STEP Money/STEP X at the STEP conference in Dubai Internet City
At the height of the conference season in Dubai, Block Gemini joined STEP Money, held in Dubai Internet City on March 28th — 29th, to present the company’s portfolio of blockchain-based fintech solutions, establish new business contacts and discuss the immense rise of emerging technologies with global enterprise leaders.
Split into 4 different tech-focused events, the STEP conference covered the topics of fintech (STEP Money), future tech (STEP X), digital media and advertising (STEP Digital) and startups/investments (STEP Start). The organizers did a really great job turning the Internet City Lake area into a bustling tech village filled with extraordinary exhibition stands, tech novelties and numerous stages for workshops, lectures and panel discussions, featuring prominent industry experts.
The never-ending queue of visitors near our booth at STEP Money proved again that blockchain is still all the rage on a global scale. The Block Gemini team was delighted to meet guests from various industries and institutions as well as mass media representatives and students, and share its knowledge and experience regarding blockchain technology. Looking back at those 2 days of non-stop consultations and highly informative discussions, we are extremely pleased to admit that a significant part of business leaders have turned their sights to blockchain as an important part of their digital transformation and development. However, it is a time of challenges for both sides. As Anthony Lauriola, Block Gemini’s COO, said during his Q&A for Emarat Al Youm,
“It is not easy to get a deal with large scale enterprises. When you are speaking with a large financial institution, there are a lot of stakeholders involved in their decision-making process. There are many gatekeepers, so, for example, you might talk to a VP of a particular bank and he might want you to come up with a proposal for a specific blockchain-based solution, he loves it, he wants to move forward, but he always needs an anonymous approval from various other authorities. It is always a very arduous and time-consuming process.”
On the second day of the conference, Christopher Fernandez, Founder CEO of Block Gemini, joined the STEP X panel discussion, “Future of IoT: When Blockchain and IoT Meet” alongside his fellow panelists from ViewFin, Unified Box and General Electric. Block Gemini’s CEO disclosed the benefits that blockchain and IoT, being connected as the global, transparent and absolutely secure network of digital data and physical devices, can bring to each aspect of daily life.
“IoT in general is very insecure; it’s one of the most insecure holes in a company’s network. Bringing blockchain to this insecurity, transfer of value between IoT devices, then using AI to complement that — really brings the whole new range of opportunities. Blockchain is not just a database; it is an artificially intelligent brain.”
“It won’t take long for blockchain to be ready before it can actually provide all the benefits for IoT infrastructure. Even more, I think it’s already ready. It just requires the right team to customize it or improve the source.”
“Talking about Supply Chain, imagine you have a crane and a container that are communicating to each other and are able to perform any kind of transactions. If 2 IoT devices can communicate with AI and enter into a smart contract agreement without a human, we’ll remove the delayed force in the supply chain, which is the banks and old-fashioned methods we used for traditional transactions.”
The Block Gemini Team would like to thank the organizers of STEP for putting together such an amazing event. Our next stop is Emirates Forensic Conference & Exhibition, Dubai Convention & Exhibition Centre, on April 9th-11th. See you there!
