iExec has announced that iExec Sidechain would serve as the main blockchain for ONTOCHAIN. In other words, ONTOCHAIN will perform its functionalities on iExec Sidechain for one year.
The announcement follows the success of Call 1 and Call 2, with both leading to the creation of more than 30 software projects. Call 3 is estimated to create more software projects based on the previous trend and current synergy within the community.
ONTOCHAIN’s selected teams and network will greatly benefit from the pilot infrastructure of iExec in the form of a fast, trustable, and fee-less blockchain for project development and their running. iExec will further increase the adoption and activity of the partners in its marketplace.
Applications will, however, be deployed on the network only after being whitelisted by the ONTOCHAIN consortium. The process will begin during the Summer of 2022 and end in the Summer of the next year.
Additionally, iExec Sidechain has decided to take a step towards decentralization by adding three partner members to the network. These are:-
- Italy-based IntelliSemantic;
- The Athens University of Economics & Business from Greece; and,
- Slovenia-based The Faculty of Computer & Information Science, University of Ljubljana.
All three founding members will act as validators to approve transactions occurring on the iExec Sidechain, making it more secure than before. The new validators are located in different regions, giving iExec the benefit of security, trust, and resiliency. iExec has a long-standing relationship with the three founding members despite recently adding them to the list.
Both announcements were shared by iExec through its official blog post, stating that the team was excited to start the journey and take this partnership to a long-term distance. iExec plans to partner with more actors interested in joining the ecosystem.
Discussions are also underway between iExec and ONTOCHAIN regarding how the partnership can be carried on for a longer time.
ONTOCHAIN can be described as an explorer of methods that facilitate the delivery of on-chain & off-chain data, knowledge, ontology, and information management. The project is coordinated by European Dynamics and is operated by:-
- iExec (France)
- University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
- Athens University of Economics & Business (Greece)
- IntelliSemantic (Italy)
- German Hellenic Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Greece)
- F6S (Ireland)
Operations of the projects are funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The aim is to support the development of a software ecosystem for the betterment of the Next Generation Internet, also known as NGI.
NGI comprises trusted, transparent, and traceable management of ontological knowledge. ONTOCHAIN, therefore, offers coaching, funds, visibility, and access to infrastructure.
ONTOCHAIN was launched in 2020. iExec has been its partner ever since with its involvement in selecting a project and expert consultancy. iExec also grants ONTOCHAIN access to its technology stack. KnowledgeX is an example of a project developed on ONTOCHAIN using the iExec marketplace as its core technology.