Cloudflare’s Approach to Research

This post announces the expansion of Cloudflare's Cryptography Research team into Cloudflare Research, broadening its scope to include more areas of computer science research. It details the hybrid research model, emphasizing embedding research engineers into product/operations teams for temporary assignments to tackle practical problems and leverage production data. The post highlights an impact-focused philosophy, prioritizing projects with significant potential and insufficient existing solutions. It also emphasizes open collaboration through public outreach, standardization efforts, and open-sourcing code. Examples of past research-driven projects are provided, including work on TLS 1.3, Certificate Transparency, and NTS/Roughtime.