On 13th Nov 2018, our COO and co-founder, Sukhi Jutla spoke at the ‘Seizing the Blockchain Opportunity’ event held by London & Partners.
The sold-out event bought together professionals working in the blockchain space and those wanting to learn more about the real-life use cases of blockchain and where the opportunities are.
We are on the cusp of a blockchain revolution. The last year alone has seen major corporates gain interest in the distributed ledger technology, and an increasing number of companies are starting and scaling rapidly in the space.
The event saw three panel discussions, outlined below, and welcomed speakers from early-stage start-ups all the way to major corporations in the blockchain industry, to discuss the reality of the space, its major challenges and the greatest opportunities for applying this emerging technology.
From L-R: Simone Maini, Abel Tedros, Anna Mostyn Williams, Sukhi Jutla
Here is a summary of the event with key takeaways
Panel 1: Opportunities and Dreaming Big: this panel discussed the major opportunities that are now possible thanks to blockchain technology, from creating a truly global marketplace to financial inclusion for the unbanked, digital identity solutions, supply chain transparency and more.
Key takeaways:
- There are powerful use cases for blockchain that can be used for identification purposes to prevent fraud
- As use cases on the blockchain increase, there could be issues with scaling
- Users don’t need to understand the mechanics and technical aspects of the blockchain. Need to get them past that. Just how we use the internet and email without thinking about the technical work that happens underneath, we also need to start embracing blockchain and its benefits
- We all use the internet and email but not all of us necessarily understand how it works!
Panel 2: What Keeps Me Awake At Night: this panel explored the main challenges that blockchain faces today, focusing on blocks such as limited transaction speeds, the energy usage of mining, the lack of regulation in the crypto space, amongst others
Key takeaways:
- Can we truly get to a decentralised model or will we see the rise of centralised entities again in order to scale?
- We need some level of regulation in order for investors to feel comfortable and confident in investing in ICOs
- Educating the market and its end users in the possibilities of blockchain are important.
- Giselle Frederick of Zingr explained how market vendors in Grenada, a small Caribbean island, were hesitant of the idea of using a blockchain enabled payment app until she explained they could use this technology to sell even more products to customers on the other side of the tiny island and be guaranteed payment!
- Rodney Prescott of PWC talked about scaling, adopting blockchain with regards to the consensus mechanism and the rise of consortium structures.
Panel 3: How To Start A Career In Blockchain: attendees heard the personal stories of professionals who entered the space, who shared what led them to blockchain and how it is to work in the industry.
Key takeaways:
-
- Have a growth mindset and actively learn about blockchain
attend meetups, reach out to your blockchain role models and learn from them - If you can’t join a blockchain start up then create something yourself!
- Follow key people on social channels and learn from them like Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin,
- Have a growth mindset and actively learn about blockchain
- Other useful resources shared:
http://www.weekinethereum.com/
https://about.me/vitalik_buterin
Written by MarketOrders