In this interview, we meet the team behind SPARK-IT, a joint initiative from Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași and industry partner Sigmatic. Bringing together academic researchers, engineers, and business innovators, the team is building a secure, blockchain-powered platform that connects innovators with experts—while safeguarding intellectual property and encouraging collaboration through AI-driven matchmaking and tokenized incentives. Backed by TrustChain, SPARK-IT is paving the way for a new model of trustworthy, transparent, and user-focused innovation ecosystems.
Can you briefly present your team?
The SPARK-IT team unites experts from the Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași and industry partner Sigmatic, combining academic research with practical expertise in blockchain, AI, cybersecurity, web development, and business innovation. This multidisciplinary mix of researchers, engineers, and master’s students ensures the capability to design, build, and scale a secure, user-focused platform that bridges academia, industry, and sustainable innovation.
How did you come up with this project idea and what benefits will it bring to the end users?
The idea for SPARK-IT emerged from identifying a clear need for a secure, transparent, and accessible way to connect innovators with experts while protecting intellectual property. We saw that many innovators, especially in academia and early-stage startups, lacked trusted channels for mentorship, collaboration, and funding. SPARK-IT addresses this gap by combining blockchain-based IP protection, AI-driven matchmaking, and a tokenized incentive system to create a trustworthy environment for idea development. For end users, this means easier access to relevant expertise, secure sharing of sensitive information, transparent collaboration processes, and new opportunities to grow their projects through a vibrant, innovation-focused community.
How is TrustChain supporting your growth and what role does it play for the next steps in your development?
TrustChain supports our growth by providing both the funding and the collaborative ecosystem needed to develop, test, and refine SPARK-IT with real users. This backing allows us to accelerate feature development, improve platform scalability, and validate our approach in a trusted environment. For the next steps, TrustChain plays a key role in helping us integrate with complementary solutions, expand our user base across borders, and prepare for large-scale adoption, ensuring SPARK-IT evolves into a sustainable, widely adopted platform for secure and collaborative innovation.
Why did you apply to the TrustChain call and has your vision changed since then?
We applied to the TrustChain call to turn our vision of a secure, blockchain-powered collaboration platform into a reality, leveraging TrustChain’s support to accelerate development, connect with like-minded innovators, and ensure interoperability with other cutting-edge solutions. Our core vision has remained the same, empowering innovators to collaborate confidently while protecting their intellectual property, but it has expanded to include stronger sustainability goals, tokenized governance, and broader cross-sector applicability as we explored new opportunities and user needs during the project.
What is the most valuable takeout from the TrustChain project and why was the topic of the Open Call important to you/your team?
The most valuable takeaway from the TrustChain project is the opportunity to develop and validate a secure, user-centric collaboration platform enriched with a tokenomics framework that incentivizes participation and rewards valuable contributions. This experience, combined with the exchange of technical insights and strategic partnerships within the TrustChain ecosystem, has been key to shaping SPARK-IT’s future. The Open Call’s focus on trust, transparency, decentralization, and value-driven ecosystems was particularly important to our team, as it aligns directly with our mission to protect intellectual property, foster meaningful connections, and create a fair, incentive-based environment for innovators and experts worldwide.
Did you establish collaboration with any of the TrustChain teams or plan for any kind of synergies? If yes, what is the biggest potential in such collaborations?
Not yet, but we see strong potential for future collaborations within the TrustChain ecosystem, particularly in integrating complementary technologies such as identity management, advanced security mechanisms, and cross-platform interoperability. Such synergies could enhance SPARK-IT’s capabilities, expand its reach across different sectors, and create a more connected and resilient innovation network that benefits all participating projects.
What are your expectations regarding the TrustChain software ecosystem and its contribution to the NGI priority areas?
We expect the TrustChain software ecosystem to evolve into a robust, interoperable framework that fosters trust, transparency, and user empowerment across decentralized applications. By enabling secure data sharing, verifiable identities, and incentive-driven collaboration, it can significantly advance NGI priority areas such as trustworthiness, privacy, and user agency. For SPARK-IT, this means seamless integration with other TrustChain solutions, access to shared services like identity and reputation systems, and a stronger foundation for cross-border, human-centric innovation. In the broader NGI context, the ecosystem’s emphasis on openness, interoperability, and sustainability directly supports the vision of an “Internet of Humans” that is inclusive, trustworthy, and aligned with societal values.
What are the next steps for your team?
Our next steps focus on scaling and refining SPARK-IT for wider adoption. Also, we want to obtain funding to take the solution further in order to position SPARK-IT for large-scale rollout and long-term sustainability beyond the project’s current scope.
What is the message you would give to new and potential applicants to TrustChain Open Calls?
Come with a clear vision but stay open to refining it through collaboration. TrustChain offers funding, technical expertise, and a network to test interoperability and accelerate growth, so make the most of its ecosystem and human-centric, trust-driven principles.