The State government has taken the lead to demystify blockchain technology and revolutionise the business landscape by conducting a global summit on the emerging subject in the backdrop of damage caused to cyber security by WannaCry ransomware attack, in the city on October 9 and 10.
Captains from IT companies specialising in financial technology, over 40 startups from 20-plus countries, policy-makers from the Centre and the States, and CEOs of banking and insurance sectors have already consented to attend the summit to be held at Hotel Varun Beach Novotel.
Prize money
Three top winners offering solutions among the startups will be offered ₹5 lakh each and three runners-up ₹2 lakh each. The best performer from the student hackathon will be honoured at the summit.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and several VVIPs are slated to attend the summit.
“With security issues causing serious concern across the world, there is no doubt that blockchain technology is set to be the biggest disrupter, not only in the financial world but also a number of online and offline sectors. Blockchain Summit-2017 is our initiative to create a self-sustained global ecosystem,” J.A. Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary & IT Adviser to the Chief Minister, told The Hindu .
The summit is hosted by Fintech Valley Vizag, formed by AP Electronics and IT Agency (APEITA), an autonomous society set up by the State government to promote investments. The summit is one among many initiatives to develop a comprehensive ecosystem to develop fintech in Visakhapatnam.
KPMG is the knowledge partner for launching BFSI Use Case Repository and Fintech Valley Accelerator Programmes.
Fintech hub
Referring to recent ransomware attack, which caused damage to the port and banking sectors in India, Singapore, and other countries, Mr. Chowdary said they wanted to finalise a strategic roadmap to develop Visakhapatnam as a fintech hub. Mr. Chowdary said as blockchain was key to digital future of India, the State was keen on showing the way in taking up research and development in fintech as part of cyber security. As part of the summit, an innovation challenge would be organised to reward use cases in areas of supply chain finance, business processes and international remittances.
The aim of the challenge is to seek innovative solutions and execute proof of concepts with the promising ones so that it will be useful for many financial technology companies.
