[Event] BLOCKCHAIN EVOLUTION FROM 2009 TO 2020
The virtual event Evolution of blockchain technology, organized by Blockchain Alliance Europe in cooperation with the Business Intelligence Center and partners, took place on Thursday, October 22. Slovenian companies dealing with the development of blockchain or cryptocurrencies presented themselves at the meeting that focused on examples of technology application for business purposes. Blockchain Alliance Europe has announced a new project, the Blockchain Business Network, which will be launched to bring the benefits of blockchain technology closer to companies and organizations.
The event Evolution of blockchain technology was organized with the aim of presenting the operation and progress of Slovenian companies dealing with blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, even at a time when the economy is harmed by the impact of the COVID-19 virus. The advantages of the technology, which is present in practically all branches of the industry today, were introduced to the audience through the application examples of its use in business.
The meeting, organized by Blockchain Alliance Europe and Business Intelligence Center with the support of the Blockchain Think Tank Slovenia and Bitcoin Association of Slovenia, began with welcoming speeches, first with Irena Grofelnik (representatives of Business Intelligence Center Slovenia), Anja Blaj (president of Blockchain Think Tank Slovenia) and concluding with Jure Pirc (president of the Bitcoin Society of Slovenia). In addition to outlining the activities of their organizations during this time, all of them pointed out that we are witnessing global changes that will be strongly marked by the digitalization. Current events are calling for a change of mindset, innovation and integration, and the world needs individuals and companies more than ever to address the growing challenges.
As Tanja Bivic, President of Blockchain Alliance Europe, who also moderated the event, said: “It is important to recognize blockchain technology as a meaningful and useful tool when greater security, privacy and simplification of digital business is required. Whereas the members of the Blockchain Alliance Europe are the right address to show its practical possibilities and opportunities for introducing blockchain into processes, as these are companies that with their expertise, knowledge and activities in the field of technology represent blockchain pioneers and innovators and form a healthy core of this ecosystem.”
Industry representatives have taken the audience along the timeline of blockchain technology development, from its beginnings, represented by bitcoin, to the present day, when the latter gains its place and recognition in innovative solutions for digitizing processes and business.
To begin with, Gregor Županc, CEO of the company Solidum Capital, talked about the historical role of the Bitcoin currency and the importance it has in one’s financial portfolio.
Next was Alen Šalamun from BC Vault, where they made a secure hardware wallet for safe storage of cryptocurrencies. He spoke about the security of an individual’s property on crypto exchanges or software wallets. Importantly, he pointed out that there are more attacks on the exchanges every year, so one’s property needs to be adequately protected, while the weakest link is still the user himself, who often gives hackers the opportunity to hack in due to carelessness.
Dejan Roljić from the company Eligma, which aims to become a global facilitator of seamless and secure crypto payments with Go Crypto, presented the challenges they face. He still firmly believes in the vision that cryptocurrencies will one day be an equivalent alternative to existing means of payment, as unlike the euro and other currencies, they are not dependent on policy and monetary control. However, he pointed out that their mainstream use will be possible only when they all follow a single standard.
Jan Gerl, blockchain developer and project manager from Netis, explained the concept of digital identity (Self-Sovereign Identity) which the company is developing under the auspices of the Aceblock brand. As Gerl pointed out, digital identity is one of the key building blocks for trust services, as it allows the users to identify themselves online in the same way as they do today in the physical world. For this, the technology must follow the uniform directives and standards which are currently being established in the EBSI group (European Infrastructure for Blockchain Services) and in which Netis blockchain experts also participate.
Tomi Iljaš from Arctur presented the Tourism 4.0 consortium project, which connects various Slovenian tourism corporations and technology providers to build a unified solution in the field of sustainable tourism, whereas Tomaž Furlan from Lucis focused on the practical use of blockchain technology within the project. The latter will be used to improve the user experience of tourists in Slovenia by introducing a digital identity and a token for cooperation. As he mentioned, they will use Netis’ private blockchain network Aceblock to set up the project infrastructure.
In conclusion, Vasja Veber from the music startup Viberate, where they analyzed the damage suffered by the festival industry, presented a set of tools that will help it get back on its feet. For these purposes, Viberte is also designing a solution that will bind the rights of performers to the value of a unique non-fungible token, and thus enable the authors to receive fees accordingly.
The president of the Blockchain Alliance Europe also announced the establishment of the Blockchain Business Network (BBN), with which they want to bring blockchain technology closer to the companies. The latter will make it easier for organizations and businesses to use new forms of trust services in all areas where verification and protection of documents is required.
Tanja Bivic added, “One of the key missions of Blockchain Alliance Europe is to raise awareness of the benefits of blockchain technology and bring it closer to everyday business use. At the same time, more than 200 registrations from more than 10 different European countries confirm that blockchain is also a very interesting solution at a time of accelerated digitalization, which has also been caused by the corona crisis.”
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ABOUT ORGANISERS:
Blockchain Alliance Europe
Blockchain Alliance Europe was established with the purpose of mutual assistance in the field of business development, networking, cooperation and a joint approach to defending the interests of the members of the alliance. It also seeks to raise awareness of the importance of blockchain technology among the professional and lay public, and, therefore, organises various events and training courses. It also cooperates with the government authorities in the field of the relevant legislation.
BIC: Business Intelligence Center
BIC is a proactive centre, located in Ljubljana, Slovenia, but with a global reach. BIC has three pillars — Business Club (sections: Business Professionals, Women, Professionals), Business education centre and International section IAMPRO (International Association of MBA Professionals). With an active ear for business, BIC acts as a synergies searcher and connector inside economic spheres (head-hunters, investors, business clusters) and other spheres of interests, with its focus on local and international networking, linking business people, organising innovative business forums, gatherings and conferences. Members of BIC are individuals, managers, CEO’s, entrepreneurs. In return for the membership fee, the members of BIC are provided with regular contacts and events with a focus on education, networking and exciting business opportunities. They are also holders of Diners Exclusive card.
ABOUT CO-ORGANISERS:
Blockchain Think Tank
Blockchain Think Tank Slovenia is a non-profit company open to all stakeholders interested in blockchain technology. Think Tank acts as a single point for collecting ideas and suggestions, and at the same time it has access to relevant representatives on the side of governments, regulators and other public sector institutions, which in an open way convey ideas and suggestions from the economy, entrepreneurs, academics and individuals.
Bitcoin Association Slovenia
The Bitcoin Association Slovenia has been established to connect the Slovenian bitcoin community, organize events and provide answers to cryptocurrency-related questions, as well as to present bitcoin technology to the public. The association has exceeded its initial goals and has become the go-to contact point of the Slovenian blockchain and crypto community that also organizes networking meet-ups to open our members new opportunities in the blockchain and crypto space.
