The public is invited to a three-day summit on blockchain technology in Blacksburg -- beginning this weekend. It’s a chance to get aquainted with a new way of doing business, that could add not only a new dimension, but increased security to the financial transactions. Spots are still available, but it’s filling up fast.
The blockchain symposium at the Inn at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg is geared to general audiences, people who want to learn more about the still new technology, from people who are already using it, or have questions about how it might be used.
Kirk Cameron is a computer scientist at Virginia Tech. He says, “You can look at our list of distinguished speakers and you'll find that major fortune 500 current properties are looking very deeply in this space.” Coming to the forum are firms like, Accenture and IBM, are curious about what the new technology could do form them. “They don't know yet necessarily exactly how it will play out.”
Blockchain is perhaps best known at this point, for its role in cryptocurrency, like bitcoin. But the conference will explore much more than that. They’ll look at ways to verify chains of origin for a dizzying array of and products. So for example, if you’re buying grass-fed beef from an organic farm or wild caught salmon from Alaska, the block chain ledger guarantees that’s what you re getting.
And that’s because “you can trace every transaction of that thing” says Cameron. “Whether it's currency or beef or fish, that is a transaction between parties that can be tracked all the way back to the source.”
No more mystery meat.
Best known for its use in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, blockchain could be applied to a variety of transactions, adding certainty and transparency in businesses of all kinds; Possibly even to voting security. Blockchain is still in its infancy, and there are many details to be worked out. No one is sure at this point, whether it will become the next big thing…. Or not.
The opening reception is Sunday night, November 10th and the symposium continues until November 12th.
Where: The Inn at Virginia Tech, 901 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, Virginia
More Details: The conference will begin on Monday with two Q&A sessions including Brendan Blumer, Chief Executive Officer, Block.one and Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce facilitated by CNBC’s Brian Sullivan, senior national correspondent and anchor of Worldwide Exchange (M-F 5 a.m.-6 a.m.) and ’93 political science alumnus.
Other panelists and speakers include,
- Dan Larimer, Chief Technology Officer, Block.one
- Paul Brigner, Director of Technology Policy, Chamber of Digital Commerce
- Forrest Colyer, Blockchain Solution Architect and Developer, Deloitte Consulting
- Dennis Gatens, Chief Commercial Officer, Cloud Constellation
- Lana Kalashnyk, Global Blockchain Technology Partner Lead, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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