Funders and Founders: The Blockchain Way

The Consensus Economy is a pillar in today’s society. Technology plays a role in the development of this economy, especially open-source technologies like the internet, the blockchain,and other distributed ledger technologies. I want to highlight the blockchain as the linchpin for the iteration of this economy. But there’s much to learn and so many ideas to try out. In this world, to propagate ideas requires funding, and how this comes along is through the framework of research. And this is really close to my heart, especially in the African perspective where the blockchain technology could provide real world case studies on a massively impactful basis across the spectrum of society. Let me put this into perspective:
BitHub Africa, a blockchain accelerator produced a report titled The African Blockchain Report, which is a 136 page rendition of the huge avenues that blockchain creates. Furthermore, the UK Research Council recently granted £3.6 million in Blockchain grants to seven projects. The blockchain industry has matured quite well, moving from the already proved financial use case. And herein lies the field of research, so much can be built on the blockchain. I believe that there are two areas that research grants can benefit immensely:

Grants in Blockchain Education

The education ranges from theoretical to the practical. From understanding what it is and what can be built on it. Not to mention the reason why we need blockchain. This is where the philosophical underpinnings of the blockchain are formulated and expounded upon. Conducting such education systematically and on a large scale is ideal and breeds the culture of innovation as people ruminate on the content. Money to support this would go along way in helping the development therewith. One of the ways to do this is directing this funding towards hubs/accelerators OR through universities/schools.

Grants in Blockchain Projects

Often ideas are lost into obscurity because there’s no money to help them develop. One of the ways to ensure that the funding is used properly is to create benchmarks upon which projects can be weighed against for the purposes of constant amelioration. The funding should help both the technical development to the go-to-market strategy.
In Africa, this is most important because a lot of projects lack funding, is it because of the risk-averse psyche or the inefficient funding that exists? Or perhaps because of the ineffective ways of managing the funds? These are definitely important questions that need to be answered. But I also need to say that these hubs/accelerators need to learn to pitch themselves to funding entities, build on values of fairness and diligence. And of course, there needs to be goodwill from funders and founders to work together to build legacies. Sound structure and good sense is the essence of such a relationship.
Importantly, you have noticed the interest by central bankers to extend on this technology by putting money into research of digital currencies. One thing is for sure, this technology is here to stay, we can’t stop the onslaught of technology. Innovation is as important to technology as currency is to the economy.