Blockchain for Business: what, why, why not, and where

Blockchain is a technology that may be the final step in the digitalisation of the economy. One of the most important components of blockchain technology is its ability to transfer monetary value in untrusted environments.

Blockchain has received a lot of attention as it can be a secure, fault tolerant, highly available, transparent technology that can provide different levels of access to data. These aspects of the technology make it well suited to improve the efficiency of certain financial and legal processes, and also serves as a new way of solving logistics management problems.

However, Blockchain is often misunderstood, and industry is struggling to understand when Blockchain might be the best technology available to solve a particular problem, and when it is not. In this session on, the speakers will introduce the concept of Blockchain; highlight when Blockchain is and is not the best technology for particular use cases; and, in collaboration with some industry partners, highlight some specific uses of Blockchain technology developed by CeADAR for industry use.

08.00 Tea/Coffee/Light Breakfast & Registration

8:30am: Welcome & introduction: Edward McDonnell (CeADAR)

8:40am: Blockchain: a block by block overview Oisin Boydell & David Haughton (CeADAR)

• Introduction and a brief history and timeline
• What is blockchain? A technical overview
• What is all the fuss about? why is Blockchain considered ‘disruptive’ and ‘revolutionary’
• Technology underpinings: consensus mechanisms, throughput, latency, blockchain platforms, smart contracts

9.20am: Blockchain in the Supply Chain: Brian Cassidy (Head of IT, Exertis)

9.40am: Credentials Management on the Blockchain: Rob Fox (CEO, Sitepassport)

Q&A