First Annual London Blockchain Conference a Rousing Success – Innovation & Tech Today

By guest author, Makkie Maclang

The London Blockchain Conference kicked off to a promising start last Wednesday. Held at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, the venue was at full capacity with about 1,000 guests in attendance. People were seen queuing up outside the building waiting to get in, which was an amazing turnout for the inaugural event.

The London Blockchain Conference, which was held from May 31 to June 2, is primarily geared toward spreading awareness about real-world data problems both in the public and private sectors and how enterprise utility blockchain can help solve them. This is a very timely issue to tackle as the world ramps up digitalization and digitization in order to get ahead in the future digital economy.

With a theme of “Bringing Government and Enterprise onto the Blockchain,” the three-day event presented two different stages simultaneously. The business stage was for executives, investors and entrepreneurs who wanted to know how enterprise utility blockchain can help improve their processes and systems in order to maximize profit and widen market share.

The technical stage, on the other hand, attracted developers who wanted to learn more about the nitty gritty details of creating efficient blockchain-based platforms. Each day was jam-packed with panels and keynote presentations by known business leaders and experts in the field of blockchain.

One of the more interesting panels in Day 1 discussed the role that big tech will play in mainstream blockchain adoption. It is expected that tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Google and Meta will be crucial in the mass rollout of blockchain-based products and services.

The panel was composed of Amazon Web Services EMEA Web3 developer Alex Matsuo, CoinGeek author and technical editor Joshua Henslee, Web3 tech firm 4Chain Co-Founder and CEO Marcin Dyba, and fintech company Qenta CAO Nirali Shah.

Each of the panelists was in agreement that big tech needs to work with the new generation of developers in order to facilitate the mainstream adoption of blockchain at a faster rate. According to Matsuo, Amazon’s current goal is to transition 1 to 2  billion users to Web3. And the tech giant recognizes the important role of different kinds of innovators, even “two mates in a garage creating the next unicorn.”

It cannot be denied that market leaders will play a significant role in widespread blockchain integration. However, it might not happen as fast as people think due to corporate red tape and the many things to consider before a new technology is actually rolled out. Shah stated that licensing and regulation are also important factors to think about before even considering actual adoption.

This is also another reason why the impetus for mainstream blockchain adoption may come mostly from unaffiliated and rookie developers, as well as startups. “The challenge is that these companies are big, so they’re slow… It’s not as fast as the individual, so in the short term, individuals are going to vote with the chain they use,” Henslee explained.

Although blockchain adoption is still in the early stages, with its mainstream use possibly years away, goal-oriented events like the London Blockchain Conference help greatly in spreading the correct information about emerging technologies. At the end of the day, blockchain integration will only be achieved when platforms and applications are developed appropriately and for the right reasons.

“It’s important to look at the problem and see if blockchain is the solution, not just integrate blockchain for the sake of it,” Dyba said.