What we do
Engineering solutions for the digital age.
BlockScience ® is a complex systems engineering, R&D, and analytics firm. By integrating cutting-edge research, applied mathematics, and computational engineering, we analyze and design safe and resilient socio-technical systems for clients and partners spanning various sectors including for-profit, non-profit, academia, and government.
How we do it
Our R&D occurs in iterative cycles between open-source research and software development, and application of the research and tools to client projects. Our client work includes design and evaluation of economic and governance mechanisms based on research, simulation, and analysis. We also provide post-launch monitoring and maintenance via reporting, analytics, and decision support software.
GET IN TOUCHDomains of Expertise
Market Design Applied economics focused on the explicit design and structuring of markets to optimize specific objectives such as fairness in resource allocation, efficiency of price discovery, and sustainable value flows.
Systems Engineering An interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design and manage complex systems using observation and control to create desired behaviors.
Network Science An academic field which studies complex networks such as telecommunication networks, computer networks, biological networks, cognitive and semantic networks, and social networks.
Ethnography A method to gather qualitative data, observe, and reflect to understand stakeholders’ everyday experiences and apply insights to inform the design, governance, operation, and maintenance of systems.
Modeling and Simulation Computational methods focused on creating digital twins or system representations for analyzing scenarios and projecting and diagnosing system outcomes to inform design and decision-making.
Artificial Intelligence A field that focuses on data processing, estimation, belief formation, and informed decision-making which complements human intelligence by automating cognitively intensive activities, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations.
Whether automating decision processes, identifying systemic risks in company operations, or guiding expansion into a new line of business, BlockScience provides thoroughly researched, mathematically engineered, human-centric solutions.
Digital Twin
The BlockScience team built and open-sourced cadCAD (complex adaptive dynamics Computer-Aided Design) which is a python-based modeling framework for research, validation, and computer-aided design of complex systems. Whether iterating on a new business model or designing automated smart contract logic on a blockchain, developing a digital representation, a “Digital Twin”, allows you to simulate, test, and validate your ideas prior to implementation.
Our History
BlockScience was founded in the fall of 2017 by Dr. Michael Zargham who felt that the interdisciplinary study of systems engineering as applied to socio-technical and economic systems needed to break out of academia and find its place amongst the increasingly digital real-world businesses migrating from static enterprise systems to dynamic and networked ecosystems.
Our People
Our team is interdisciplinary, with engineering teams operating in concert with social science and governance research teams of ethnographers and economists. Our unique blend of engineering, data science, and social science expertise enables us to provide a more holistic approach to solving algorithm design problems with complex human behavior implications.
Our Mission
The mission of BlockScience is to bridge the digital and physical worlds through innovative and sustainable engineering. We guide the development and governance of safe, ethical, and resilient socio-technical systems, leveraging emerging technologies to solve complex problems.
“With a focus on community driven goals rather than financial profit, BlockScience is unique in that for the first time, non-profit and humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross can engage world class engineers and data scientists to design, develop, and deploy complex models that leverage machine learning and AI to address some of our most fundamental challenges focused on saving lives and enhancing resilience.”
Adam BornsteinLead, Innovative Finance & Systems Change, Danish Red Cross