The Mark Zuckerberg of Blockchain has not yet finished high school

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Internet giants like Facebook, Google, or Twitter were created by people born after the first email was sent (1971) or even some after the creation of the modern internet (1983). Although it's not surprising that many entrepreneurs have become obsessed with incorporating Blockchain into any existing business, the true revolution that Blockchain will bring will come from organizational systems or business models totally unprecedented today, which do not exist, and most likely it will be a revolution led by boys and girls who are now of school age. In a few years (possibly a decade), we will talk about Blockchain as an organizational change, a change in mindset. In short, a paradigm shift.

"Barcelona has been chosen to host the EBC for being a leading technological hub in Europe and for being one of the European regions with the greatest desire to become a world reference in Blockchain"

Barcelona hosts its first edition of the European Blockchain Convention (ECB) this Thursday, November 29: it is the most relevant Blockchain convention focused on business in the country. The convention brings together more than 500 attendees from all over Europe and features presentations by 50 experts on the present and future of Blockchain technology, its main use cases, and the latest regulation.

The convention, which aims to be a meeting point for industry leaders, investors, developers, regulators, and entrepreneurs, is aimed at both technical profiles and management profiles interested in learning about the challenges and opportunities that this technology offers.

Daniel Salmerón, co-founder of the conference, highlights that "Barcelona has been chosen to host the EBC for being a leading technological hub in Europe and for being one of the European regions with the greatest desire to become a world reference in Blockchain." "We want the EBC to be a reference conference for the sector in Europe. Although we are considering holding more editions of the conference in other European capitals, we would like Barcelona to host at least one edition of the EBC every year."

The event is the last European Blockchain conference of the year. Issues such as digital (decentralized) identity in the new internet of value, the emergence of ICOs (Initial Coin Offering) and STO (Security Token Offering) as a new financing vehicle, and the repercussions of the issuance of digital currency by Central Banks will be debated. Other panels will revolve around the acceptance of digital assets and use cases in logistics, the healthcare industry, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

"ICOs and STOs (Security Token Offerings) are considered a more open financing towards the public, which allows introducing more participants, breaking with the limited circles of institutional investors, and giving opportunity to potential interested parties to invest small amounts. Precisely for this reason, we need a specific European-level regulation for ICOs, that is, one that allows raising more than 5 million, which is the maximum amount currently allowed by the European Union for equity crowdfunding," states Victoria Gago, co-founder of the EBC.

Another objective of this edition is to try to solve the problem of the scarce presence of women in the technology industry. Parity is still very far from being achieved; only 30% of the 7 million people working in the digital sector in Europe are women.

Another objective of this edition is to try to solve the problem of the scarce presence of women in the technology industry. Parity is still far from being achieved; only 30% of the 7 million people working in the digital sector in Europe are women. In Spain, women working in the technology sector represent 18 percent. If we talk about the highest positions, the percentage of women decreases.

ECOSYSTEM IN BARCELONA

In Barcelona, it is estimated that around 3,000 people are part of the Blockchain community. According to a report prepared by Acció (Gencat), the Catalan capital has 33 companies dedicated to Blockchain.

Barcelona continues to lead numerous reports related to innovation and startups. The latest edition of the 'Startup Ecosystem Overview' report indicates that the 'hub' of the Catalan capital is the first in Spain, with 34% of innovative companies. Madrid, for its part, accounts for 31% of Spanish start-ups.

The Catalan ecosystem currently attracts, with figures corresponding to 2017, 58% of the investments that come to Spain and consolidates itself as the fifth European city in the innovative ecosystem, ahead of Madrid which is in sixth position.

Since 2016, Startup Heatmap Europe has been preparing a report based on the question "Where would you start if you could start from scratch?". With the possibility of multiple answers, the more than 300 entrepreneurs consulted in this year's 2018 edition largely mentioned London and Berlin, followed by Barcelona, which remains in position number 3, even ahead of cities like Paris.