At the recent
CC Forum in London, Lord Waverly welcomed blockchain to the Queen Elizabeth II
centre and to London. Lord Waverly is already a paid up member of the
blockchain community and is an adviser to Smarter Contracts, a blockchain
consultancy.
Referencing the
crypto winter that appears to have stalled, Lord Waverley pointed out that it
had the effect of focussing minds and maturing the market dynamics of the
industry as a whole, while improving the quality of the blockchain projects and
teams in place.
He argued that
blockchain was blurring the lines between the centralised and decentralised
world saying that the value of blockchain is more crucial than ever before in
this every changing world.
“Many here will
have enjoyed early successes that this technology has had to offer but we have
a long way to go before arriving at the blockchain utopia that we want to see.
“What is clear,
however, is that a slow awakening is upon us. From a business point of view,
this new reality should provide leaders, whether business or public policy,
with the incentive to embrace a blockchain strategy,” he said.
Lord Waverley
has recently published articles on this topic and invariable finds his opening
sentence encapsulates the challenge – “Blockchain is little understood.”
More
encouragingly, he quoted a recent study from Coinbase which claims 56% of the
top 50 universities globally are now offering at least one course in
cryptocurrencies or blockchain. This is a 25% increased from 2018.
“More
importantly, there is a growing demand for blockchain knowledge as 34% of the
students surveyed expressed an interest in taking such a course – up from 28%
last year.
“Today’s
business leaders take note.”
According to
Lord Waverly the simultaneous challenge of increasing blockchain awareness
while at the same time as increasing consumer and business understanding of
decentralisation is a chasm that can only be crossed with interest from
government leadership and more direction from industry regulators.
“There also
needs to be recognition from industry bodies that there is a profound, shifting
nature in consumer behaviours gravitating towards wanting to take part in a
decentralised economy.”
Lord Waverley
argued that it may not be a single company that is successful in a
decentralised world, but a group of companies.
He quoted the mantra ‘best network
wins’ and argued for greater education across the board. Once a company has
identified the relevant blockchain technology for its purpose, then Lord
Waverley encouraged business leaders to invest in their people through courses
or bringing in consultants.
“This would be
the best investment your company ever makes.”
Lord Waverly
also argued for educating people across the organisation to eliminate the
prospect of siloes where lack of cross functionality and the presence of
borders could cause the blockchain advantage to be extinguished.
