Education, that’s what we need: Global Blockchain Business Council
The Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) has launched an initiative that draws attention to “the innovative work that leading academic institutions around the world are undertaking to promote a greater understanding of blockchain technology and its numerous applications”.
The industry association, whose membership is made up of organisations and thought leaders from over 40 countries, will provide executive summaries of technical reports and studies produced by the aforementioned organisations.
It will kick things off with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), showcasing its work around the development of digital currencies and blockchain technology. Topics captured in the initial collection of summaries include electric microgrids, digital fiat currencies, the lightning network, and secure asset registries.
Sandra Ro, CEO of the GBBC, says: “Our aim is to educate on the benefits of blockchain and serve as a reliable resource on this issue for businesses, governments, not-for-profit organisations, regulators and other interested parties.”
“Our new educational initiative is key to achieving this goal, and we are delighted to be able to provide further insight into the interesting work and ground-breaking research pieces that will be coming out from MIT’s DCI.”
Neha Narula, Director of MIT‘s DCI, comments:“Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are a new frontier with many opportunities. Forums like GBBC are key to realising the full potential of this technology by providing education and guidance to organisations.”
Blockchain ‘could be most transformative tech since internet’
26% of institutional investors believe major listed companies will have to start proactively reporting on their plans and ambitions around blockchain, according to recent research from GBBC. A further 38% anticipate this will happen between three and five years from now.
GBBC, which interviewed 71 institutional investors from around the world, believes some companies will soon start to have heads of blockchain sitting on their Boards. One in twenty institutional investors anticipate this will start to happen within the next two years, a further 26% say between three and five years time, and another one in fivebetween five and ten years from now.
40%, meanwhile, feel that blockchain could be the most transformative technology since the internet. Ro says: “There is little doubt about the potential impact blockchain can have on most sectors, and key areas of everyday life. Increasingly, the winning organisations of the future will be those that have a clear and comprehensive strategy for blockchain and those that are committed to implementing and using it to transform their organisations.”
“It is perhaps not surprising that investors will soon want to know what companies are doing in this area, and that they have confidence in the executives chosen to implement the programmes.”
Scott Thompson
Scott has been working in technology and business journalism for nearly 20 years, with a focus on FinTech, retail, payments and disruptive technology. He has been Editor of such titles as FStech, Retail Systems and IBS Journal and also contributed to the likes of Retail Technology Innovation Hub, PaymentEye, bobsguide, Essential Retail, Open Banking Hub, TechHQ and Internet of Business.