Blockchain: New kid on the tech block

The latest buzz word in the IT space is blockchain and it is being used in several countries in Europe. In India it is still at nascent stage and people are undergoing orientation sessions at the moment. One such effort was recently made in Goa. 

The Department of Information Technology, Government of Goa in collaboration with NITI Aayog, Government of Telangana and Nucleus Vision hosted India’s first-ever International Blockchain Congress in Goa, recently. The event brought together world-renowned blockchain experts and thought leaders to deliberate on how India can be made the next blockchain capital of the world. 

The event witnessed a fairly good participation, attracting 1,500 attendees with representation from the government, academia, enterprise and start-ups. The event featured talks, panel discussions and product displays around five tracks.

Chief technology officer of Genora Infotech Pvt Ltd, Milind Prabhu said, “Awareness leads us to discoveries. Most Goan technology entrepreneurs have by far followed the technologies from the West and that too after inordinate delays. If we have to be inventors we have to first catch up with the pace at which the innovations occur. Blockchain event in Goa was a remarkable step in generating awareness about the high-tech and I would support any such activity. Goa is a place to innovate and such exposure only helps expand our thought process.”

The International Blockchain Congress (IBC) marks an important step that we are taking towards a secure and transparent society. At the event, technology experts as well as stakeholders from the government, police and academia discussed the importance of adopting blockchain and its potential uses. 

IBC provided a platform for several eminent corporate and government leaders, regulators, industry experts, and innovators to come together and indulge in thought-provoking conversations on how blockchain can be used -- in enterprise next-generation financial services, as well as in governance. 

The event also had global crypto-based exchange firms coming together to discuss the advantages and adoption methods of blockchain with regulatory personnel for governance. There is a reason why blockchain technology is referred to as the ‘Internet of value’. It has invaluable possibilities that reach far beyond its cryptocurrency heritage to be a disruptor across all kinds of sectors.

Globally, public sector enterprises and governments are exploring how technology can be leveraged to improve the efficiency of their services, bring about better management of contracts, enable smoother financial transactions and improve overall transparency.

As Frans Kempen, Blockchain Lead for Logistics and Supply Chain Industry, IBM, said, “Trust and transparency is key and blockchain will create a frictionless system thanks to the open source nature of the Hyperledger, which is the foundation of blockchain and is better than distributed databases, which still functions in a regulated manner.”

Speaking on the panel, IT and Revenue Minister, Rohan Khaunte described the workings of blockchain as a public registry of data built cryptographically. “Blockchain cannot be used by governments to do what they are already doing. It should be used to change its ways according to new innovation. This must be a collaborative effort among the industry, enterprise, academia and the government,” he said, adding that blockchain must be implemented in land records as there is no certainty about tracking multiple landowners for a given land.

“Unlike other technical disciplines like AI/machine learning etc, Blockchain is so new that there are few programmers with extensive experience on the subject. That is an advantage because with blockchain, Goan youth are not stuck playing catch-up with the rest of the world.  In case the State university, the government or private entities can step in and provide training to those interested, Goa could well become the blockchain capital of India,” said Jason Fernandes, COO and Co-Founder, AEToken.

Vice president of Open Destination, Milind Anvekar said, “Blockchain, AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning are the latest trending technologies. And Goa Government has done the right thing by deciding to focus on these technologies to promote the State as an IT destination. I will suggest that the Government in coordination with the local ecosystem in the State organise one international event and one national event annually in Blockchain and Machine Learning respectively.” 

Anvekar added that additionally, the state should create couple of incubators focusing only on these technologies inviting global participation. While the government can evaluate the governance areas that can be benefited from these technologies, for now he suggested the government to seriously consider positioning Goa as the most preferred IT event destination in the world.

Founder of StartupGoa and CEO of Numadic, Luke Sequeira said, “Blockchain will enable an alternate funding route for Goan start-ups and will end the lifelong lack of high-risk funding that Goan start-ups have suffered from. Applications in the blockchain space will draw the attention of decentralised funds and finally enable high-growth. Blockchain is not the long-term future, but it opens the doors for Goa’s long-term future as a digital product innovation hub.”