater layer of security and privacy. Blockchain technology plays a key role in this model by allowing the recorded information to be stored in different locations. Therefore, it is difficult for an attacker to change or even defraud this data.

In Brazil, blockchain is already being used by companies and institutions. For example, the RNP uses the technology in its service to issue digital diplomas. The federal government is now using blockchain to issue the national identity card.

Initiative seeking researchers

The Eliada project is expected to run until January 2026, and is looking for researchers to develop a testbed that will be used for blockchain studies. Each selected group will receive up to R$132,000 to work on the project for one year.

Each group is required to be coordinated by a researcher affiliated with a public or private educational institution. Furthermore, proposals must relate to some topic of interest, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), security and privacy in blockchain, and more. Interested parties have until July 25 to register. In this linkRead the . General call for more information.

The Ilíada project will be the subject of a presentation at the BlockchainRio event, which will be held on July 24 and 25. The panel “Public Funding for Blockchain Development: MCTI and the Case of the Ilíada Project” will detail the initiative and discuss the importance of investing in blockchain.