On top of the blockchain

17 February 2017 ... min read

17 February 2017

At the world’s biggest blockchain hackathon in the Netherlands last weekend, over 500 people from around the world showed what blockchains can potentially do.

Watch Mariana Gomez de la Villa, senior program manager Blockchain, reporting from the Dutch Blockchain hackathon. She gives us a glimpse of the hackathon’s vibe and the Cash me if you can game.

The 48-hour long hackathon challenged 55 teams to find innovative solutions to problems in one of five tracks: digital identity, re-inventing government, international trade and business, the future of pensions and energy transition.

Programmers and designers worked tirelessly through the night. Their solutions often showed a social conscience, like enhancing democracy or an identification app designed to help refugees.

“These people are going to change society,” said Rutger van Zuidam, founder of DutchChain, which organised the Dutch Blockchain hackathon.

Cash me if you can!

As one of the hackathon’s strategic partners, ING blockchain experts roamed the floor, talking to teams, offering their expertise and giving master classes on topics related to blockchain technology.

Next to the five ‘real’ challenges, ING introduced the game ‘Cash me if you can’. Participants were challenged to find a vulnerability ING purposely installed in a blockchain. The first team to find it won a workshop with ING’s innovation coaches at the ING Customer Experience Center in Amsterdam.

The winners of the 2017 Dutch blockchain hackathon

Track: the future of pensions stream

The winners are Ben2 and Nest-Egg, who developed a solution to overcome administrative hurdles and builds flexibility for customers to contribute to their pension from regular savings.

Track: Energy stream

Team ToBlockchain used distributed ledger technology to bring peer-to-peer to the energy markets.

Track: International trade and entrepreneurship

The Zissou team developed a solution that solves the trust issue between freelancers and clients.

Track: Identity

Social Fabric and Refugee E-dentity both have the potential to solve the problem of identifying refugees.

Track: Re-inventing government

Team gemeente Zuidhorn aims to help local government make more effective decisions.