New Cambridge Facility Highlights The UK's Significance In The Web3 Ecosystem

The unveiling of an impressive 2,800m² facility in Cambridge will foster research, improve collaboration, and bring together some of the most innovative projects. This cements the United Kingdom’s status as a leading research and innovation hub in the emerging Web3 space.

Operated by blocz IO, the facility will unite leading players in the UK blockchain sector, including the Cudos network, Filecoin, and the Cambridge Blockchain Society. blocz IO is a leading cloud computing company offering a broad array of cloud solutions such as 5G connectivity, networking and cloud storage. The company is headquartered in the facility and will play a leading role in hosting collaborative events to drive innovation through research, hackathons, partnerships and more.

Entrance to the Blocz innovation hub located in Cambridge.

Speaking on the facility’s importance to the UK’s rapidly growing Web3 sector, Lee Norvall, blocz CEO, comments, “the decentralised nature of  Web3 creates relatively little incentive for large scale centralised infrastructure. Yet, there remains a critical need for hardware to support the growing needs of the industry and for research hubs that facilitate deeper collaboration between projects and stakeholders aspiring to lead the evolution from Web2 to Web3. This facility represents a major step towards realising these goals”.

Among the hub’s many impressive features is a data centre, research and innovation workspaces, catering facilities and a unique immersion cooling system that recycles server heat for building heating. The facility’s data centre can continue operations uninterrupted in a power outage, thanks to a highly resilient mechanical and electrical infrastructure. The site is List X-approved, meaning it is rated as highly secure by the UK government, and qualified to hold information classified as “confidential” and above. It is fully equipped with innovative amenities that support computation and storage capabilities, as well as research and conventions.

Facility exterior

Partnership

Last month, blocz and Cudos announced a major partnership that recognises the significance of the Cambridge innovation hub. Cudos is a decentralised cloud and computation blockchain aiming to meet the cloud computing demands of the future by recycling spare hardware capacity. The network, supported by a slew of recognisable names such as Algorand and AMD, is expected to release its mainnet later this month. 

The Cambridge facility will support research towards realising the Cudos vision and host hardware for Cudo Compute once it goes live. On the partnership, Chris Ward-Jones, blocz’s COO, commented, “we are excited to cement our relationship with Cudos.  As founding partners of the Open Grid Alliance, we see Cudos’s technology as critical to the evolution of Web3, and we have been championing their products for some time.  Being in a position to collaborate now is very exciting. We can collectively work towards filling the market gap and evolve the technology landscape”.

Learn more: Cudos partners with Functionland to support decentralised cloud solutions

Attendees at a recent event in the innovation hub

Other key players with an established presence in the hub include the Cambridge Blockchain Society (CBS) and Filecoin. Founded by students at Cambridge University, the CBS aims to foster and accelerate the development of a thriving Web3 ecosystem in Cambridge and beyond. The society, which boasts a global network of students, institutions, researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry partners, is highly distributed and represents a potentially significant resource for projects in the Web3 space.

Learn more: Cudos facilitates a more decentralised and competitive cloud market 

blocz IO is one of the Open Grid Alliance founding members,  a consortium that aims to rearchitect the internet utilising edge technologies. 

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About blocz io 

Formed in 2016 by leading industry experts with a proven track record, blocz is a trusted cloud company providing enterprise, private, and edge solutions with a reputation for exceeding client expectations.

With a focus on innovation, blocz constantly strive to improve the way in which compute resources are delivered to the end-user.  Whether it’s reducing the energy footprint of the industry or collaborating with others on new technologies that will change the landscape of the digital universe, and as founding members of the Open Grid Alliance that is our primary focus today.

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About Cudos

Cudos is powering the metaverse bringing together DeFi, NFTs, and gaming experiences to realise the vision of a decentralised Web3, enabling all users to benefit from the growth of the network. We’re an interoperable, open platform launchpad that will provide the infrastructure required to meet the 1000x higher computing needs to create fully immersive, gamified digital realities. Cudos is a Layer 1 blockchain and Layer 2 community-governed compute network designed to ensure decentralised, permissionless access to high-performance computing at scale. Our native utility token CUDOS is the lifeblood of our network and offers an attractive annual yield and liquidity for stakers and holders.

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