The Philippines startup community received a 15 Million Funding from BCB Blockchain, a Singapore-based blockchain company to support and bolster the Block chain development in the country. The grant was announced during the 3rd National Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Summit held at Crowne Plaza, Ortigas, Metro Manila last 20 November 2019.
According to Douglas Yi Dong Gan, founder of BCB (Building Cities Beyond) Blockchain, the grant will be managed through the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Gan also emphasized that this grant is signifies the BCB Blockchain’s commitment to support technology business incubators and startup accelerators in the country, while leveraging its goal to develop a blockchain protocols to support smart city solutions.
Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, PCIEERD Executive Director gracefully welcomed the partnership with BCB Blockchain. The BCB Blockchain-PCIEERD partnership was inked during the event by signing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
“We are enthused to have this collaboration with BCB Blockchain and eager to partake of their expertise, knowledge-base ecosystem, relationships and experiences in blockchain technology development, venture building and accelerating local startups. We hope that this partnership will ignite the next wave of technology applications and innovations for the development of sustainable smart cities in the country,” said Director Paringit.
BCB Blockchain Partners to R&D
Likewise, BCB Blockchain also signed partnership with the country’s State Universities and Startup Technology Business Incubators and Research and Development (R&D) Institutions across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to launch a collaborative endeavor in providing seminars and trainings, technology promotional activities, competitions, hackathons and other related activities that will support blockchain development.
BCB Blockchain also emphasized that they will support technology business incubators to access global markets through its established platform and help in the commercialization of each and every successful projects.
Institutions that signed partnership with BCB Blockchain include: Far Eastern University (FEU), De La Salle University (DLSU) Manila, Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP), Adamson University, Holy Angel University, Batangas State University (BatSU), TIP-Visayas, University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP), Caraga State University, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MUS-IIT), Siliman University, and QBO Innovation Hub of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
BCB said that partnership aimed to reach-out and engage researchers, startups and community members to use BCB platform and its technologies to create smart city solutions.
By providing the blockchain technical knowledge BCB Blockchain assures that its partners, the S&T (science and Technology) community, Technology Business Incubators will increase their competencies in the area of developing and designing (blockchain) project applications that will support smart cities.
“We will guide and provide them the access to hands-on workshops, funding, materials, events and technical support,” Douglas Yi Dong Gan assures.
Gan also announces upcoming activities in 2020, as part of the partnership activities to include competitions, hackathons, and bug bounty. Prizes amounting US$15,000 await winners of the competitive events, while selected projects will get opportunities to participate in the incubation programs for commercialization and fund-raising.
DigiCerts Philippines – Anti-fraud Certification Blockchain Platform
As this endeavor progresses, BCB Blockchain also introduced its collaboration with R3D Global, an Australian-listed firm, to push the adoption of DigiCerts in the Philippines. DigiCerts is described as a tamper-resistant system stored on a decentralized blockchain to replace paper certificates and reduce fraud cases’ incidence.
Vanessa Koh, Chief Technology Officer of BCB, noted the rising cases of fraud cases, which she said occur frequently in many Asian countries.
“The frequency of fraud cases for certificates issuance have risen in recent years. This fraud certification happens especially in Asia (the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore).
“Together with R3D, our goal is to build a secure platform to resolve fraud certification issue and to create a secure and publicly accessible registry of academic qualifications for universities in the Philippines and Asia,” Koh said. (EDD K USMAN, EDMON AGRON)
