How does blockchain affect the PUBLIC SECTOR?

[WillyZ]

BLOCKWALKS 2019: Connecting the Worlds of Blockchain and Smart Technology with the Public Sector

On October 10, the halls of the Bratislava Castle will resonate with the ideas, thoughts, and discussions from some of the brightest minds in the worlds of blockchain and smart tech. Overlooking the old town of Bratislava, the magical atmosphere of the castle will host the second annual BLOCKWALKS conference, focusing on Blockchain and Smart Solutions for the Public, the first conference of its kind.


Top-level government officials and industry leaders from innovative sectors including smart technology, blockchain, AI and Internet of Things will gather to discuss and understand the role that blockchain technology will play in the public sector in the coming years.

Nick Szabo speaking at BLOCKWALKS 2018

Last year, BLOCKWALKS inaugural event had more than 18 speakers from 16 different countries and hosted over 300 attendees, as well as 30 government representatives from 10 European countries.

According to Andrea Stoklasová, President of the Slovak civil association PUBLICUM organizing BLOCKWALKS, “Like last year’s conference, the main focus of BLOCKWALKS 2019 is on the implementation of blockchain in the public sector and its potential in building smart cities. The aim of smart cities is to incorporate information, communication, and technology in order to improve the quality and performance of infrastructure, urban services, resource management, and social wellness in general. We want to increase the pace of adoption, and this conference is the place to foster these ideas.”

Andrea Stoklasová continued, “Governments are already looking at improving their city infrastructures and social welfare through smart technology, but to support the implementation of new technological innovations, a reliable and secure way of storing and distributing information is needed. Blockchain technology might just be the perfect answer.”

The program of this year’s BLOCKWALKS conference consists of three blocks: The Plenary Block, the Breakout Blocks, and Panel Discussions.
The Plenary Block will host a succession of keynote speeches held by top blockchain and smart city experts, and government officials. The Breakout Block is in the form of technological sessions, discussing blockchain technology’s use cases, smart technology, and IoT. The Panel Discussion focuses on open debates about future technologies between industry leaders.

Speakers at BLOCKWALKS 2018 (from left to right): Julio Alejandro, prof. Ing. Ivan Kotuliak, PhD., Henrik Hjelte, and Max Wang

Many illustrious speakers are already confirmed, including:

• Dr. Stefan Junestrand, Co-founder and CEO of Grupo Tecma Red (Spain). Holding a Ph.D. in Architecture, Junestrand is an expert in smart cities, intelligent buildings, sustainability, and blockchain, having written more than a dozen books and scientific papers.
• Dr. Michael Gebert, the Chairman of the European Blockchain Association, an organization that coordinates the blockchain-related activities of European corporations, startups, venture capitalists, and scientific institutes.
• Marten Kaevats, the National Digital Advisor in the Government Office of Estonia, or unofficially, the Chief Innovation Officer of Estonia. Through study and analysis, Mr. Kaevats understands the impact of various scalable technologies on the spatial behavior of individuals and communities.
• Jerome Grilleres, the General Manager for Europe at VeChain, boasting over 15 years of experience in the finance industry working for Goldman Sachs and Barclays Bank. His background in both technology as well as finance has allowed him to lead the development of VeChain in Europe.
• Lukas Hatala, CTO of DXC.technology, and the Director of International Affairs for  BlockChain Slovakia. Mr. Hatala founded Neuromorphics Europe and has worked with HP Labs, the European Commission in Brussels and on international GTM projects where he pioneered technologies centered around IoT and Edge computing.
• Anouk Pinchetti, a technologist and educator, who has been designing and building complex IT systems for over two decades. By developing and delivering different workshops through the Blockchain Centre, the New Money Institute, the Intraverse Institute, and New Systems Training, Anouk has educated universities, large corporations, and government departments on the impact, risks, and opportunities that Distributed Ledger Technology represents.
• Alexander Knoll, the 14-year-old founder of the Ability app, an app that helps people with disabilities navigate public spaces and find services and employment. He is also an international speaker who has appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show multiple times, talking about the future of tech and the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Join the brilliant minds in the outstanding Bratislava Castle to become part of the discussion about the future of blockchain technology in the public sector on the 10th of October. Learn more about BLOCKWALKS 2019 and get your tickets on https://blockwalks.com/2019/

[LOLpenguin]

Oh, that seems interesting. I haven't seen many blockchain events talking about blockchain tech in the public sector. These kinds of events will probably become more and more popular as more countries are starting to implement blockchain to their systems. How was the last year's event regarding the topics? I saw that Nick Szabo and Max Kaye were there, so there were probably many interesting topics

[WalterWall]

Oh, that seems interesting. I haven't seen many blockchain events talking about blockchain tech in the public sector. These kinds of events will probably become more and more popular as more countries are starting to implement blockchain to their systems. How was the last year's event regarding the topics? I saw that Nick Szabo and Max Kaye were there, so there were probably many interesting topics

I wasn't there personally but I have watched some videos of the speeches from their conference last year and they were quite good. Learned some new things and started looking at blockchain a little differently. This year's event seems pretty promising as well. I mean if they did such a great job last year, they will probably make it even better this year.

[Slow death]

blockchain technology is already widely used around the world:

Report: Blockchain Activity at Top Universities Increased Since 2018

Global Blockchain Revenues to Hit $10 Billion by 2023: Market Research

US Air Force Partners With Blockchain Big Data Management Platform

Santiago Stock Exchange Forms Latin America’s First Blockchain Alliance

India’s Kerala Blockchain Academy Partners with R3 for Dev Education

governments have no problem with blockchain, so I believe blockchain will have no problem connecting with the public sector, even if it doesn't make these conferences, blockchain is already being widely adopted

[shield132]

I thought I would see a proposal where word "blockchain" is used to make it somehow innovative, these days everyone uses word blockchain in everything, doesn't matter what, blockchain can do this, can do that, can bring it and etc while in reality there is no need of it in everything.
But this proposal is different, here blockchain is mentioned as a great method of storing data and that's truth, for example take land title registry which is already done through blockchain in some countries and that's right because it adds an extra layer of protection to whole information.

[hoddddler]

I thought I would see a proposal where word "blockchain" is used to make it somehow innovative, these days everyone uses word blockchain in everything, doesn't matter what, blockchain can do this, can do that, can bring it and etc while in reality there is no need of it in everything.
But this proposal is different, here blockchain is mentioned as a great method of storing data and that's truth, for example take land title registry which is already done through blockchain in some countries and that's right because it adds an extra layer of protection to whole information.

Exactly, that's a great point! It's actually a little sad to see so many blockchain companies promote themselves as the ultimate solution to every problem just because they are incorporating blockchain technology. Blockchain has many great benefits but it is not the technology that will end world hunger or poverty on its own. People should start taking blockchain for what it is, a decentralized method of storing data securely, not the holy grail of technology that will solve every problem in the world.

[btcbob1]

I'm actually seeing a lot of signs showing that the entire crypto and blockchain space is growing up. There are increasingly more sophisticated projects that are entering this space, large corporations are researching blockchain and governments are talking about it more openly, like illustrated with conferences such as this one. It's about time for government officials to sit down with blockchain experts to discuss how to work with this technology, rather than throwing it on the side and banning it. Nice to see that conferences like this Blockwalks are taking place and are connecting people from the industry with decision makers

[LOLpenguin]

I'm actually seeing a lot of signs showing that the entire crypto and blockchain space is growing up. There are increasingly more sophisticated projects that are entering this space, large corporations are researching blockchain and governments are talking about it more openly, like illustrated with conferences such as this one. It's about time for government officials to sit down with blockchain experts to discuss how to work with this technology, rather than throwing it on the side and banning it. Nice to see that conferences like this Blockwalks are taking place and are connecting people from the industry with decision makers

Yeah, it's awesome to see that. Tired of all these companies claiming to save the world by just using blockchain 

Just watched some videos from Blockwalks 2018. Serious knowledge bombs in some of them. Really enjoyed Max Kaye's speech. If anyone's considering going I suggest you watch some videos from their last year's event

[Kakmakr]

Wow, seriously.... to think that people in the public sector in 1st world countries are already looking at ways to use Blockchain technology to their advantage, is a giant accomplishment for Crypto currencies and Blockchain technologies. I live in a country with a mix of 1st world and even 3rd world cities and most of them have not even heard about Bitcoin and the Blockchain yet. 

A lot of the governments are still struggling to "define" and regulate Crypto currencies and then you get countries like Japan and Finland that are at the tip of the spear with new technologies like this. This is truly nice to see. 

[WillyZ]

Wow, seriously.... to think that people in the public sector in 1st world countries are already looking at ways to use Blockchain technology to their advantage, is a giant accomplishment for Crypto currencies and Blockchain technologies. I live in a country with a mix of 1st world and even 3rd world cities and most of them have not even heard about Bitcoin and the Blockchain yet. 

A lot of the governments are still struggling to "define" and regulate Crypto currencies and then you get countries like Japan and Finland that are at the tip of the spear with new technologies like this. This is truly nice to see. 

That's exactly why we need conferences such as BLOCKWALKS. It's nice to see that some countries are using blockchain but in order to have the impact it should have, more people and governments should know and understand this technology. Blockchain tech is useful and it should reach all countries, not just a few. Luckily, events such as BLOCKWALKS and many others are bringing people from different industries and sectors together and educating them on this topic.

[Kemarit]

Wow, seriously.... to think that people in the public sector in 1st world countries are already looking at ways to use Blockchain technology to their advantage, is a giant accomplishment for Crypto currencies and Blockchain technologies. I live in a country with a mix of 1st world and even 3rd world cities and most of them have not even heard about Bitcoin and the Blockchain yet. 

A lot of the governments are still struggling to "define" and regulate Crypto currencies and then you get countries like Japan and Finland that are at the tip of the spear with new technologies like this. This is truly nice to see. 

That's exactly why we need conferences such as BLOCKWALKS. It's nice to see that some countries are using blockchain but in order to have the impact it should have, more people and governments should know and understand this technology. Blockchain tech is useful and it should reach all countries, not just a few. Luckily, events such as BLOCKWALKS and many others are bringing people from different industries and sectors together and educating them on this topic.

Even China is already into blockchain technology for many years now so this is really feasible. Even the government of Canada has implemented it already: (https://explorecatena.com/). So it doesn't make any difference whether it's private of public public, it can really be done. What we need is just awareness and implementation and most probably budget that they sponsor those public sector to try and introduce blockchain technology in their industry.