The Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy (DECaDE) brought together leading voices from academia, industry and government for a landmark symposium at The Royal Society, London, marking the centre’s final major showcase as it concludes its six-year programme at the end of June.
Held on 25 March 2026, the DECaDE Symposium on the Future Decentralised Digital Economy highlighted the centre’s research achievements and explored how decentralised digital technologies are shaping the future of trade, the creative industries and the wider digital economy. The event featured a programme of keynote talks, panel discussions, live demonstrations and networking, showcasing the real-world impact of DECaDE’s research.
The symposium opened with an address from The Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE, who has been a long-standing supporter of DECaDE’s work, particularly in relation to copyright and artificial intelligence. DECaDE’s research in this area has recently been cited in the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report on its inquiry into copyright and AI, underlining the centre’s impact on policy discussions.
Following the opening address, Professor John Collomosse provided an overview of DECaDE’s research achievements and its growing policy impact in areas such as copyright, artificial intelligence and digital trade, setting the context for the day’s discussions. He highlighted the centre’s main research themes: Supply Chain, Digital Trade, and Borders; Misinformation and Content Authenticity; Content Supply Chains and Creative Economies; Identity, Reputation, and Privacy; and Policy and Regulatory Impact.
A key session of the event was DECaDE’s research into digital supply chains and trade borders, with lightning talks demonstrating work on blockchain applications, interoperability standards and data-driven systems designed to reduce friction in international trade and improve supply chain resilience. The session was moderated by Professor Glenn Parry, with contributions from representatives of the BBC, the Cabinet Office and the International Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation.
The symposium also showcased DECaDE’s work on misinformation, content authenticity and copyright in the creative sector, with presentations exploring media provenance, creator attribution and emerging value models enabled by decentralised technologies. The session, led by Professor John Collomosse, included speakers from BBC R&D, CoSTAR National Lab and King’s College London.
A final creative table session, hosted by Design Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, explored future opportunities in the decentralised digital economy. Attendees used a series of prompts to design a Decentralised Digital Future and took part in group discussions on emerging technologies and societal impact.
Attendees also engaged with DECaDE researchers through poster sessions and live demonstrations, highlighting innovations with real-world applications across the creative sector. The Design Informatics team showcased the latest technology emerging from DECaDE, including ORAgen Fables, an innovative tool that enables creators to prove ownership of their digital assets, and Token Gesture, which explores the ownership of digital art through non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
As one of DECaDE’s final flagship events, the symposium marked both a celebration of the centre’s achievements and served as a fitting final showcase of DECaDE’s mission to advance decentralised digital technologies that support trust, resilience and inclusion across the digital economy.
With the centre set to conclude its six-year programme at the end of June, the symposium served as a fitting final showcase of DECaDE’s mission to advance decentralised digital technologies that support trust, resilience and inclusion across the digital economy.
DECaDE is the UKRI Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy, bringing together expertise in AI, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and cybersecurity, alongside business, law, and human-centred design. The centre collaborates with over 30 commercial partners, including Adobe and the BBC, and works closely with policymakers, including the Cabinet Office and Scottish Government.
