THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
When noted Canadian blockchain expert Bob Tapscott predicts India’s potential to be a leader in blockchain revolution, he says that from his own personal experience.
“When I was working in Silicon Valley, it was staggering to see the percentage of products created by people in India. India has perfect ecosystem getting ready with talent and skill. Considering the much of the talent in India, I can clearly say India has the capability to lead blockchain revolution.
Tapscott of Blockchain Research Institute, Canada, was speaking at the session “From Pilot to Production: The Blockchain State of Play for 2019”on the final day of the three-day summit BlockHash Live 2018, organized by Kerala Blockchain Academy (KBA) at Kovalam here, on Saturday. The event offered a rare opportunity for the global businesses in blockchain to look into expansion of their operations in Kerala in particular and India in general.
“Canada is aspiring in this field while Switzerland has taken the lead in crypto but that not necessarily the lead in blockchain revolution. In terms of knowledge, capability and technology, India is in a position to lead,” he stressed. Making his maiden visit to India, Tapscott said, “I don’t see blockchain has the potential to eliminate many jobs. It has the potential to eliminate unnecessary intermediaries and making organizations more efficient. In fact, it’s a job creator, and the new supply chain.”
“In case of artificial intelligence, drivers are working in warehouse and doing cooking jobs as AI eliminates jobs. Massive advances in AI that were predicted to materialize 10 years from now are here today. “
Citing the effect of technologies like AI and big data, Tapscott explained that Uber’s loss jumped 61 percent to $4.5 billion in 2017. “For profitability, their model is to disintermediate their drivers. As per the study by World Economic Forum, 5 pc of all jobs will be gone by 2020. Another study by McKinsey predicts elimination of 800 million jobs by 2030.” He added that AI will create a few jobs for the highly technically skilled.
On the final day of the event, Dr Dilip Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., gave a lecture on “Emerging Blockchain Applications in Telecomm.” In a bid to alter the gender gap scenario in blockchain technology, KBA took a vital step by launching a Blockchain Women Connect at the summit.
An initiative of the Government of Kerala, KBA comes under the diverse portfolio of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management –Kerala (IIITM-K).
