Blockchain: Revolution and Powering the Future

Blockchains and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) are fast-evolving technologies with huge potential to disrupt many sectors across the business, government and society. The concept of a blockchain was first introduced as the technical backbone of the digital currency Bitcoin but is fast evolving into mainstream applications far beyond its initial purpose. Today, blockchain technology is showing great potential to disrupt industries including supply chain, finance, healthcare sector, asset ownership, identity management and many more.

Blockchain is a decentralized database that stores online transactions while ensuring security services like anonymity, confidentiality, integrity and transparency. Blockchain consists of a chain of blocks, each block contains a timestamp, block number, nonce, cryptographic hash of the previous block and transaction information. Some of the popular Blockchain platforms used to develop enterprise applications include Hyperledger, Ethereum, IBM Blockchain, Hydrachain, Multichain, R3 Corda, Ripple, BigChainDB, etc.

Blockchain talent and capabilities, for foundational platform programming and blockchain application development, are extremely scarce across the globe due to technology nascency and a low number of live engagements. According to NASSCOM Blockchain report, only one out of every 400 software developers in India can work on blockchain, which could potentially be the backbone of many large financial transactions in the country. Therefore, the demand for people with Blockchain skills is high. Indian start-ups have not been able to tap into the global investment surge in blockchain, cornering only about 0.2% of the investments. There is an urgent need for a conducive regulatory and government procurement policy environment to accelerate start-up growth in India.

Bennett University’s Computer Science Engineering (CSE) program offers a specialization in Blockchain from the second year of the program. The curriculum of the program is designed in such a way that the student learns the key aspects of blockchain technologies including Blockchain Engineering, Digital Currencies, Cyber Security with Blockchain, Security & Privacy for Big Data Analytics, Cryptography, etc through a rich mix of classroom, lab and projects. Further, the CSE students from Bennett university have successfully implemented various Blockchain applications using Ethereum and Hyperledger platforms. The projects include Blockchain-based voting system, Trusted Crowdfunding Platform using Smart Contracts, Blockchain-based Fake Drug Identification System, KYC & Asset management using Blockchain and Transparent and Genuine Charity Application.