Women in Blockchain | Decentralized Women in Blockchain 21 June 2019 #Block 3 Women in Blockchain is a Decentralized collaboration of skilled women with one common goal; to further Blockchain Technology through Education. Disclaimer: This is not financial advice by me or any of the participants in the Series. Full Disclaimer Here My underlying theme for writing this Series is Education. Why Education? Well “there are some things in life worth sharing” in fact I believe most things are. A year ago I didn’t think I would be testing my writing skills on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency or Digital Currencies as I would like to refer to it. Here I am, I have learned a skill set, studied the technology and will continue doing so to further improve my experience. You see with those of you that have teenagers might understand the stress parents go through when it comes to studying, exams, our children always “knowing better”. It’s not the first and certainly not the last generation for this, but we must agree that the pressures of change are happening as fast as Blockchain Technology is changing and adapting every day. I am constantly learning about Blockchain, every minute, I will never know enough and I know at some stage when I really settle down with my niche inside this big space that I want to specialize in specific detail, an instrument that will be able to fine tune someone’s business, inside of their business. It is this goal of mine that is driving me and the women that are in my articles that I want to highlight and somehow present to our children so that they can from an early stage start putting the puzzle pieces together. How many of us are doing jobs just to earn a salary? Granted your “passion” might not be in IT or Blockchain development, but I think if you really start learning about all the aspects you might very well find your niche career because it is in every industry we know. Technology is the one element that is involved in every industry and society in the world, technology connects everything and now Blockchain is seeking to do it better! I say that because I believe there are many use cases and physical evidence to prove that this new technology is here to improve our current one. I do however know that there are people that are skeptic about it. This is why I want to share specific information from professional women about this career opening opportunity of the future. There are many viewpoints out there, specialists in their fields, different scenarios, hidden agendas, but the Blockchain Industry is the basics of the technological future we find ourselves in, Centralized or Decentralized. It is growing, exponentially and if you are not preparing your children for it, they and their children will be left behind. It sounds harsh and maybe unrealistic, but the job acquisition tool kit isn’t getting easier unless you are prepared. This series is part of a reach out to the decentralized Women in Blockchain, (from all over the world) to help facilitate the vision of education in our children forward. In my 3d Series, I would like to introduce my first guest. Anna Tutova Anna is CEO of Crypto Consulting Agency — Coinstelegram Anna on LinkedIn Q&A #1 Give us a summary of your background and how you got into Blockchain & Digital Currency / Cryptocurrency? I have a master’s degree in international law. One of my friends from the Institute had a practice in a law company, which worked with blockchain and crypto. I found out from him about Bitcoin and other cryptos. I was interested in the topic and started reading about this. I wanted to work in this industry. And my first job in blockchain came by itself: I was invited for an interview for one ICO-project and after was approved, presented it at conferences. I worked as a PR-manager. Then I had a break for some time in this sphere, but I attended blockchain-conferences, so got acquainted with more people there and was somehow involved in some projects. Later at one of the conferences in September 2018, I got acquainted with my current business partner, who already had been running media-group Coinstelegram and started working with him. #2 Tell us about your current position, responsibilities and some day to day activities that you look forward to? Currently, I’m heading Crypto-consulting agency Coinstelegram. We build strategies and promotion campaigns for tech and mostly blockchain companies, ICO/STO/IEO-projects. We help companies to be featured in top financial and business-media like Forbes, Bloomberg, The Guardian, etc. and crypto-media. As well we work with regional media in Asia, Europe, USA. We have as well our own media-channels: https://coinstelegram.com/ https://coinstelegram.ru/ We are connected with many crypto-influencers, thus we promote companies with them too. Additionally, we have our fund and crypto-investment community in Telegram , via which its members of the private club can invest directly into projects via our Telegram-bot. https://www.coinstelegram.fund/ https://t.me/coinstelegrambot This way we can raise funds for projects, and after introducing them to leading exchanges for listing. As well now there is a boom of another fundraising model — IEO, we help projects to conduct it on the right exchanges. So my activities include the establishment of partnerships with media-channels, events, crypto-exchanges, etc., negotiating with clients, attendance of blockchain events, conferences, managing teams. #3 If you had to be critical about yourself, which part of your career would you like to improve on? I’m usually so overwhelmed with work so that I wish I could do everything much quicker. But there is always a place for self-development: enhancing knowledge in crypto and blockchain, investments, improving communication skills, etc. #4 What advice do you have for children/youth (10–18 years ) today especially young woman about the Blockchain world? How do we nurture interest in this new Technology? My advice concerns not only blockchain space, but generally tech: we live in the century of rapidly growing technologies, many jobs are already automated and this movement continues, thus it’s extremely important to discover more in this industry. Those ones, who are into it, are winners. It’s necessary to learn more from young ages. Furthermore, the blockchain industry opens many horizons: it doesn’t require any formal education, so it is possible to be involved in it since young ages. If you are skillful enough, you can be successful in it. And especially in the blockchain industry, I see so many young inspiring entrepreneurs! It’s amazing, that nowadays young people can realize their ideas, change this world and be equal to senior professionals! #5 What kind of skill set would you be looking at in job applicants? I agree with Steve Jobs, who said, “that they hire smart people, so they can tell them what to do”. So we are looking for people with innovative ideas and vision, who can bring value to our business, highly motivated and hardworking ones. #6 Blockchain to me is a forward-thinking force of snowballing Technology, but where I’m from a lot of people still see Bitcoin as a scam. How do we bridge the gap between Technology and people that are skeptical about it? People should understand that Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is one thing and blockchain is another. Cryptocurrencies can’t exist without blockchain, but blockchain technology itself can exist without implementing crypto. Of course there is big hype around blockchain and not for all enterprises it is relevant, but still, there are many real use-cases of efficient implementation of blockchain. For example, distributed ledger technologies can lower transaction costs and make intellectual property ownership and payments more transparent, seamless, and automated. #7 Can you please provide the details of an educational facility that is in your area or country if anyone reading this article decides to find out more about Blockchain. I’m from Ukraine. And among the best companies, which provide education in Ukraine is Distributed Lab . They organized dozens of seminars around the world and in Ukraine, (12 international blockchain conferences in Ukraine), conduct courses in universities, prepared certification program. https://distributedlab.com/ #8 What is your current opinion on the Digital Assets, (Cryptocurrency) market and share with us your opinion on where you think this Technology will take us? Now finally we have Bull Run in the cryptocurrency market, now the market is more mature. The recent bear market kicked out many weak and scam players from the industry; today we can see many solid projects. We see big players, which use blockchain. For instance, Alibaba and IBM are the most patented companies in the world of blockchain technology, JP Morgan issued its own coin, governments implement or plan to implement blockchain too, and central banks study this industry to issue their own cryptocurrency! Such thing as smart contracts eliminates intermediaries and thus reduces the costs of escrow, bank accounts and transfers around the world! #9 What new exciting projects are you currently working on or planning? I like projects with a global vision and impact. The most exciting projects I currently work with are: 1)Velas is AI-operated DPoS Blockchain for secure, interoperable, extremely scalable transactions and smart contracts. https://velas.com/ Velas platform is being designed in a manner which would allow it to process high-volume transactions without compromising on decentralization and network security. The blockchain-based protocol is “constantly learning” as swarms “pre-mutate” in the event that consensus is not established. Moreover, the swarms continue to pre-mutate until a consensus is reached. At this point, the network “reassess itself.” These unique properties will allow the Velas network to adapt to meet network demands. Users can download neural network kits and run them on their own systems with a visual interface just how they would use a standard computer application. #Me: Whooh that sounds awesome! 2) #dxDigital is a blockchain-neutral protocol, that empowers data-owner privacy, security, and control, both on and off the blockchain. dxDigital effectively isolates the roles of publishers, rights managers, and custodians — giving data and content owners complete control. Secure dxContainers can only be opened with the authorization of the data owner, and that authorization is always revocable. https://dxdigital.com/ dxDigital DDRM platform can be used in Fintech, Consumer big data, Healthcare, Supply Chain, Insurance & Audit. 3)Miracle Tele is a fully operational mobile virtual network operator that offers high-quality international call and browsing services in 163 countries and uses the principles of collaborative economy on blockchain to provide its clients with biweekly token holder rewards. Miracle Tele plans to expand on emerging markets, particularly in Africa, where the population has limited access to mobile networks. https://miracletele.com/ 4)Shuttle is the world’s first outer space travel company. Their mission is to open space up for everyone. Shuttle is a luxury marketplace that connects people to space travel experiences enabling more commercial astronauts. A high-quality platform for consumers to easily discover and purchase commercial space flight tickets. https://www.shuttle.io/ # 10 What is your favorite Blockchain project and why? I like PolkaDot project: the idea to integrate decentralized economies under one security umbrella is great. There are so many countries where National Economy is under restrictions and blockchain is a great way to avoid them. I believe that DAO solutions are the most progressive for now. https://polkadot.network/ #Morne I am a strong believer in MakerDao #DAI and DeFi myself. When I first read your answers I had to read it again, I am going to have to go study each of your projects because they sound so incredible and then even specifically for me, #dxDigital https://dxdigital.com/ It is always rare to find people that speak or write from their hart and the way you brought trust to your projects and workspace here is truly admirable. I wish you all the best for your future in Blockchain and hope to meet you someday. *************************************************************** Next up we have Dr.Jane Thomason CEO at FintechWorldwide Dr. Jane Thomason on LinkedIn Q&A #Q1 Give us a summary of your background and how you got into Blockchain; Digital Currency/Cryptocurrency? As a mother with a teenage son a few years back, I struggled with the amount of time my son and his friends played “World of Warcraft” and other video games. He insisted that what he was doing was productive and had prospects. Social pressure to get kids off the computer and limit their playing time was enormous. I was wrong! Now I know that the World of Warcraft was in fact a meeting place for tech entrepreneurs and a training ground for future leaders, and a way to make a lot of money. Players learn how to work in teams and collaborate digitally; how to motivate volunteers; how to take strategic risks; work under pressure; be agile and accountable to the rest of the team. The World of Warcraft gave my son key skills to be a business leader. Many successful gamers earn large incomes — so it was a pathway to employment in a career that didn’t exist then. In 2010 the price of Bitcoin was 10 cents. My son told me to buy Bitcoin as an investment. I ignored that advice and told him to focus on getting a job. I was wrong! Bitcoin has gone as high as $20,000 and my son runs co-working spaces and accelerator programs for start-up’s and never really had a conventional job! When he told me about Blockchain — I just couldn’t ignore it! As I started to understand it, I realized how transformative it can be for the bottom billion. I have spent my life working on problems of poverty and inequality, in the developing world. I realize that Blockchain if deployed and scaled, could solve some of the global problems of our time like climate change and poverty. So my focus for the past three years has been on trying to demystify the technology and explain the many ways that it can help us solve problems we have grappled with for decades. #Q2 Tell us about your current position, responsibilities and some day to day activities that you look forward to? I work at all levels from global to local to get traction and motivate governments and international agencies to lean in and help shape technological transformation at scale. I am working on the digitization of a bank in an emerging economy, a digital strategy for the Global Partnership for Women’s and Children’s Health and on accelerating the adoption of AI for Universal Health Care. At a global level, I am speaking, writing and advocating and getting ideas and information out there. In Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, I have worked with the national governments to get blockchain on the agenda. We have facilitated conferences bringing blockchain companies to meet problem holders to “match-make ” and build awareness. I am very excited about working to build Fintech Worldwide as a credible platform for high quality, curated knowledge about Frontier Technologies. #Q3 If you had to be critical about yourself, which part of your career would you like to improve on? I don’t believe in looking back — life is a journey. I want to improve on my future career and I want to be bolder and reach higher! #Q4 What advice do you have for children/youth (10–18 years ) today especially young woman about the Blockchain world? How do we nurture interest in this new Technology? I say to young people — “embrace technology, it is your future.” To young women — “We need to be the change we want to see! “ We have to create an enabling environment for women to work in blockchain and technology. I think that tech generally is an ideal area for women — because it allows them flexible working hours and arrangements. Blockchain is a rapidly emerging technology with new use cases emerging on a weekly basis — that means opportunity! We need to help women and girls across the world to create their own future. If we think less about what others think and more about what we can do, individually and collectively — we will succeed. The next generation of women will be better off because technology will enable flexible working conditions and even transform childcare (self-driving cars and robots will be extremely helpful to mums!). To nurture interest in new technology: . Drive technology education and make coding ubiquitous; a language that all children learn from the start of their education. Schools should integrate analytical thinking, digital technologies, and coding into their curricula from the first day all children (boys and girls) start school. This will help overcome gender biases, as it is part of the core curriculum- ensuring that all girls learn it. Create new, awesome #womeninblockchain role models. We need to create new stereotypes for women in tech who are smart and managing both tech and motherhood. Perhaps something a bit edgier than “Amy” from the “Big Bang Theory” — we need a female “Sheldon!” I like the way “People of Blockchain” are profiling the Blockchain community, maybe we need to do that for women around the world — finding female tech entrepreneurs across the globe and profiling them? Successful women need to give time to mentor younger women and help them succeed. Free up access to funding. ICOs allow women to access funding, backed by the whitepaper published. Anyone can apply themselves to developing the next big start-up idea. Let’s develop an ICO support system that facilitates women with great ideas to mount an ICO. For example, education targeting young girls in schools will help nurture an interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain and encourage them to look at them as an opportunity. Crypto venture funds targeted at female founders could also help. Blockchain is open-source and growing. Women will help to design and develop tech products and services which will help to benefit women — creating new markets, boosting innovation and economic growth. 1 2. 3. #Q5 What kind of skill set would you be looking at in job applicants? Driven Self-motivated Strong ethics and values Trustworthy Mental agility Able to multi-task #Q6 Blockchain to me is a forward-thinking force of snowballing Technology, but where I come from a lot of people still see Bitcoin as a scam. How do we bridge the gap between Technology and people that are skeptical about it? I am continually inspired by the benefits that Blockchain can bring to the bottom billion “invisible” people on this planet. Think of a poor woman who today does not have electricity, a bank account, or an ID and lives in a remote location. If she wants to get money (sent from a relative) — she has to walk or take public transport to the nearest town (which costs money), Western Union takes 15%, and there is a bus ride home. The reality of the situation could be that she is sent $200 and has to spend $120 on transport and $25 for Western Union and has spent 3 or 4 days to access only $65. Think of the promise of technology — with only a 2G mobile phone — poor women can have access to: money, identity, micro-grid solar power, direct access to sell produce and handicrafts globally, crowdfunding money for projects, information on antenatal care visits, access to subsidies from government and a democracy platform to improve citizen engagement with the government. That is inspiring! To empower a woman is to empower a nation. A woman will invest in her family and her community. Educated women are more likely to contribute to economic growth. I want to be a driving force to collaborate and make the promise of technology real for poor women and girls around the world. We know that mobile phone ownership can transform the lives of women in the developing world, see the 2010 report by the GSMA and the Cherie Blair Foundation. In a recent study in developing countries, Intel’s Women and the Web, 77% of the women surveyed used the internet to further their education. The same report found that with $150 million, girls and women online could create a market opportunity of between US$50 Billion and US$70 Billion, and could contribute to an estimated US$13 Billion to US$18 Billion annually to developing countries’ GDP. The potential for technology to improve lives of women and girls is immense. #Q7 Can you please provide the details of an educational facility that is in your area or country if anyone reading this article decides to find out more about Blockchain. https://www.linkedin.com/company/kingsland-university-school-of-blockchain/ https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/programmes/oxford-blockchain-strategy-programme #Q8 What is your current opinion on the Digital Assets, (Cryptocurrency ) market and share with us your opinion on where you think this Technology will take us? Technological developments and their rapid adoption make this the right time for a new digital decentralized financial system to emerge: The Internet: 3.9 billion users by the end of 2018 The proliferation of smartphones: Two-thirds of the unbanked have mobile phones Digital banking: over 2 billion users by end of 2018 Bitcoin and Blockchain: the emergence of new public blockchains Decentralised finance will enable: 1. Wider Global Access to Financial Services 2. Affordable Cross-Border Payments 3. Improved Privacy and Security 4. Censorship-Resistant Transactions #Q9 What new exciting projects are you currently working on or planning? A distributed think tank on new technologies. #Q10 What is your favorite Blockchain project and why? Blockchain and Frontier Technologies in Humanitarian settings for women, children, and adolescents. I attach the Knowledge Brief I wrote as part of this work. https://bit.ly/2KkZE5X Dr. Thomason shared with me this message as a summary of her work. To establish a global think tank on frontier technologies for social impact and to leverage global networks and capital to establish a global collaboration on Blockchain and frontier technologies for Women, Children, and Adolescents in emerging economies in Asia and Africa, with an accelerator program, and fund for the exponentiation of technologies which reduce poverty and enable economic opportunity and facilitate and enable the transformational impact of technology at scale. Morne Powerful! I am always amazed by the drive some people have. For some reason, there is a percentage of people that just get it right. “PASSION FOR WHAT YOU DO!” That self-drive, (I call it my entrepreneurial makeup) is what sets aside a giver and a taker. Thank you, Dr Jane, #decentralize You will certainly not be sorry to study her book, which you can find here. https://www.igi-global.com/book/blockchain-technology-global-social-change/221876 Thank you, Dr. Thomason, for your time and as I have already downloaded your book I will be sure to get stuck into it soon. Dr. Thomason shared with me this message as a summary of her work. To establish a global think tank on frontier technologies for social impact and to leverage global networks and capital to establish a global collaboration on Blockchain and frontier technologies for Women, Children, and Adolescents in emerging economies in Asia and Africa, with an accelerator program, and fund for the exponentiation of technologies which reduce poverty and enable economic opportunity and facilitate and enable the transformational impact of technology at scale. Powerful! You will certainly not be sorry to study her book, which you can find here. https://www.igi-global.com/book/blockchain-technology-global-social-change/221876 Thank you, Dr. Thomason, for your time and as I have already downloaded your book I will be sure to get stuck into it soon. Woman in Blockchain and careers within. We will do this again next week and remember after the fifth article I will be launching my first book on Woman in Blockchain with some surprises. Regards Morne #morneolivier #womeninblockchain #girlswhocode # tokenwomen #blockchainpci #pci Women in Blockchain #Block1 Women in Blockchain #Block2 In case you missed it my last Article Blockchain Investment from South Africa | ZAR Digital Integration Important Links about me: UPDATED 11/04/19 About Morne Olivier #Disclaimer #PassiveCryptoIncome Medium Twitter Telegram for Passive Income LinkedIn Telegram Steemit ONO MurMur
