Women in Blockchain Tech at ETH Lagos: Ese Mentie
uPort’s Director of Quality Assurance Ese Mentie draws the connection between decentralized systems and ancient African civilizations
Over the centuries, foreigners have imposed their systems onto Africa, and we were coerced into using them — often to our detriment.
Web3 is constructed as an open technology. We can use this technology to develop a society that reflects us, a society that could benefit the African people.
Living in Lagos, Nigeria, Ese shares how she became interested in blockchain technology and unveils a hidden connection between decentralization and ancient African structures. Ese thinks it’s high time that people understand that technology is not only within reach, but can be wielded by anyone who wants to learn.
This is her story.
My mom introduced me to crypto.
We always had computers around, and I had an ongoing desire to learn how things work. That fascination led to a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Benson Idahosa University, Edo State Nigeria.
Interestingly enough, my mom brought crypto onto my radar! She introduced me to the term “Bitcoin.” As “the tech person” in my family, I went off to research. After giving her a thumbs up to buy crypto, I kept exploring blockchain and cryptocurrency. I was amazed by how there was no need for a central server, how it was distributed, and that it was open source.
At present, there is a continuing struggle around borders, visas, trust, and identity around the world. If there is a way to solve this ongoing issue, it will be through technology. The combination of these two topics led me to the uPort project, a blockchain company that focuses on self-sovereign identity on the Ethereum protocol. On the uPort platform, you own the rights to the data that makes up your identity, and you can share and revoke access to that data at will. Rethinking identification structures could have many positive implications for the African continent, as an estimated 500 million people have no official identification.
I joined uPort as the Quality Assurance Manager in 2017, and I became Director of QA in early 2019. My job is to tie risks to issues and bugs to reduce risk levels.
We are currently working on ways to make it easier for people to integrate uPort and be able to access their data even without the latest technology. The goal is to make it accessible to people who have feature phones — a type of mobile phone that has more features than a standard cellphone but is not equivalent to a smartphone — or for people without a phone.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author above do not necessarily represent the views of Consensys AG. ConsenSys is a decentralized community with ConsenSys Media being a platform for members to freely express their diverse ideas and perspectives. To learn more about ConsenSys and Ethereum, please visit our website.
