New free online university by Tari Labs

Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni

"Tari Labs University aims to become a go-to destination for easily-accessible learning material for blockchain, digital currency and digital assets, from beginner to advanced level," says Tari Lab’s senior contributor, Cayle Sharrock. By doing this, it hopes to ease a growing shortage of skilled blockchain and open source developers.

“The more blockchain experts we can help develop, the better it is for the ecosystem as a whole,” said Sharrock. “From the start, Tari Labs has been all about giving talented people the chance to develop their abilities. The Tari Labs University is a natural next step in sharing knowledge and learning from the community in turn.”

Tari Labs was launched earlier this year by a consortium co-founded by maverick South African blockchain and cryptocurrency expert Riccardo “fluffypony” Spagni, with a specific goal of redefining the way we work with digital assets – like in-game items, digital collectables, concert tickets and loyalty points.

The core Tari Labs development team is based in Johannesburg, in line with Spagni’s view that much of the talent needed to help build the Tari protocol already exists in South Africa. Sharrock says the Tari Labs University will play an important role in upskilling potential candidates and developers even before they join the team.

“As with any open source project, we see the learning material as living or ever-evolving. The bigger picture here is to assist in constructing an ecosystem for developers and enable them to leverage the Tari protocol,” said Sharrock. “We’re ultimately part of a network, and the more participants it has, the more successful it will be.”

Tari Lab’s team is currently stewarding what it calls “the most useful decentralized platform that empowers anyone to create digitally scarce things people love.” The platform will allow people to manage and transfer digital assets with more flexibility, enable true digital scarcity, and break down the industry-specific silos in which businesses currently operate.