Blockchain in Europe
And much more
The main motivation to finally add another article is our attendance at the European Blockchain Convention (EBC), 2023.
Once again, the massive event is back with an on-site version, taking place in Barcelona, this time from 15 to 17 February. Even if you only remotely have anything to do with blockchain technology (and DLT, and specifically in Europe), this gathering is where you want to be.
First though, a few updates from another angle. Firstly, we are still firmly behind the sovereignty of Ukraine, and the full right of its people to determine their own fate, and certainly to defend themselves. As an EU-based company, we take particular stance in favor of continued, and outright unwavering support for this European nation. For a very brief and very explicit impression of what that means, please refer to the special page here (CLICK)!.
Further, we can report many interesting developments over the past ~ half a year. Business is good, we keep growing our (net)work, and we keep delivering on our key value propositions, such as excellent performance & continuous improvement, obviously for our clients, but most certainly also for ourselves. We would be happy to elaborate on all this more, in person, but will limit ourselves to a few quick mentions of subject matter we are engaged with, here & now: EU/public funding & consortia, AI & ML innovations, agile streamlining of Business & IT i.e. optimization of processes and automation, gamification & serious games, Sustainable Development & ESG ('Sustainability'), smart cities, The Decentralised Internet and much more. It is truly our pleasure to be involved with so many of the interesting facets that are shaping our society of today & tomorrow, and to keep in touch with so many great people making this all possible. We look forward to keep evolving with all of you!
Now, back to Blockchain (and, of course, Distributed Ledger) Technology. Firstly, for more information about the EBC, please click here.
We take interest in public and permissionless solutions, first and foremost. That said, though, we recognise full well the limitations that these preferences carry with them, and always at least consider alternatives.
We work based on a Blockchain Executive certification, but also add significant value based upon 10+ years experience in the realm of crypto, blockchain, and DLT. Even if there are significant contrasts between these three, for convenience, from here on out (and with respect to the name of the event we shall attend), we will reference 'blockchain (technology)', specifically/primarily.
There are a few notable challenges in relation to blockchain. Most notably (yet quite arguably), these include the following.
How to ensure optimal reliability with maximum privacy? Where is the balance?
Scale
Performance can decrease (dramatically) while trying to do more with any given network (due to basic overhead), and this while performance might already be (severely) limited, to begin with. Solutions do exist, but how much of a concession to security do these 'cost'?
Cost
Speaking of expenditure, the best solutions obviously, or at least often, require a fair amount of resources. And again, here, there is a balance to be found between savings, less security, scale, and many other factors, such as usability, for example.
There is much to elaborate about, but that would vastly exceed the intent of this contribution. For now, it is safe to say we still have MANY hurdles to overcome. However, there are also many great development and outright solutions to the challenges we face. These either exist already, are emerging as we speak, or are at least being theorycrafted by the very best among us.
Tokenisation. Long story short: this will enable many more use cases than were even imaginable, in the past, and truly fits beautifully within the wider scope of 'Digitalisation'. Taking the liberty of quoting Gartner here: sensitive data replaced by surrogate value known as token. So far, so good. They proceed to state, though, that sensitive data *generally* needs to be stored in a *centralized* location for reference. The 'general' reference is key, here. On chain storage, and even processing, is already possible, continuously improving, and more and more solutions keep emerging. One such solution that is being worked on was also referenced above: Unigrid. The question Gartner poses about security is a really good one, though, as referenced in the previous paragraph.
There are still many use cases to be worked out (further/better), or even discovered/defined, in the first place. This strikes right at the heart of what we are and do, and concerns the core business of Mr. Probot: (agile) Business-IT alignment. Once again, efforts to hash out more 'blockchain use cases' in better ways, these should be integrated more, as much and as fast as possible, into overall Digitalization efforts.
There are also efforts focusing on ESG, on Sustainable Development, and supporting the Green Transition. For example, there is an entire network not just focused on less energy-demanding technology, but actually applying the network for the greener good. Additional innovative initiatives quickly came up while searching for carbon credit specific solutions. One solid source might be this one here, even though (or, at least for some: especially because!) it explains quite a lot. For Mr. Probot, these sorts of developments are exactly where is's at!
More, or at least / rather 'better' regulation is sorely lacking, especially (but obviously not only) at the EU level. However, we should be very careful not to stifle innovation. This might seem extremely challenging already, but regardless of however much this is actually the case, this 'regulatory upgrade' will most certainly ALSO have to take place, at record speed. Again, society (and by that we clearly have to reference our global society) is changing more rapidly than ever.
Cooperation is key. We need, and will see extremely fast pace developments, and certainly also like improvements. We are breaking through, and perhaps even 'transcending' the barriers that previously (seemingly) made sense. So many building blocks are already at our disposal, even from the EU itself. Let us all forge ahead with caution, but certainly also with confidence.
One of the best things about human beings is adaptability. To stand still is to move backwards, though. Big change is happening, and will keep happening. The more we (genuinely & quickly) help to shape that change, the better the outcomes will be. The time to act is now. The world is moving, and we intend to run along with it, and perhaps even lead it, when & where we can. We love to join forces, in general, and look forward to at least somehow connecting with you, as well!
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