IBM Blockchain Revolution: Computing Christmas Master Talk

IBM Blockchain Revolution: Computing Christmas Master Talk

The Christmas master talk provided a thought-provoking insight into the transformational impact and potential of this technology including a whistle-stop tour of Blockchain business networks and links for the IBM Hyperledger toolkit.

Bitcoin continued its rollercoaster ride in December 2017, hitting a new high above $17,000 after the recent surge of billions of dollars being invested in Bitcoin, with a total market value of $268bn.

Colin Page, Master IT Architect from IBM and Floren De Teresa of Bitbond Ltd delivered an insightful master talk on the topical subject of Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology on Friday 8th of December at Canterbury Christ Church University, attended by many.

The domain bitcoin.org was first registered on 18 August 2008, later in the year a link to a paper authored by Satoshi Nakamoto titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System was posted to a cryptography mailing list. Satoshi invented a new method for a using a peer-to-peer network to generate what was described as "a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust". 25 large banks collapsed during 2008 and another 140 failed during the extended financial crises of 2009. Coincidentally perhaps, but not to some keen observers as the bitcoin project was timed to offer an alternative to a generalized bank-run and financial system collapse. 

In January 2009, the bitcoin network came into existence with the release of the first open source Bitcoin client and the issuance of the first bitcoins, with Satoshi Nakamoto mining the first block of bitcoins ever (known as the genesis block), which had a reward of 50 bitcoins.  Embedded in the coin-base of this block was the text:

Floren De Teresa of Bitbond said: 

“We want you to think about Bitcoin as a computer application and Blockchain as an operating system on which it runs. Our open world wide web and the entire system of cash payments and assets transfers is about to be launched into one of the most important transformations of our time. We call this the Blockchain Revolution.”

So, in the middle of the worst hacking epidemic since the start of the online age, we are going to show a technology that is ideal for restoring security and trust to our networks. This revolutionary software technology is the Blockchain. 

In this new world that we are building today, we could say that the blockchain is the capital of trust. IBM has taken all that is good and valuable about the Blockchain “operating system” and improved it so that it can be used for business networks and provide a new level of security for creating trusted peer-to-peer networks that could change the way we do business and behave online.

Reza Mousoli, Director of Stakeholder Engagement said:

"Our special thanks to Colin Page and Dominic Day from IBM and to Ron Argent from Cognition Foundry and Floren De Teresa from Bitbond Ltd. We are exploring ways to work with IBM for the University’s brand new Engineering centre and KM EDGE Hub”

 

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Last edited: 15/12/2018 11:53:00