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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

CoastLine: Blockchain, Beyond Bitcoin And Unpacked (Sort of)

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Blockchain. It’s the platform that Bitcoin runs on. So what’s the basic premise? It’s a decentralized ledger system that keeps track of data points or “blocks” in real time.  Advocates for the emerging platform say it allows for personal transactional control over information shared on the blockchain. The cryptography – or code – underlying the platform is called, by some experts, as ‘unhackable’, as it alerts users to inconsistencies in the ledger.

While blockchain is used in financial markets and has created new possibilities for transferring value, blockchain is also making inroads into other business sectors, medical records, cybersecurity, and government accountability.

Our task on this edition of CoastLine is to begin to understand the implications of this new technology – the challenges for regulatory agencies, traditional financial institutions – and what possibilities advocates for the platform envision. 

Guests: 

Brennan Bennett, Chief Operating Officer for QBRICS, an enterprise blockchain platform

Gerard Dache, President of the Government Blockchain Association, a non-profit that connects individuals, businesses, and government entities to blockchain applications

Lucas Layman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

Resources:

Government Blockchain Association Working Groups: https://www.gbaglobal.org/working-groups/

What is the blockchain?  GBA:  https://www.gbaglobal.org/blockchain-basics/

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.
Rachel is a graduate of UNCW's Master of Public Administration program, specializing in Urban and Regional Policy and Planning. She also received a Master of Education and two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and French Language & Literature from NC State University. She served as WHQR's News Fellow from 2017-2019. Contact her by email: rkeith@whqr.org or on Twitter @RachelKWHQR