Interview with Dr. Giovanna Massarotto, UCL Blockchain Rules Online Programme Coordinator
We are introducing our new series of interviews based on the
executive online programme “Blockchain Rules”. In this series, we are going to interview thought leaders from the blockchain ecosystem interested in sharing their thoughts and opinion about the topics that will be covered in the “Blockchain Rules” course.
Eduard: Hi Folks, my name is Eduard, I am social media manager for UCL CBT, and it is a sincere pleasure to introduce our new podcast series based on the executive online programme “Blockchain Rules”. The program is run by our Research Associate and Programme Coordinator, Dr. Giovanna Massarotto. I have Giovanna with me today and in this podcast, she is going to introduce the program and she will also be running following podcasts of this series.
So, hi Giovanna, it’s great to have you here today to discuss briefly the course, its contents and the importance of spreading the culture of blockchain among professionals, government officials and business managers.
Giovanna: Thank you Eduard for having me here today. This is a great pleasure and I would say a honour. I am very thrilled about this course “Blockchain Rules”. This is a unique course I have designed with UCL CBT for people usually unfamiliar with blockchain and IT in general.
So briefly, what the course wants to provide is a practical and effective guide on the Decentralized Ledger Technologies (DLT) where participants will be walked through the foundations and legal and economic aspects related to blockchain and DLT.
Eduard: So, Giovanna, can you please briefly explain, why should someone be interested in attending this course?
Giovanna: Eduard, as you and our listeners might know today blockchain is not an immature technology as corporations in finance and beyond successfully completed blockchain projects. Investments reached over $22 billion and are constantly rising. In a few years what I envisage is that this technology will completely reshape many industries and professions. Nevertheless, many people still overlook the potential of blockchain technologies. In my opinion, part of the reason is that educational materials are often superficial or overly technical.
In short, the Blockchain Rules Programme is truly a “deep dive” into the key economic and legal issues related to DLT. In particular, it will be explored how blockchain technologies work, how they are regulated and how blockchain technologies can be exploited to innovate. Blockchain will dramatically reshape our way to do business and work and I believe it will be fundamental to know how these technologies work by recognising the legal and economic aspects involved. Facebook Libra is merely an example. I could list many cases that show how is crucial to know the potential legal/regulatory issues that a company needs to consider before entering the business.
Eduard: So, if I understood you correctly this course is potentially
useful for everybody, who wants to use blockchain technology either in
their business or in their professional work. But what about government
officials, you mentioned them earlier?
Giovanna: This is a great question. Thank you, Eduard. The reason why
this course aimed also to government officers is because what I envisage
and have written in my book and articles on blockchain and
regulatory/antitrust issues, is that government agencies are the first
institutions that would benefit from adopting blockchain technologies.
Let me provide you an example. Blockchain can increase transparency and
better protect privacy than existing regulation. Therefore, any
regulators can adopt blockchain technologies to ensure a transparent
system that better preserves privacy and security not only for
companies, but also of any consumer affected by the concerning industry
and regulation. Therefore, potentially any government officer needs to
know how blockchain works as he will be part of the blockchain agency
network.
Eduard: Wow, this sounds exciting, and I am extremely interested in this
program now. If our listeners want to know more about the program and
your research, do you have any links or materials you can suggest?
Giovanna: Sure. They can certainly look at the Web Page of the course on
the UCL CBT website and on my personal website giovannamassarotto.com
Eduard: Thank you Giovanna, it has been a great pleasure to have you
here today. You mentioned that you would like to run the next podcast of
this series, am I correct?
Giovanna: Eduard it has been awesome to be with you and yes if you agree
I’m happy to run the next episode, perhaps sharing my research or
finding an interesting Guest Speaker from the blockchain ecosystem
interested in sharing his thoughts and opinion on topics that will be
covered during the “Blockchain Rules” course.
Eduard: That sounds fantastic! I am looking forward to the next
episode of the series.
