TL;DR:
- The Cardano Foundation and the University of Brasilia signed a strategic alliance to advance blockchain research and education in Latin America.
- The collaboration includes the launch of the first Cardano project development laboratory in Latin America, housed within UnB.
- The lab will integrate blockchain, artificial intelligence, IoT and digital identity with a focus on solutions for the Brazilian public sector.
The Cardano Foundation and the University of Brasilia (UnB) announced a strategic alliance to advance research, education and real-world applications of blockchain technology in Brazil and Latin America. They signed an agreement combining the foundation’s expertise in decentralized infrastructure with UnB’s academic leadership and institutional proximity to the Brazilian federal government — a university that has trained generations of public officials, diplomats and legislators.
The collaboration will focus on developing academic programs, joint research projects and training for public sector leaders. Key areas of work include public administration, digital identity, supply chains and data integrity. Claudia Jacy Barenco Abbas, professor at UnB’s Faculty of Engineering, noted that “the convergence of the Cardano Foundation’s expertise and the University of Brasilia’s academic leadership creates a unique environment for responsible innovation in the public sector, with solutions that extend far beyond the financial domain.”
The First Cardano Lab in Latin America
The central component of the agreement is the launch of the first Cardano project development laboratory in the region, which will operate within UnB in partnership with local actors. The space will function as a multidisciplinary hub oriented around the combination of public blockchain infrastructure, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, digital identity and governance. It will focus on developing concrete use cases tailored to the needs of the government sector.
Rafael Fraga, head of business development for LATAM at the Cardano Foundation, emphasized that the initiative aims to create conditions for sustainable blockchain adoption in Latin America. According to Fraga, working with academic institutions like UnB not only drives technical development but also fosters the growth of local talent, research and entrepreneurship around scalable use cases beyond the region.
UnB will also incorporate full courses on the Cardano blockchain into its undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs. The lab will additionally serve as a gateway for the regional ecosystem, connecting startups, government entities and private sector partners in the development of solutions with real-world impact.
