FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Sam M. Walton College of Business Dept. of Information Systems at the Univ. of Arkansas announced on Aug. 2 that it established a Blockchain Center of Excellence.

“Our vision is to make the Walton College a premier academic leader in advocating for and educating on blockchains,” said Mary C. Lacity, the Sam M. Walton Professor in the Department of Information Systems and the new director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence.

Blockchain is a digitized method of recording and tracking the history of transactions between businesses.  When used in the food supply chain, possible benefits include speed and transparency in such areas as product recalls and product certifications.

“Our vision is to make the Walton College a premier academic leader in advocating for and educating on blockchains,” said Mary C. Lacity, the Sam M. Walton Professor in the Department of Information Systems and the new director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence.

Matt Waller, who holds the Sam M. Walton Leadership Chair in Business, said there are three goals for the center. “We will develop and establish research partnerships by conducting collaborative industry-university research, we will promote and enable dissemination of knowledge about blockchains, and we will accelerate industry adoption of blockchain technology.”

The center will benefit information systems students, as well as others across the Walton College, as the latest developments for blockchain emerge.

The Univ. of Arkansas Board of Trustees and the Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education officially approved the center in May.

 “We could not have created these opportunities for our students without the hard work of key information system faculty and the collaboration with university partners, support from the Walton College and the contributions of those in industry and state government,” said Paul Cronan, information systems professor, the M.D. Matthews Endowed Chair and founding director of the Blockchain Center of Excellence.