Ideas Abound at Blockchain Global
The Blockchain Global Expo, the world’s largest Blockchain convention, was inaugurated with thousands of people participating in the event. The event was held at the Olympia in London earlier this week and the sheer number of people attending it was completely unprecedented in the industry’s history.
High ranking executives from corporate giants such as IBM, Bosch, Coca-Cola, Santander, CISCO, BP, Deutsche Bank, etc. were also present at the Expo.
What happened at the Expo
The UK government has been actively embracing Blockchain technology and has adopted a positive stance towards cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. The British government is looking at making the UK the fintech industry center of the world. And this Expo is a part of the Government’s strategy to invite Blockchain players to the country.
The atmosphere at the Expo seemed to one of eagerness. The feeling was that it was time to move on from research and development and take all the ideas to the next level – production.
The speakers were experts from various industries, ranging from supply chain tracking, logistics, freight, energy, retail, manufacturing, real estate, sports – it was actually a representation of almost every industry of the world. The focus was on Blockchain technology, its applications, and development as well as the utilization of the token economy.
The Economics of Business Blockchains
One of the main issues discussed at this 2-day event was the economics of business Blockchains.
For example, Vincent Doueizel, the vice president of food and sustainability at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a non-profit organization, stated that Blockchain technology could revolutionize how the food industry works. The challenge, he said, were the high costs associated with launching new technology. If ventures were to go ahead with their innovations, at this stage, the cost would have to be borne by the end user.
Another participant in the event, Mark Deansmith, CIO of AB Agri Ltd., an animal nutrition company that wants to develop products that would take care more than 20% of the poultry population in the world, said they are unable to advance due to the capital involved in building such a system. He stated that the company had already done its research and had even conducted a successful pilot program. The roadblock was now finding investors.
According to the head of Blockchain for IBM UK & Ireland, the question of could would need to be addressed more creatively as traditional solutions may not work. One solution could be to use open Blockchain networks that would use cryptocurrencies to pay for these new developments.
The consensus was that while there are a large number of experimental concepts in Blockchain, it was necessary to move into production to allow the technology to evolve.