Blockchain (DLTs) and the Golden Ratio of Sustainable Development
by Gregory Sandstorm
Time and Location: May 24, DMS 7170 1- 4 pm
Abstract:
While the number of blockchains (distributed ledgers) continues to grow, general and specific social applications of this new technology are still in their infancy. This presentation will briefly consider the background growth of ICTs in society. It introduces blockchain technology through an overview of current definitions and timelines already created by multiple authors. It then turns to the theoretical and practical applications of blockchain as an example of ‘digital extension services,’ drawing on the historical agricultural and educational extension movement from the 1860s at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The aim is to elaborate and in some ways anticipate the forms, functions & prospective impacts of blockchain as it starts to transform infrastructures. The talk will also introduce Arena Blockchain, a local Ottawa company building an educational trust blockchain network. The overarching theme will explore the possibility of a seeking to build ‘golden ratio’ of sustainable development using decentralized systems for this purpose.
Bio:
Co-Founder & CEO of Arena Blockchain, an event engagement, consensus-building and problem-solving platform. Co-Host of Hyperledger Ottawa. Former Director of Blockchain Innovation at 360ed in Yangon, Myanmar. Author of more than 50 publications translated into 4 languages and speaker at more than 70 international conferences in 14 countries. Former associate professor of mass media and communications, social and political sciences at the (Belarus) exiled European Humanities University in Vilnius, Lithuania and affiliated associated professor at the Social Innovations Laboratory at Mykolas Romeris University. PhD (Candidate of Science) from St. Petersburg State University, dissertation defended at the Sociological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. Former postdoctoral research fellow at the Lithuanian Science Council and Autonomous National University of Mexico’s Institute for Applied Mathematics and Systems. Guest scholar at University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, Virginia Tech University and the Copernicus Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Promoter and builder of blockchain distributed ledger technology as digital extension services.
Foresight Synergy Network (FSN) 