CAPE TOWN - Blockchain production studio Linum Labs, will be hosting a blockchain hackathon in partnership with the African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management at the University of Cape Town.
ALSO READ:
Unlock The Block is a 10-day hackathon event, designed as an entry point into the dynamic world of Ethereum and blockchain technology.
Selected participants will learn how to develop blockchain applications in minimum time with R100 000 being awarded to the winning team.
The event is set to begin on the 22nd January 2018.
The event will also consist of 5 days of Blockchain & FinTech training and education provided by industry experts and professionals.
Linum labs confirmed that 76 participants have confirmed to be taking part in Unlock The Block hackathon.
Linum labs believe that the benefits of young people interacting in the blockchain consist of permissionless innovation, personal freedom, and sovereign control over what is valuable to them - from money, to identity, to health and educational info.
" In a network like Ethereum, we have a world computer that we can quite literally program on from anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection using only our phones", said Linum Labs.
"The outputs of such programs are deterministic and agreed upon by a global set of peers and, once committed, are immutable. Such a system has never before existed and - most importantly - there are no gatekeepers that require a credit history, or government-issued photo IDs, or any of the other requirements currently used to bar access to the modern economy for over 4 billion people worldwide. The change in paradigm this represents is difficult to capture entirely in one paragraph", said Linum labs.
So far, The following sponsors are involved with the event:
- AIFMRM
- UCT
- Rise Cape Town
- Absa
- Status
- ConsenSys
- Old Mutual
- RMB (The Foundery)
- VIDR
- FatSak
Partners:
- Citi
- SAFBC
"There may be additions/changes to our speaker’s schedule. Please note that speakers for the symposium have not been finalized, said Linum labs".
READ ALSO:
How blockchain will shake up insurance
Some of the Unlock The Block presentation speakers include:
- Paul Mitchell from PWC
- Dr. Andreas Dombret from the Deutsche Bundesbank (The central bank of Germany)
- Monica Singer( ConsenSys)
- Gavin Marshall (talking on Bitcoin and proof of work)
- Andrew Tudhope (Linum Labs)
- Simon de la Rouviere (talking on tech demo presentation)
- Paul Kohlhaas ( Linum Labs)
- Co-Pierre Georg (Senior Lecturer from AIFMRM / UCT)
"We expect to further our journey of educating young, passionate, and talented people as they discover for themselves that the horizons of the possible stretch much further than any of us might previously have thought. We expect to see the students who have made it through the selection process produce some amazing products that will come to challenge incumbents and other entrenched institutions in ways no-one but the young and idealistic could imagine", concluded Linum Labs.