Zilliqa, the high-throughput public blockchain platform, is partnering with King’s College London’s student-run society, KCL Blockchain, to launch a new blockchain education initiative, Blockchain A-Z. As part of Zilliqa’s ongoing education outreach initiatives, Blockchain A-Z is a new series of free, four-week-long workshops.
The workshops will bring together students from interdisciplinary backgrounds, ranging from engineering, business management, and law, with an aim to consolidate both the business and technological aspects of blockchain technology, its potential, and its application. Blockchain A-Z is open to all enrolled students at KCL and the first session will be taking place on March 26, 2019.
“Blockchain education is essential in securing a sustainable future for the wider industry. With Zilliqa’s roots in academic research, Blockchain A-Z enables us to not only give back to academia but to also engage with the next-generation of talent and equip them with the necessary knowledge and resources to bring their ideas to life. We are thrilled to kick off Zilliqa’s A-Z series with King’s College London, as a world-leading university and one of the oldest in the UK, it is inspiring to see the students, staff, and alumni embrace this emerging technology at such a pivotal time for the industry.”
Designed as a hands-on workshop, Blockchain A-Z is expected to attract hundreds of students however the workshop series will be capped at 30-50 attendees. The workshops will be conducted on-site by Zilliqa Developer Marketing Lead, Saiba Kataruka, at KCL. A former alumnus of the University of Oxford, Kataruka is responsible for leading Zilliqa’s global blockchain education initiatives for students and experienced developers.
“We’re very excited to be engaging with a creative community that’s sure to have fresh ideas on use-cases and how to tackle some of the existing issues in blockchain technology. For those starting from scratch, we hope that Blockchain A-Z will equip them with the necessary foundational knowledge to work in one of the most exciting areas of the tech industry today.”
Blockchain A-Z is envisaged to provide participants with hands-on experience through the many elements of blockchain application development from technical challenges to market understanding. Students will be able to realize the potential of blockchain for enterprise implementation while also uncovering the technology’s existing limitations that hinder wider mainstream adoption. Zilliqa is also inviting students participating in Blockchain A-Z to apply for their Ecosystem Grant Programme with a grant pool of $5 million USD.
“In recent years, we’ve observed an increasing demand for general blockchain education and amid the flurry of excitement surrounding emerging tech, we’ve found that there’s a lack of guidance and resources for talented students eager to kickstart their careers in the nascent world of blockchain. Blockchain A-Z will not only present these students with the chance to gain hands-on experience in working with the technology but also the valuable opportunity to work with one of the leading innovators in the industry.”
As one of Europe’s leading public research institutions and one of the oldest universities in the United Kingdom, KCL has been at the forefront of emerging technology research and education. In its support of KCL Blockchain, the student-led society has been able to organise events with industry leaders including its “Blockchain in Banking” legal series and a panel discussion on the intersection of fintech and charity, along with an upcoming talk with two-time Grammy Award winner and tech innovator, Imogen Heap, to discuss her blockchain start-up Mycelia and how it may impact the future of the music industry.
The A-Z workshop series is expected to expand to other universities throughout the coming year. The announcement of Blockchain A-Z comes on the back of Zilliqa’s successful mainnet launch on January 31, 2019. Zilliqa is first public blockchain platform in the world to successfully utilize sharding technology in order to tackle the industry’s ongoing scalability problem.
Blockchain A-Z welcomes all interested KCL students to participate. For more information and to register your interest, visit the Blockchain A-Z on Eventbrite.
