Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology
Co-proposers/co-organizers
- China IGF
- Nigeria IGF
- Armenia IGF
- Brazil IGF
Session title
Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology
Session format and timing
Round table, 90 minutes long.
Content of the session
The session will focus on the blockchain technology and digital currency development in different nations and some use case or examples will be shared. Also, the alternative uses of the Blockchain technology including the notorious use in the management of digital currency will be discussed. The session speakers will handle presentations of particular cases which implement the Blockchain technology, discussing potentialities and challenges that persist within the use of this tool. At the beginning of the session there will be an introduction to the blockchain technology, how it is structured, how it works and its particularities(moderator). During the session, the speakers will explore some use cases in a large spectrum of possibilities, like the Blockchain as a verified decentralized identity platform; traceability issues in the diamond market; Blockchain-based educational certificates; and Internet of Things with Blockchain. Finally there will be the discussions on opportunity and challenges. How does the industrial people, technical community and government to work together to improve this technology and which mechanism will be adopted to enhance the communication. A discussion with the audience will be held at the end of the session.
Speakers/Resource persons
- Ms. Tian Luo, China IGF
- Ms. Nathalia Sautchuk Patricio, Brazil IGF
- Mr. Walid Al-Saqaf Armenia IGF
- Mr. Patric DAI, Chairman of Qtum Foundation, China IGF
- Mr. Olutoyin Justus Oloniteru CEO Digital Extra Limited, Founder Spindia Cyberlaw Centre, Digital Extra Blockchain Innovations Hub & Laboratory, Lagos Nigeria, Nigeria IGF
- Mr. Satish Babu, APRALO Chair, Armenia IGF
- Mr. Arvin Kemberi, DiploFoundation, Armenia IGF
Relevance of the issue
A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to changes in the data; once recorded, the data in a block cannot be altered retroactively. The blockchain is actually a way to structure data. It is usually associated with the foundation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Despite this more usual implementation blockchain can be also applied to several other situations where it is necessary to keep an ownership history for information and interactions. It has the potential for many other uses, for example, helping to develop more transparent and distributed social and economic structures. The session is quite relevant to shed light on the debate of all these uses of the blockchain technology. Among several different alternative uses for the blockchain technologies, we can highlight some: a proof of concept in which blockchain is used to track artwork objects as well as loan processes between museums; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a proof of concept to make available course completion certificates, enabling the authenticity inspection of them without the need of nominated authorities; United Arab Emirates proposed a solution to track diamond’s origins with the use of blockchain technologies; a commercial solution for the use of Internet of Things equipment along with blockchain systems so as to improve trustworthiness in any sort of transaction; and there’s also an ongoing debate prospecting possible uses of blockchain as a replacement for Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies.
Interventions/Engagement with participants (onsite and online)
At the beginning of the session there will be an introduction to the blockchain technology, how it is structured, how it works and its particularities. During the session, the speakers will explore some use cases. Finally there will be also some considerations about opportunities and challenges grounded on the presented use cases. A discussion with the audience will be held at the end of the session.
Geographical, Stakeholder and Gender Diversity
We are concerned about diversity in the session: gender, geography, different stakeholder group and people with different backgrounds: 50% of the participants in the session are women, including the moderators; XXX stakeholder groups and XXX regional groups are represented. The session will be moderate by two people, one man and one woman. Almost all the speakers are newcomers and first-time IGF session speakers. The co-organizers come from different regions: Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Onsite moderator(s)
Representatives from: Mr. Yuri Grin
Online moderator(s)
Online moderator: Armenia IGF
Online participation and interaction will rely on the WebEx platform. Those joining the session using WebEx (either invited members of the Panel or the general audience) will be granted the floor in the discussion segment of the workshop. People in charge of moderation will strive to entertain onsite and remote participation indiscriminately. One idea is to inscribe everybody (onsite and online participants) in a single queue and project it onto the screen. Social media (twitter) will also be employed by the online moderators who will be in charge of browsing social media using some hashtags (to be defined).
Rapporteur(s)
China IGF, Nigeria IGF, Armenia IGF, Brazil IGF
Online participation logistics
Online participants will be treated equally as the onsite, and the online moderator will post guiding questions to have them engaged.
Discussion facilitation
The discussion will be facilitated by the onsite moderators who will guide the debate and comments session in the end.
Audience members (onsite and online participants) will inscribe in a single queue that will be projected onto the screen to facilitate the speech organization. Onsite moderator will call each one in order to speak and the online moderator in the case of remote participants.