AMBERLab Aims to Prepare the Next Generation of IT Practitioners in Blockchain
On a fine Thursday morning, Regina Estuar, Ph.D., along with her research assistants Stephen Wenceslao and Karlo Tabios, explained the importance of preparing the next generation of IT practitioners for the next wave of blockchain technology. Dr. Regina Estuar is the director of a blockchain research and incubation facility situated in the heart of Ateneo de Manila University called AMBERLab. AMBERLab stands for Ateneo Medixserve Blockchain Education and Research Laboratory. According to their website, AMBERLab “is a think tank and advanced research center that examines blockchain technology for developing countries and initiatives of the private sector.”
Research plays an important role in finding solutions to problems, especially in discovering new systems, as well as in utilizing the existing ones. AMBERLab creates a space for this exact type of research, while allowing students to be creative in finding solutions.
A Space for Innovation
By providing a space for innovation and creativity, students like Stephen and Karlo are able to partner with Dr. Estuar to benefit from her expertise on research, particularly on technology for social change and mobile computing, and pedestrian behavior. Furthermore, Dr. Estuar highlights the importance of establishing a research and development laboratory where students are encouraged to imagine and provide better solutions to particular problems in relation to blockchain, by stating the current situation:
“There are a lot of initiatives in blockchain but there is very little that encourages learning about the technology itself and how it can be beneficial to a lot of services being provided for the Filipino people.
“We have to make sure that we have competent IT practitioners and that means we really need to provide a venue to teach them via course electives and workshops. From these pool of talents will be those who can be tapped by companies for their particular [blockchain] projects,” she asserts.
“If you are serious about capacitating the entire country or preparing the next wave, the first step is really —and this applies to all industries— to include the technology as elective subject in an educational institution.
“It’s not just a matter of finding the best solution; it’s about making sure that you can sustain the solution and it will thrive on its own after it leaves the research and development laboratory.”
AMBERLab’s Initiative
Part of AMBERLab’s initiative is to welcome researchers/scientists, entrepreneurs, academics, students, faculty, and supporters coming from technology, health, finance and insurance, government, economics and even social enterprises. It is also opening its doors to research proposals and funding to promote the use of blockchain technology.
Dr. Estuar states that space for creativity will generate innovative ideas, which will have a potential for commercialization. “[Students] need to come up with a solution that has a sustainability plan. It’s not just finding the best solution; it’s about making sure that you can sustain the solution and it will thrive on its own after it leaves the research and development laboratory. We want to encourage students to visualize the life cycle beyond a project. If they have a good idea and somebody out there wants to fund that idea, wants to incubate, then we (AMBERLab) can be the matching center for this opportunity,” she explains.
This is were the partnership with mediXserve comes into play. It was born out of the same goal of using information technology, particularly blockchain technology, to make a significant positive impact on the lives of ordinary Filipinos.
Blockchain technology—like any other system—comes at a cost, but as Dr. Estuar states: “If it is a system that can give more benefits, then that is where the focus should be.”
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