Marking the launch of the Blockchain Ecosystem for North West Europe, Blockstart & Beyond brought together industry leaders and experts from the agrofood, logistics, healthcare, and public sectors. On the 15th of December 2022 the Brightlands Smart Services Campus hosted us in Heerlen, NL to explore the benefits of blockchain for smaller businesses with real […]
Join us in this free event to discover digital possibilities for SMEs, connect with the region’s blockchain ecosystem, and gain access to free expert training. Industry experts and SMEs will showcase examples of blockchain technology’s potential in healthcare, agrofood, logistics and government during this interactive in-person event that culminates in the official launch of North-West […]
Facing the challenge of opening new potential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an increasingly interconnected and digitalised business landscape, 8 partners with expertise in blockchain technology, digitalisation, logistics, business development, and technology transfer have joined forces to build the Blockstart ecosystem. In a collaborative effort, the partners have set up a multi-faceted training […]
Multitel is an official information technology innovation centre in Belgium (Walloon region). Aside from its participation in different European and regional projects, its mission prioritises helping Walloon companies effectively integrate new technologies in their products, processes and services, in order to improve their competitiveness and achieve sustainable economic prosperity. In the context of blockchain technologies, […]
Windesheim is one of the Netherlands' top universities of applied sciences, known for its personal approach and for working closely with the business community and public institutes. In other projects, Windesheim and its partner Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences gained a lot of blockchain expertise, supplemented with large capacity of in-house knowledge focused on the […]
AI Dizital Solutions was founded in March 2020 to track products across complex supply chain networks. Their team of developers in the UK and India is eager to expand their blockchain expertise and improve their secure documenting and tracking capabilities.
Blockstart not only aims to educate SMEs on the technical blockchain aspects but equally intends to help SMEs take a broader perspective and encourages them to reconfigure their business model to support blockchain adoption. As such, we host several workshops that champion this mission, a prime example being the latest workshop run by SETsquared Surrey.
To guarantee the efficiency and effectiveness of work within Blockstart, Medicen Paris Region took the initiative to create a European Advisory Board - a structured and collaborative group of experts on blockchain technologies from all over Europe.
With help from the European programme Blockstart, OpenCommodities is investigating the extent to which a blockchain application contributes to the transparency, efficiency, and reliability of their platform OpenDairy. On this online marketplace, buyers and sellers of dairy ingredients can find each other without the intervention of traders.
A common misconception about blockchain is that it's inextricably linked with cryptocurrency, but there are many applications for blockchain in other domains.
Join Professor John Collomosse from our partner the University of Surrey to bust some blockchain myths and learn more about the potential of this emerging technology.
As a Service Provider contributing to Blockstart, ChainPoint has recently been focused on producing blockchain training materials tailor-made for SMEs in the programme. Ranging from simple introductions to blockchain to more detailed technical explanations, the whole range of courses available offers something for every SME regardless of their current understanding of blockchain technology.
The most recent Business Innovation Programme, held online on 6th, 7th and 10th September 2021, comprised three half-day workshops designed to help early-stage SMEs with their business model. The sessions combined theory and practice and focused on three main themes: Build, Model and Test.
Organisations face mounting pressure to know and disclose materials provenance in their supply chains. Consumer demands and legislation have pushed firms to seek solutions for greater visibility, however this remains a significant problem in the lower tiers of supply chains, threatening sustainability efforts.
What is blockchain technology and how can it be implemented in the healthcare, logistics and agrofood sectors? To find out the extent to which this technology offers advantages for your business, we have laid the groundwork for facilitating access to blockchain technology: a comprehensive training programme for SMEs from the EU to support you in your decision making process.
Blockchain is seen as one of the digitisation tools to improve the transparency, efficiency and competitiveness of agrofood and the position of farmers in agrofood chains. Dr Lan van Wassenaer, senior scientist at Wageningen University & Research, was commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality to research possible applications and bottlenecks.
Join Martin Aarnoudse, a blockchain specialist from OVSoftware, to bust some blockchain myths and learn how the organisation helps introduce small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to the technology.
Blockchain technology offers great potential for small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); it can cut costs and risks, and assist with a range of challenges, including information sharing, security and integrity. However, many SMEs find it difficult to adopt new technologies because the scale of their business is often too small. The Blockstart Programme is designed to change this.
According to the overall setup of the Blockstart consortium, the role of universities is to bring in state of the art knowledge on blockchain and business consulting. So how are Windesheim and Rotterdam contributing?
Blockchain is seen as the silver bullet that can solve any problem in any business. But when we talk about the healthcare sector and see the wasteful spending of more than $1 Trillion, blockchain becomes the silver bullet that can help save a large chunk of that $1T and create a lot of value for the healthcare sector, as well as opportunities for new businesses to capture the market.
The Blockstart Project is on a mission to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in North-West Europe (NWE) confront their challenges with the most effective, efficient solutions blockchain can offer. To guarantee the sustainability of the missions undertaken in the Blockstart Project, Medicen Paris Region took the initiative to organise a webinar on how to improve traceability […]
With funding from the INTERREG Blockstart Project, poultry farmer Nijkamp from Raalte examined whether blockchain technology could provide a solution for reliable data in the poultry industry. He was assisted in this by logistics students from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Robert Nijkamp’s company is based in Raalte: “We are a poultry farm with free-range […]
ChainPoint is one of several partners contributing to the Blockstart programme. They are specialised in software solutions that integrate data across supply chains, allowing information to be more easily shared with supply chain partners.
2020 was a good year for going digital. As the pandemic took hold early on, the world had to adjust its plans for the year and find new ways to make progress from a distance. Fortunately for Blockstart, our partners are no strangers to finding digital solutions.
Today, over 30 billion devices are interconnected within IoT (Internet of Things), with that number expecting to double by 2025. But what does this mean for tomorrow’s global socio-economic paradigm, and what opportunities can arise through Blockchain?
Blockstart, as a project, is not just about providing opportunities for businesses to learn about what blockchain technology is, it is also about helping businesses understand how integrating a blockchain solution would change their business, address current business challenges and create new opportunities for growth.
Nowadays, information is the true lifeblood of businesses. Global supply chains have been extremely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the importance of real-time and accurate information flow.
With blockchain emerging as a key technology worldwide, France has decided to take all possible steps to become a leader in this area. An impressive task force of national experts from all fields (entrepreneurs, regulators, manufacturers, non-profits and public stakeholders) has been created, coordinated by the Directorate-General for Enterprise (DGE).
The Dutch National Blockchain Course is an online course that explains what blockchain really is. The Dutch Blockchain Coalition is an associate partner in the Blockstart project. Its course consists of six modules, each with a different theme such as “What is blockchain?”, “What can we do with it?” and “Cryptos & Tokens”.
IoT - the Internet of Things - refers to the system of countless devices around the world that are connected to the internet, collecting and sharing data as an established part of our everyday life. But this is only the beginning. Blockchain technology could enhance IoT, allowing devices to send data to private blockchain ledgers with tamper-resistant records for further analysis.
From the 28th to the 30th of January, the Blockstart project partners came together in Zwolle, hosted by Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, for the third partner meeting. The agenda included associated partners as well as expert speakers, who shared invaluable insights on the development of blockchain technologies and use cases.
On the 10th of December, Blockstart partner, BioRegio STERN, organised an information event on "Blockchain - Solutions for Healthcare". The speakers Michael Munz, Digital Innovation Manager at 51nodes GmbH from Stuttgart, and Dr Heiko Roßnagel, head of the Identity Management team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart, gave interesting insights on the topic.
Blockchain has the potential to transform three of North-West Europe’s top five sectors with a combined turnover of €600 billion (agrofoods, logistics, health) by tackling their shared transnational data challenges. From tracking shipments real-time across organisations, sharing sensitive medical records between practitioners, or assuring the safety, quality, and origin of food produce, SMEs in these sectors rely heavily on data transactions across countries.