Blockchains, Consensus and mechanisms for trusted coordination

Speaker: Ittai Abraham

Abstract

Consensus is a fundamental problem in Computer Science that captures the essence of our ability to create trust and cooperate despite adverse conditions. This talk provides a brief overview of two amazing stories. The first is how such a simple problem, defined over 40 years ago, is still an active area of study and of innovation, both in theoretical research and in more applied system research. The second is how results in Computer Science that seemed completely impractical just 10 or 20 years ago are now at the forefront of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency revolution and are redefining how large-scale cooperation and governance can emerge.

Bio

Ittai Abraham is a Senior Researcher at VMware Research. His work spans from the theory of algorithms through the foundations of distributed computing to practical aspects in industrial research, algorithm engineering, distributed systems and blockchain technology.