Women in Blockchain | Collaboration

Women in Blockchain | Collaboration

8/12/2019
Collaboration has become a big word in the Blockchain Industry, and I can fully understand why.
 New Ideas, New Technology, a New Creative way of thinking always starts off as a Silo standalone concept. From the get-go, (and really to think what makes that idea special in an ocean bucket of 7.7 Billion people on this planet), that idea better be really special or you need to have some series individual qualities to make it work!
 They’ve called them, the ‘disruptors. The special guys and girls we look up to for finding inspiration to do the same. This, of course, is not everyone’s cup of tea and most choose to stay in the safety zones they create for themselves.

So, what if we approached this concept in a new way. The centuries pass the ‘baton to each other as the new generation comes through the ranks. Every century a new generation sets out to take on the previous and looks at the inherent problems in a new and different way, (I would hope), surely in my family I can see the ‘How, Why and What’s being far more than I remember I was allowed to ask when I was my children’s age. I remember my parents telling me their parents said, “you were seen but not heard” or “speak when you are spoken to”. The thing is, that is probably why a centralized society is what it is today.

Challenging the status quo is not a new concept, but what if we were given the perfect tool to really change it. In the ‘old days if you came up with a great concept and proved to be worthy of that special idea you held onto it for dear life. Independent Centralized Wealth.

Well, this has changed, (I honestly believe so), The Blockchain community feels different about this concept of wealth distribution. In fact, I want to go back to the “disruptors” and what is being perceived as being disruptive technology today. They indeed were disruptors, they disrupted systems and society with a new way of thinking and doing, not all bad, but it didn’t go smoothly.

 Blockchain is called disruptive by some, but why? Should it not be something in lines of, “quiet, settling and calming”.

 Blockchain Technology will not disrupt anything, in fact, it will do quite the opposite, “(or maybe it will disrupt those still trying to hang on to the past)”, Blockchain Technology has spread from an anonymous guy called Satoshi and the ideal that is Bitcoin Blockchain, into an Open Source concept of Collaboration. Our current systems will seamlessly be changed over onto Blockchains with professionals matching this new tool.

“Collaboration is the buzz word and difficult to hang on to if you don’t know what you are going to get out of it. But that’s just it, times have changed and the way of looking at creating income streams are different. The ‘vehicle that is Blockchain has provided us with an open-ended ideal to work together for fairer distributed wealth, in an automated transparent way and this will drive the New Idea’s, New Technology and New Creativity”.

#morneolivier

These articles won’t mean much if the women in them did not share the same ideals and thrived on being creative with technology. My first interview today then Jie Lin

Chang Jie Lin: Marketing Manager for BiKi Exchange

Jie Lin on LinkedIn

Q&A

#1 Give us a summary of your background and how you got into Blockchain & Digital Currency / Cryptocurrency?

I’m Jie Lin and I got into the space out of curiosity as my friends began investing cryptocurrency as a means for passive income in college. I grew interested in the notion and challenged myself to learn more about it, even when the learning curve was steep. Then college mates told me about sharing your love for a particular token while earning money from it too. This became my first occupational dabble into cryptocurrencies and blockchain as I began to moderate ICO communities while in school.

#2 Tell us about your current position, responsibilities and some day to day activities that you look forward to?

I am currently a marketing manager of a cryptocurrency exchange, BiKi.com, managing the branding of the exchange to become a top tier exchange in the near future. I manage social media growth and campaigns, handle PR and news creation and the strategizing of blockchain meetups and events for the company. I look forward to improving the social statistics and SEO rankings of BiKi every day, making it more searchable and hence showing a sense of the credibility of the exchange to its users. Interestingly, I had kept close to my roots and still manage BiKi’s communities and helping the users every day is also something I look forward to.

#3 If you had to be critical about yourself, which part of your career would you like to improve on?

I think it would be not having the foresight that blockchain was going to be such a big thing earlier. If I were to build up my interest and network from then, I would have seen the big picture and be involved with the movers and shakers since the beginning.

#4 What advice do you have for children/youth (10–18 years ) today especially young women about the Blockchain world? How do we nurture interest in this new Technology?

Start today! Blockchain is the future and if you don’t start now, you’ll be swept too far away when the bull run arrives again. I was a skeptic in the beginning and as you can see from the above answer, I regretted it.

#5 What kind of skill set would you be looking at in job applicants?

I think it is important for people looking for jobs to understand Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle — where why you do something is the center and the most important part, the bullseye if you will, and the how you achieve it and what to do to achieve it forms the outer rings. Then they will be motivated to accomplish tasks based on the “why” of it all, not the “how” or what”. This gives them energy and passion that goes beyond basic hard skills.

#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?

I think the more mainstream cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology gets, the more people can accept it. It is analogous to a similar phase people go through when transitioning from cash to “plastic” credit cards.

People are drawn to scandals and bad news. A small percentage of people actually use bitcoin for payment of illicit goods and services on the dark web, while the rest of the majority of token holders are legitimate investors who are excited about the cryptocurrency. And most “scared” mainstream investors only hear the bad news.

I think more exposure to the real news about what blockchain is about (and not the hype and controversies) will bridge that gap.

#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.

Coinbase 101, telegram groups, Cointelegraph news. In Singapore, although I’m no longer in school, there are even courses in Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic about blockchain with course titles like “Blockchain & Smart Contracts Development” and “FinTech — Blockchain (Beginners)”.

#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?

I think the market is only at its turning point of becoming more mainstream. In the beginning, there was the ICO hype followed by the huge market crash, so not we are this inflection point towards change. In the future, it will take us in a decentralized world where this kind of technology is the forefront which can help to mitigate the current problems we are facing like security. But there will be a trade-off as those who lack knowledge will risk higher chances of being scammed.

#9 What new exciting projects are you currently working on or planning?

BiKi is currently in its globalization phase and is attending and organizing events all around the globe. I’ve had the privilege of managing social media airdrops and meetups in places like Canada, Korea, and London and it is great to see everyone united for the same thing.

#10 What is your favorite Blockchain project and why?

Thekey is my all-time favorite project. As we are all getting online, it bridges the gap of transitioning confidential personal information offline to online. The utility of the TKY token is also very high, and I believe it will be of increasingly exponential value in the future. For instance, no longer will transferring doctors or hospitals be a big hassle as all the patient’s information is securely stored on the blockchain, for any doctor to follow up. The project is also based on a strong team, with strong partners like NEO partnering with them. And this is one of the projects I believe will bridge that gap between technology and skepticism, as more people realize the usefulness of keeping confidential information about one’s unique identity on a secure chain, bringing with them everywhere they go, so relevant personnel can have easy access to it.

That is so exciting Jie Lin and it is exactly the kind of enthusiasm I want to try and take out there for other students to see. You are pioneering the future of Blockchain Technology, learning about it all the time. This is so important, to keep educating ourselves beyond what is expected of us. I hope you can inspire a lot of women (students), pique their interest to find out more about the changing point of how we will in the future conduct business, finance, and commerce.

Awesome,

Thank You 谢谢

#collaborate & Integrate

Now for our 2nd interview, we have Morgan Pierce

Morgan PierceMorgan Pierce - CMO - Xwiss AG | LinkedIn
Morgan is an engagement marketing expert, serial entrepreneur, and global speaker. A graduate of Columbia University…www.linkedin.com

Q&A
 #1 Give us a summary of your background and how you got into Blockchain & Digital Currency / Cryptocurrency?

When I first heard about Blockchain, I knew immediately that I had found a new passion, a passion that my whole career seems to have been inching towards. I graduated from Columbia University having studied Computer Science and Economics in the mid-1980s, where I wrote my thesis on the effects of interest rates on the money supply, what in today’s terminology is known as Quantitative Easing. The first company I co-founded in the late eighties became one of the largest cybersecurity consulting companies in the US. The second company I started, was an early FinTech application. In the late 1990s, I went to work for Oracle, where I frequently commented that the world needed database technology where data stored could not be altered or manipulated. Because until Blockchain, any data stored could always be overwritten.

In 2006, I read an article about a man who had become a millionaire by selling virtual property to Second Lifers for Lincoln Dollars in the virtual game Second Life. I knew then that humanity was close to evolving money into a digital asset.

In 2014, I bought some Bitcoin, some of my colleagues often comment they don’t know why I waited so long because I had been talking about it for a few years by then… my mistake. In 2017, I finally made the decision to jump in feet first and I signed up for a MOOC digital currency course under the tutelage of Andreas Antonopoulous. Then I was hooked. I quit my job at a Silicon Valley software company, retooled myself, developed educational materials to teach the world about Bitcoin, Blockchain and the promise it holds for global economic reform and I set about educating as many people as possible on my own dime and time. And then SEBA Bank AG found me.

So here we are today at the convergence of economics, computer science, cybersecurity and a much-needed evolution in data storage which enables data permanence. I truly feel like I am right at home.

#2 Tell us about your current position, responsibilities and some day to day activities that you look forward to?

I spent a year working at SEBA and loved every minute of defining and building the brand. A close friend and colleague in Ireland helped with the media relations aspects of the SEBA brand launch, where we architected one of the most successful brand launches of 2018. So when I started thinking about what I wanted to achieve next, I decided that helping start-ups in the crypto-economy create strong brands via media relations was what I wanted to focus on next. And that’s when we founded Ignite.

I also stepped in as Head of Marketing for the Crypto Valley Association, because I believe that the road ahead towards mainstream crypto adoption may get a little bumpy, and having a strong representative body is instrumental in helping the ecosystem overcome some of the certain obstacles that lie ahead as regulators, global banks and sovereign governments begin to grapple with the reality of the digital asset revolution.

#3 If you had to be critical about yourself, which part of your career would you like to improve on?

I can’t say that I am unhappy with any aspects of my career. I had the choice 20 years ago to stay at a large multi-national, Oracle, and work there comfortably for the rest of my days. But that wasn’t me. It would certainly have made raising a family easier, having a steady income and employment, but I don’t think my children would have learned resilience and perseverance, which they all have in them today.

#4 What advice do you have for children/youth (10–18 years ) today especially young women about the Blockchain world? How do we nurture interest in this new Technology?

I don’t think we need to nurture interest in the younger generations, I think they will grow up with crypto and blockchain being an integral part of their world. For women, more and more opportunities are arising for study in STEM areas, so we are certain to see the numbers continue to grow.

#5 What kind of skill set would you be looking at in job applicants?

Resilience, perseverance, flexibility, creativity. Resilience because in business change is constant. Perseverance and flexibility for the same reason. Creativity is a little different. Creativity to me means that people are growing, and when you are growing, that’s food for your soul. It doesn’t matter what you create, as long as you are always creating.

#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?

Technology is going to drag humanity into this revolution kicking and screaming, it is already happening. Everything in our world is being digitized: Music, literature, movies, our jobs, all of our information, education…. Why in the world some people don’t think money will follow this trend is beyond my comprehension.

Governments have finally figured out that cryptographic money is far safer and cleaner than Fiat, with the added benefit that the tax take can come straight into sovereign coffers at the point of transaction. That’s an attractive value proposition that no government can turn an eye from.

It’s all happening, it’s just hard to see the forest from the trees.

#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.

Dublin City University launched an MSc in Blockchain — Distributed Ledger Technologies in September 2019. It is a 2-year program aimed at IT professionals who have a degree in Computer Science.

#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?

The Digital Asset market is in its infancy and the possibilities are only now beginning to gain clarity. When Blockchain first appeared on the scene, it seemed as though every problem in the world could be solved by Blockchain.

But the market has matured, and we now have a much clearer picture of the use cases where blockchain can be truly impactful, and literally thousands of Proofs of Concept are underway. In the next 2–3 years, we should really see Blockchain go mainstream.

As regards the cryptocurrency market, 2020 should be a very interesting year with the next Bitcoin halving coming in May. This next halving will alter Bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio, making Bitcoin — for the first time in history — a harder asset than gold. The definition of a Hard Asset is one that is difficult to produce more of, such as gold. There is already an amount of gold present in the world — the current stock of gold — and the rate at which more can be produced (extracted from the earth) is the flow of new gold. Since the flow is minuscule compared to the gold already mined and stored in sovereign coffers, gold is the hardest asset that the world has historically had.

In May, the flow of new Bitcoin into the market will be halved, thus making the Stock to Flow ratio even higher than gold. When the market absorbs this fact, I believe we will see Bitcoin achieve a new all-time high and a new Bull market will return.

#9 What new exciting projects are you currently working on or planning?

I am currently involved in a project in Zug, Switzerland that will transform mass affluent access to the crypto economy. With digital assets, the streamlining of the investor value chain will deliver economies of scale which will open the market in a regulated manner for the mass affluent investor. Our aim is to make sure this sector of the market is ripe for crypto adoption.

#10 What is your favorite Blockchain project and why?

My favorite Blockchain project is the AID: tech project which teamed up with the Irish Red Cross and Lebanese humanitarian experts to implement the world’s first aid delivery project with the objective to ensure refugees received aid in a transparent manner while preserving their dignity and humanity.

This project is an excellent example of the type of impact blockchain can have on our world.

Thank you, Morgan, wise words, from a wise lady! I actually struggled to put this into context with repeating all your answers :)

I can identify with your entrepreneurial spirit setting out your own course, for me, it is really the only way and I think for the upcoming generations Blockchain Technology will provide an easier “vehicle” to be entrepreneurial/creative.

Your outlook on Bitcoin and Gold #8 is perfect and here I need to say for the newcomers coming in starting to learn about Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains, to really learn about them and put them into context with their current surroundings. You will save a lot of time and energy by blocking out the “noise” and zoning in on the facts.

Thank you Morgan for your great insight and I’ll be sure to go learn more about Ignite for my new Business, Business2Blockchain.

“Women in Blockchain” articles

from Morne Olivier LinkedIn

Writer | Marketer | Blockchain Consultant

Morne Olivier

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