October 6, 2017

The first annual “Blockchain for Good Hackathon” hosted by the Linux Foundation and Accenture took place over two days at Accenture’s dockland facility for research and development.

A hackathon (an event where programmers collaborate intensively, in a short period of time on a project.) This hackathon was aimed at re-evaluating the manner in which blockchain technology is utilised. Blockchain technology is an infamously secure way of storing information digitally. Records are stored as blocks, and information of transactions between blocks is stored using a range of cryptographic methods.

The event consisting of a series of teams working against the clock to complete a stated goal. In the case of this event, however, the goal was to discover a method in which the blockchain peer to peer network could be re-engineered to serve a broader humanitarian purpose.

The event also featured various speakers on the topic of re-applying the blockchain technology to more than the world of cryptocurrencies. Participants travelled from around Ireland, Germany, Russia and the US.

David Treat (MD in Accenture’s global blockchain practice) commented: “Blockchain technology is on course to revolutionise how the world exchanges value, information and material. This hackathon was geared to channel these innovations for a humanitarian and environmental benefit, beginning with the right to identity and the need for environmentally sustainable supply chains”.