The Ramón Areces Foundation organised an engaging online colloquium entitled, “Beyond cryptocurrencies: blockchain applications in economics”. The event was attended by Juan Manuel Corchado, director of the BISITE Research Group and president of the AIR Institute; Miguel Ángel Sicilia, from the University of Alcalá, and Miguel Jerez Méndez, from the Social Sciences Council of the Ramón Areces Foundation, who shared their knowledge and opinions on the current applications of blockchain.

In the photo: Miguel Jerez Méndez, Juan Manuel Corchado and Miguel Ángel Sicilia.

The Foundation has a long history of promoting scientific research in Spain. Supporting talent, scientific capabilities and the work of young Spanish researchers and professionals. In this regard, they have launched a series of informative conferences on current topics and on this occasion, blockchain has been the main protagonist, with the aim of delving into other uses that it has in the economy, beyond cryptocurrencies.

Defining Blockchain

“Blockchain is an inalterable digital ledger that stores all the transactions of a set of users. This electronic system can be programmed to record not only financial transactions, but virtually everything of value.”

In the photo: Juan Manuel Corchado, during the conference at the Ramon Areces Foundation.

Corchado presented some of the many applications that blockchain currently has, such as smart contracts, property registers and virtual currencies. He also presented the main projects of the BISITE group and the AIR Institute which involve blockchain.

Projects such as Noixion, a video and streaming platform with cryptocurrencies for views as a form of payment.

Innoblockchain: a tool for certifying email delivery with blockchain.

Sostvan: tracing cattle using blockchain. Producers will have the opportunity to increase the profitability of their farms and provide end consumers with quality products that will be inspected and controlled using blockchain technology to improve traceability, transparency and food safety in the value chain.         

Chainwines: wine traceability using blockchain. A project we carried out with Pago de Carraovejas, one of the most important wine companies in the country.

Deep Intelligence: a solution based on Machine Learning algorithms, which transforms data into valuable information and helps companies make better decisions.

In the photo: Miguel Jerez Méndez, Juan Manuel Corchado and Miguel Ángel Sicilia.

The day ended with an interesting debate among the speakers. Here is the recording of the event, which was undoubtedly a great success.

Posted by Juan M. Corchado

Juan Manuel Corchado (15 May 1971, Salamanca, Spain) is Professor at the University of Salamanca. He has been Vice-Rector for Research from 2013 to 2017 and Director of the Science Park of the University of Salamanca. Elected as Dean of the Faculty of Science twice, he holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Salamanca and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of the West of Scotland. He leads the renowned BISITE (Bioinformatics, Intelligent Systems and Educational Technology) Research Group, created in 2000. Director of the IoT Digital Innovation Hub and President of the AIR Institute, J. M. Corchado is also Visiting Professor at the Osaka Institute of Technology since January 2015, Visiting Professor at the Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and Member of the Advisory Group on Online Terrorist Propaganda of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (EUROPOL). J. M. Corchado has been president of the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society, and academic coordinator of the University Institute for Research in Art and Animation Technology at the University of Salamanca, as well as researcher at the Universities of Paisley (UK), Vigo (Spain) and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK). He currently combines all his activity with the direction of Master programmes in Security, Digital Animation, Mobile Telephony, Information Systems Management, Internet of Things, Social Media, 3D Design and Printing, Blockchain, Z System, Industry 4.0, Agile Project Management, and Smart Cities & Intelligent Buildings, at the University of Salamanca and his work as editor-in-chief of the journals ADCAIJ (Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal), OJCST (Oriental Journal of Computer Science and Technology) or Electronics MDPI (Computer Science & Engineering section). J. M. Corchado mainly works on projects related to Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT, Fog Computing, Edge Computing, Smart Cities, Smart Grids and Sentiment Analysis. He has recently been included in the board of trustees of the AstraZeneca Foundation, along with other health professionals and researchers recognised for bringing scientific knowledge closer to society.

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