On 27 July, the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW) announced that it will support an initiative with Harvard University’s Library Innovation Lab (LIL) called the “Democratizing Open Knowledge” program.Â
With FFDW’s support, LIL plans to explore decentralized technologies that can preserve digital information.
Summary
Filecoin and Harvard collaborate to improve preservation of digital information
The blockchain company, Filecoin, which in 2017 achieved an all-time record for an ICO, raising over $200 million, on 27 July announced a major project with Harvard University’s Library Innovation Lab to preserve digital information through decentralized technology.
🔖 Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web Boosts Harvard Library Innovation Lab’s Work to Democratize Open Knowledge | by Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web | Jul, 2022 | Medium https://t.co/NrtfLQNiwa
Through Democratizing Open Knowledge Project, Harvard …
— Ed Summers (@edsu) July 28, 2022
The Library Innovation Lab is an innovative project created by a group of researchers to develop new ways of distributing knowledge preserved in libraries through technology. The research group is headed by the Harvard Law School Library, which is also sponsoring it through an attractive grant aimed at participants.
The organization’s website reads:
“We’re a dynamic group of thinkers and doers working to make libraries better by exploring the countless, dimly lit pathways that connect libraries to the larger world.
We focus our energy on a handful of large multi-year projects and a number of small projects we call sketches”.
The significant project that will be implemented with input from blockchain company Filecoin, announced on 27 July, will focus on improving discovery and engagement with open source data and exploring new ways to preserve digital information.
The “Democratizing Open Knowledge” project
The project will be called “Democratizing Open Knowledge” denoting how its goal is to disseminate as much as possible, via decentralized blockchain technology, precisely by trying to open up access to those masses of news information and notions that are usually accessible to the few.
The Filecoin Foundation (FFDW) will make its technological tools available to serve the spread of information and human knowledge, such as the Filecoin network and the Interplanetary File System, a communication protocol and peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system.
Marta Belcher, President of the Foundation, said:Â
“FFDW is on a mission to preserve humanity’s most important information. This collaboration will enable the Library Innovation Lab to explore how decentralized technologies can solve real-world challenges to preserve critical data, and we’re thrilled to support the Library’s Democratizing Open Knowledge program”.
Filecoin is an open-source blockchain created by Protocol Labs, in 2017. Its native currency, Filecoin, has risen 84% in the past month, to over $9.89. It is worth noting that before the news on 27 July, FIL’s price was around $5. In just 5 days it has nearly doubled in value, peaking at over $10. According to analysts, Filecoin would be one of the cryptocurrencies with the most favorable sentiment between now and the end of the year.
On the other hand, data released by the company on 12 July and pertaining to Q2 of the current year speak of active storage agreements growing 128% quarter-on-quarter and network storage capacity growing 7% quarter-on-quarter. Protocol revenue increased 264% in terms of FIL QoQ. Finally, the number of Filecoin-based projects grew by 32% in the second quarter of 2022, showing a healthy development of its ecosystem. All in all, definitely encouraging data in a market moment that still remains very uncertain.