As a part of this summer conference marathon, I participated in the Blockchain Expo Europe 2018 in Amsterdam. The event was collocated with IoT Tech Expo and AI Expo, and took place in Amsterdam RAI - a phantasmic venue to host such an event. It was difficult to assess the number of attendees for this two-days event, however the number of exhibitors I would roughly set to 200.
Next to the possibility to talk to all kind of blockchain related technology players, an impressive series of talks and round table discussions has been given during these two days. Two of the five tracks have been available for ultimates and gold ticket holders (and I was luckily one of them). Most probably, blockchain technology will not lead the IT industry to a radical change and the way on how we do business today. However, it was very interesting to get a bit closer to those who are actively driving this market at the moment. Beside IBM and Microsoft, the usual suspects haven’t been around. For me this exhibition felt like a playground of white label nobodies, which made it even more interesting. On the one hand, a lot of blockchain software and service providers have been present, but of course also mining hardware solution providers showed their solutions. Additionally, some organisations to promote countries, like Malta or Gibraltar as international business and financial centres with a focus specific to blockchain technologies had a booth on the exhibition.
Sadly, I did not find the time to explore IoT Tech Expo and AI Expo, which I regret. The only chance to make up for it is to come back next time.
cover photo: Medium