In case you haven’t heard about it yet, Blockchain is a new and fast evolving technology that is creating fundamental changes in personal finance, business, financial markets and banking worldwide. Its most popular product is the virtual currency “Bitcoin.” While Bitcoin has gained most of the media attention, Blockchain has already found its application in many industries – specifically finance, law and supply chain management. Giants like Microsoft, IBM and large financial institutions are investing considerable resources into Blockchain, betting that its applications are going to transform the way many industries operate. Investments into Blockchain-related startups have increased exponentially in recent months. Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, stated, “Blockchain’s distributed consensus model is the most important invention since the Internet itself.” Luxembourg School of Business is organizing the first edition of its “Blockchain Bootcamp,” a two-day event that will take place on April 15 and 16 in Luxembourg. We asked Marin Njavro, the Managing Director of Luxembourg School of Business, to give us more details about the agenda for the Blockchain Bootcamp and why he decided to set up the event.
What is the Luxembourg School of Business?
Luxembourg School of Business was founded in 2014, as a graduate business school here in Luxembourg. Our goal is to create a globally recognized graduate business school that offers world-class education right here in Luxembourg (including MBA programs and Executive Education programs), attracts students and talented professionals from all over the world to Luxembourg, and does cutting-edge research activities.
LSB has a mixture of core faculty and professors affiliated with institutions such as University of Michigan, MIT, Duke University, New York University, Harvard University, London Business School, University of St. Gallen, Copenhagen Business School, Bocconi University, Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Sciences Po Paris, and more. We have a two-year Weekend MBA program which started in September 2015, and a one-year MBA program which will start in September 2016. Our current students are working professionals with anywhere from four to 29 years of professional experience.
Do you teach FinTech to your students?
We don’t teach FinTech as such, because it is not an academic discipline. However, our MBA program has courses in finance, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Through our Executive Education programs, we organize courses in Blockchain technology and strategic innovation.
Why did you decide to organize a Blockchain Bootcamp in Luxembourg?
Blockchain has become a buzzword. We have realized that many individuals and companies have jumped on the Blockchain bandwagon, and a lot of excitement has been created around this topic, especially in the United States. However, very few people truly understand the technology and how it can be applied to transform businesses.
Through my discussion with our professor Dr. Jonathon Read, who is a senior investment banker in London with over 20+ years of experience as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, etc., and also a professor of finance at LSB, we realized that we could try to bridge this gap between understanding the technological aspects of Blockchain and how it might actually change business models. However, we didn’t want to organize a conference where people would just listen to a panel of speakers and then drink a cocktail and go home.
It is a two-day event, which starts with a morning conference and then transforms into a one-and-a-half-day active workshop […]
We thought that a really hands-on approach is necessary. This is how we came up with the idea to organize the Blockchain Bootcamp. It is a two-day event, which starts with a morning conference and then transforms into a one-and-a-half-day active workshop, where people will learn in detail about the technology and then work in teams on coming up with innovative ways on how Blockchain could transform products/services or business models.
What do you expect from this event?
Our expectations are clear. Since this is the first time that this kind of event will be organized in Luxembourg – and I mean an event focused only on Blockchain, that has a workshop element to it – we have set realistic goals.
[…] the Blockchain Bootcamp should bring clarification to your understanding of Blockchain technology and the opportunities related to it.
After the two-day program, you should be able to get a grasp on what Blockchain is, how exactly it will affect your business, and what the opportunities related to this technology are. The event should also give you a clear idea on the limitations of Blockchain technology and what legal/regulatory issues might arise. In short, the Blockchain Bootcamp should bring clarification to your understanding of Blockchain technology and the opportunities related to it.
