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 use cases, catch up on the latest policy recommendations, and connect key blockchain players in the region. 

Blockchain technology can seem daunting at first, so this event aimed to make it easy, ensuring attendees left with an in-depth understanding of what blockchain can do for them. The session was interactive throughout, weaving in video content, quizzes, breakout rooms and plenty of opportunities to put questions to the experts. In an open marketplace, we showcased blockchain solutions from a handful of the 38 SMEs we worked with, as well as solutions from the BLING project (funded by Interreg North Sea Region). Some use cases include:

Nijkamp Pluimvee, a free-range chicken farm owned and run by Robert Nijkamp, found a use for blockchain in improving food safety by tracking salmonella in the supply chain.

OpenCommodities saw an opportunity for blockchain to improve the handling of documents like certification records on their platform OpenDairy, a leading independent marketplace for dairy ingredients.

ADLIN Science found a use for blockchain in the healthcare sector - facilitating researchers’ access to important data while protecting patient data.

MCLedger found that blockchain can incentivise supply chain stakeholders to reduce their carbon emissions.

Two blockchain solutions were in use during the event: SelfBar and the Self Sovereign Attendancy app (SSA-app). SelfBar, one of the SMEs supported in Blockstart, is a self-service drink machine with cashless payment to the closest centiliter. Through the BLING Project, BlockchainLab Drenthe developed SSA-app, which uses blockchain for self-sovereign identity to record event attendance. 

Blockchain players like those above will from now on contribute to and be supported by the Blockchain Ecosystem, which brings together the technology partners, policy specialists and business minds needed to scale the efficient, value-driven solutions that blockchain can deliver.

If you’re interested in participating in the ecosystem to access the best advice and resources to build blockchain solutions, get in touch with our ecosystem ambassadors at the Brightlands Smart Services Campus: blockstart.smartservices@brightlands.com