IIITM-K to Initiate First Blockchain Technology Academy in Kerala

TechnoparkToday.com(Mar, 2017): After Bengaluru, Kerala will become the second state to get its own ‘Blockchain Academy’, which will spearhead research and innovations and impart technical consultancy in a cutting-edge technology that has been described as the most promising innovation since the Internet.

The Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) will set up the unique Academy in association with the international learning and business development platform. Blockchain Education Network (BEN). IIITM-K Director Dr. Rajasree M.S. made the announcement at a recent workshop on Blockchain Technology held at Technopark.

The history of all transactions to ever occur is stored in the ledger as “blocks” and distributed across the decentralised peer-to-peer network. All the validated transaction blocks are linked from the beginning of the chain to the most recent block. Hence the term “blockchain”.

“Banking, healthcare, and governance are the three major avenues where blockchains will find applications,” pointed out Dr Asharaf S., Associate Professor, IIITM-K, the chief organizer of the event. He also noted that Blockchains may evolve into a system with immunity to threats – with advances in Artificial Intelligence and predictive logic systems. Dr Asharaf and his PhD student Adarsh S. have co-authored a textbook on the subject, published by IGI Global.

Blockchain security may be enhanced by using electronicdevices. “Blockchain technology, which leverages the idea of a distributed and decentralised ledger, will open up new avenues – both in the software and hardware sectors,” said Prof. S. Rajeev, Consultant, Maker Village, the electronics incubator funded by the central and state governments, and run by IIITM-K.

“Since Blockchain involves distributed computing and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Maker Village has a role to play in the evolution of the technology, which is designed to provide a tamper-proof data storage system and ensure transparency in digital applications,” he added.

The workshop saw Dr. Dilip Krishnaswamy, Senior Research Scientist, IBM Research Labs, and Mr. Michael Gord of Blockchain Education Network (via videoconferencing) speak of the various opportunities and challenges in the realm of Blockchain technology. A panel discussion exploring upcoming ideas and challenges in Blockchains was also held.

Krishnan Neelakantan (CEO, Muthoot Pappachan Technologies Ltd.), Dr. Shabeer Ali (MD, Hodo Medical Informatics Solutions (P) Ltd.), Mr. Saran Joseph (Chief Manager – IT Enterprise Mobility, Federal Bank), Dr. Asharaf and Prof. Rajeev also participated in the panel discussion on the business applications in areas including Non-banking finance companies and healthcare.

Blockchains help establish trust among entities unknown to each other without the need for middlemen or third parties, thereby ensuring transparency in digital transactions. Big technology players predict that blockchains have the potential to disrupt various business domains such as cyber security and banking services in near future by performing quicker, secure and transparent transactions.