Introducing the 2017 Developer Program: Blockchain Is Changing the World, and So Can You

Applications for the 2017 Developer Program open on May 18th. Please visit the ConsenSys Academy website for more information and to apply for the free, immersive 10-week program led by top experts.

Blockchain technology has become a truly global phenomenon.

Who could have imagined a few years ago, giants from J. P. Morgan to Microsoft publicly open-sourcing software? The United Nations offering aid in Jordan on the Ethereum blockchain? Administrations from Estonia to Illinois creating blockchain working groups to explore use cases from voting to energy?

Blockchain has not only attracted the attention of technologists and investors. From Haiti to the UK, the halls of the World Economic Forum to the largest campuses in India, presidents and prime ministers such as David Cameron have praised the technology as “transformational” and the foundation of future innovation.

If we harness the power of blockchain technology, entrepreneurship could be as simple as installing a solar panel and directly selling power to neighbors on a decentralized energy grid. The 2.5 billion people who currently lack access to banking or national identity cards could secure loans from strangers who trust their blockchain-based reputations. We could have a truly free press, where the public is incentivized to participate in fact-checking. Creatives could connect directly with fans, and feel confident enriching the public sphere knowing they will be remunerated fairly, without intermediaries taking their cut. Users could own their data, connected to a universal, decentralized identity system, and reveal or sell it only when they choose.

At this time in history, we have a unique window of opportunity where it is possible to build a new Internet. This new Internet puts us, the users, first, and empowers us to choose for ourselves how we want to live.

It has the potential to level the playing field worldwide. Just like developing countries leapfrogged copper-wire technology when they adopted 3G, blockchain technology lowers the barrier to entry to participate in the global economy, offering financial inclusion to groups of people who have traditionally been locked out.

Blockchain technology is very new. Ethereum is just a few years old. As the only blockchain that supports smart contracts currently in real-world production, is quickly becoming the blockchain of choice for enterprises, governments, and decentralized application (dApp) development. By learning to work with blockchain today, developers can quickly become leaders in one of the most promising and fastest growing fields. You will gain access not only to professional opportunities in a market projected to soar to over 2.3 billion by 2021, but also the chance to build the real-world systems that affect climate change, monetary policy, and accountability.

The ConsenSys Academy 2017 Developer Program is an unprecedented chance to become a blockchain expert in 10 weeks of immersive programming. The faculty is made up of the world’s foremost authorities on blockchain development, focused on the widely adopted Ethereum platform. Those who complete the highly selective and rigorous 2017 Program will receive a blockchain certification from ConsenSys, and be flown all-expenses-paid to Dubai for an exclusive opportunity to work side-by-side with leading ConsenSys developers on real-life projects. Graduates will be considered as candidates for immediate hire to work at ConsenSys.

Dubai encourages the rapid prototyping and deployment of cutting-edge technologies from 3D-printed buildings, to drone taxis, to blockchain, as it works toward its ambitious goal to become the first government run on blockchain by 2020. As the most future-focused city in the world, Dubai is the perfect setting for the 2017 Developer Program’s graduation ceremony.

Applications for the 2017 Developer Program are open now through July 1st, 2017. The program is completely free, and open to professional and student developers worldwide. Please visit the ConsenSys Academy website for further information and to submit your application while space lasts.