Blockchain for Business Executives

Digital transformation has become a key focus of many countries and companies alike. For example, the 2021-22 budget of Hong Kong has allocated HK$12 billion¹ to boost digital transformation. Similarly, Singapore and Canada have provisioned S$1 billion² and C$4.5 billion³ respectively. According to a KPMG survey⁴, 60+% of companies would step up their investment on digital transformation in the post-COVID-19 era.

Back in 2019, Gartner commented that ‘most blockchain technologies are still five to 10 years away from transformational impact’⁵. In just less than 2 years, Gartner begins to see ‘2021 is the year enterprise (permissioned) blockchain begins its long climb out of the ‘trough of disillusionment’⁶. This drastic change is evidential of the success of blockchain in a short period of time. It’s no surprise that the estimated market size of blockchain will grow from US$3 billion in 2020 to US$39.7 in 2025⁷ , an impressive CAGR 69.7%.

It is important that business and technology leaders understand the significance of blockchain technology and how it can benefit their own organisation. Unfortunately, Blockchain is perhaps the least understood technology amongst the ‘ABCD’ (AI, blockchain, cloud and data) portfolio of emerging technologies. Indeed it is often mistaken as nothing more than a buzzword hiding behind the cryptocurrency hype, although cryptocurrency is just one of the many successful applications of blockchain technology.

The objective of this course is to provide attendees with a broad understanding of blockchain as a technology and also as a business transformation enabler. Substantial amount of time will be devoted to discussing how blockchain is deployed and the potential pitfalls. Attention is given to address management issues such risk, data privacy, and system scalability. By discussing some successful use cases in different industries, attendees will gain insight into how a successful deployment looks like so that they can formulate their own deployment strategy that is relevant to their own organisation.

1. Hong Kong 2021-22 Budget, Hong Kong
2. Singapore Budget 2021, clause C24e
3. Budget 2021, Government of Canada
4. Going digital, faster – Impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation, KPMG
5. Hype Cycle for Blockchain, 2019, Gartner, October, 2019
6. 3 Blockbuster Blockchain Trends in 2021, Garner, 13 Jan 2021
7. Blockchain Market by Component, Provider, Type, Organization Size, Application Area, and Region – Global Forecast to 2025, Markets and Markets, May 2020

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the programme, the participants are expected to be able to:

1. Understand how blockchain works
2. Acquire knowledge on the key technologies that underpin a blockchain system
3. Tell the similarities and differences of three commonly used blockchain platforms
4. Gain insights on the key considerations and challenges of deploying a blockchain-based system through discussion on some successful cases
5. Formulate their own strategy in employing blockchain as a transformational tool

Key Benefits

Who Should Attend