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Gavin Wood on how $60M hack of DAO happened and what to do next

At the Dutch Blockchain Conference Ethereum founder Gavin Wood gave a presentation on the hack of the DAO smart contract which happened last week. He describes how the hack of the smart contract, unrelated to Ethereum, happend and what the options are of the community in the next 30 days.

On June 18th an attacker began exploiting a vulnerability in the code of The DAO to siphon off invested funds using a bug that went unnoticed because smart contract coding is such a new discipline, which was even missed by a professional security audit performed prior to launch. Luckily the design of The DAO has resulted in these funds being temporarily stuck in child replicas. Nonetheless, without action the attacker will eventually secure a very large amount of ETH.ETH stands for ether, the ‘fuel’ of the Ethereum network.

Gavin Wood interview at the Dutch Blockchain Conference

After his presentation Dutch journalist Roelof Hemmen interviewed Gavin Wood about the hack and the practical use of a DAO smart contract system.

Blockchain peptalk keynote by Neelie Kroes

Neelie Kroes is the Dutch special envoy for startups till June 30. She gave a real good pep talk keynote during the Dutch Blockchain Conference in Amsterdam. Her passion, humor but also the urge to move forward with all the involved parties (banks, healthcare, energy, goverment etc) to create a blockchain coalition, to strengthen the Dutch eco system and move forward with practical applications into the European scene made everybody sit up and pay close attention. Tackling a wide number of issues, like the need for European politicians to create enthusiasm at the citizen level (like killing roaming fees) to what the startups need to do in co-operation with the enterprises made everyone sit on the edge of their seats.

Neelie Kroes interview at the Dutch Blockchain Conference

In her interview with Carlien Roodink, Neelie Kroes spoke at length about the last 18 months as a startup ambassador. As a European Commissioner she already took note of the disruptive effect of startups.

Join the Dutch Blockchain Conference online in HD

We are very excited that next Monday the Dutch Blockchain Conference will kick off at KPMG Headquarters in Amstelveen. For everyone who can’t make it to the event we set up a livestream.

HQ Livestream

Thanks to our digital host ING we can offer you a high quality livestream of the event including interviews with speakers and participants during the day. Interviews will be held by Roelof Lemmen (BNR) and Carlien Roodink (former DNB, KPMG, Rabobank and Holland FinTech). Join the conference live, online, in HD quality.

Unfortunately Minister of Finance and Eurogroup chairman Mr Jeroen Dijsselbloem can’t make it to the conference. But we are very pleased that Neelie Kroes, Dutch Special Envoy for Startups, could replace him on such a short notice.

Check out the full lineup of speakers below and on our website: dutchblockchainconference.com

Rutger van Zuidam and Vincent Everts look forward to the Dutch Blockchain Conference

Schedule

 

9.00 Doors open
10:00 – 10:15 Welcome by Conference Moderator Vincent Everts introducing our host KPMG by Albert Röell, Chairman Board of Management and Rutger van Zuidam, conference director Dutch Blockchain Conference
10:15 – 10:35 Neelie Kroes – Special Envoy, StartupDelta
10:35 – 11:05 David Birch – Director, Consult Hyperion
11:05 – 11:35 Mark Buitenhek – Global head of transaction services, ING
11:35 – 12:00 Panel discussion ABN AMRO with:

  • Karin Kersten – Managing Director Transaction Banking, ABN AMRO
  • Tim de Knegt – Strategic Finance & Treasury, Port of Rotterdam
12:00 – 12:25 Ron Berndsen – Head of Market Infrastructures Policy Department, De Nederlandsche Bank
12:25 – 13:15 Lunch
13:25 – 13:55 Gavin Wood – Co-founder Ethereum & CTO, Ethcore Ltd.
13:55 – 14:20 John McLean – VP Global Blockchain Labs Engagement, IBM
14:20 – 14:40 Investors panel with:

  • Dave Dirks – Venture Partner, Keadyn
  • Corne Jansen – Director, INKEF Capital
  • Frank Schuil – Co-founder & CEO, Safello
14:40 – 14:50 Interview Paolo Tasca – Director, Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London
14:50 – 15:00 Bas Eenhoorn – National Commissioner for Digital Government
15:00 – 15:35 Afternoon break
15:40 – 16:00 Dutch Pioneers Panel with:

  • Bas de Vries – CEO, Florin
  • Arno Laeven – Head of Blockchain Lab, Philips
  • Jouke Hofman – General Manager, Bitonic
16:00 – 16:05 Start of the feed-in-the-mud track:
16:05 – 16:15 Masha McConaghy – CEO, Ascribe.io
16:15 – 16:25 Trent McConaghy – Founder & CTO, Bigchain DB
16:25 – 16:45 Leanne Kemp – Founder & CEO, Everledger
16:45 – 17:00 John Lilic – ConsenSys & TransactiveGrid
17:00 – 17:15 Collin Vine – Co-founder, Colony
17:15 – 17:20 Q&A
17:20 – 17:25 Wrap up Blockchain Conference
17:25 – 18:45 Drinks

Finland copies the Estonian e-ID system

Everyone knows how excited I am about the Estonian e-ID system. I’m a digital citizen of Estonia and maybe… someday of Finland as well?! The Fins are going to copy the Estonia system with X-Road.

X-Road

Estonia and Finland are the first two nations in Europe to develop a joint data exchange platform based on Estonia’s X-Road, which allows databases in both countries to interface, assist with cross-border services, and make e-services accessible to Estonian and Finnish citizens. It has been used in Estonia since 2001.

OP Financial Group

I was talking to Jussi Snellman of the OP Financial Group, more or less the Rabobank of Finland and he explained the old and new e-ID situation in Finland.

Cleaning innovation in Europe years ahead of the USA

I was very surprised when Bill Griffin, editor of the Cleaning Business Magazine, told me that Europe is 5 years ahead of the USA when it comes to cleaning technology. He visited the ISSA/Interclean exhibition together with 30.000 other people and 800 suppliers to see the future of cleaning in the USA.

My presentation about the Top 10 innovations

My presentation about the top 10 innovations at ISSA/Interclean was recorded. You can watch the full presentation below and view my slides at slideshare.

Cleaning innovation

A selection of innovations I saw at the exhibition including a lot of robots but also augmented reality, tracking software, apps, sensors and products we all know like new toilets and faucets.

Cleanfix navi660 got the #1 innovation award

The Cleanfix Navi 660 cleans 4000m2 on a 4 hour battery. The Cleanfix team won the ISSA/Interclean innovation award. Roland de Korte is the MD of Cleanfix, he tells me more about their invention and explains the businesscase.

Minister Dijsselbloem will deliver opening speech Dutch Blockchain Conference

In 2014 and 2015, Rutger van Zuidam and me organized the Dutch National Bitcoin Conference at the ABN AMRO Dialogues House and ING Headquarters. This year, we will be moving our scope beyond bitcoin and into the realm of blockchain. It’s our pleasure to announce that the Dutch Blockchain Conference 2016 will take place on the 20th of June at KPMG Headquarters in Amsterdam. The opening speech will be delivered by Dutch Minister of Finance and Eurogroup chairman Mr Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Buy your early bird ticket or 2-for-1 pack here.

Focus on Blockchain: Fintech and beyond

In the last two years, we’ve discussed the (potential) impact and opportunities of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology with business and government leaders as well as start-ups. Our goal is to bridge the worlds of today and tomorrow and see how startups can work together with corporates and governments to innovate and create new solutions. We learn best by doing, so this year’s focus will be on the most practical examples and tangible projects using blockchain technology.

Our conference has its roots in FinTech, and the disruptive power of bitcoin keeps us sharp and inspired. But in 2016, with all sectors getting on board the blocktrain, ehh… chain en masse, we’ll move our scope beyond finance and welcome speakers and attendees from government agencies, healthcare, energy, logistics, water, real estate and chemical sectors. Because the network of professionals working with blockchain technology is expanding rapidly and the interest in the Dutch Ecosystem is growing internationally, this conference will be in English.

Opening speech by Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem

The Dutch Blockchain Conference team is currently working on the full lineup of top keynote speakers, startup pitches and an incentive awards ceremony. We are honored to announce that the opening speech will be delivered by the Dutch Minister of Finance and Eurogroup chairman Mr Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Confirmed speakers

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Tickets

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Early Bird tickets until May 1st. : € 349,00 ex VAT
Early Bird tickets 2-for-1 pack until May 1st. : € 495,00 ex VAT
Order your tickets here or check for more info Dutchblockchainconference.com

Startup tickets: € 249,00 ex VAT – apply at startup@dutchblockchainconference.com with motivation
Student tickets: € 49,00 inc VAT – apply at student@dutchblockchainconference.com with motivation and student enrolment number.

Announcement:

Watch Rutger van Zuidam and me announce the Dutch Blockchain Conference on YouTube:

The Dutch National Blockchain Conference is sponsored by:

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My new startup BenchmarkModel benchmarks your company

It’s an exciting day for me today! I’m introducing you my new startup: BenchmarkModel. I’m a co-founder and I’m running this new business together with Bart and Mark Mellink. We are currently pre-beta and among friends here so I’m asking you for your feedback.

BenchmarkModel

First of all I would like to have your opinion on these two videos. It’s made in front of a green screen and we explain what BenchmarkModel is. One video is made by me and the other one is made by 21 year old Mark . The questions:

  • Does this movie explain what we do?
  • Which movie do you think is suitable for which occasion? Please let me know!

Wat is BenchmarkModel? Explained by Vincent Everts

What is BenchmarkModel? Explained by Mark Mellink

Try the demo

This model computes a digital competence score which represents your digital use, knowledge, and skills. It takes several different digital categories in to account and gives an overall rating of your competency with digital technology.

Click on this link, fill in the questions and at the end you have a nice report of how well you are doing with digital technology.

Does it make sense and are you interested?! Do you have some feedback? Please let me know!

About BenchmarkModel

BenchmarkModel is a highly advanced survey and data management tool specifically meant for benchmarking and assessments. It has a wide range of capabilities that enables companies to take full advantage of their gathered data.

Real-time results

First you design a model with the help of the templates we provide. A model consists of different categories and each category has a set of questions. You send the questions to your respondents who can answer them on any device. The results can be viewed realtime and BenchmarkModel provides clear graphics that can be used in your presentations.

BenchmarkModel helps you to make complex decisions by showing your current positions in the field. It is used by banks, manufacturers, consultants, digital players, governments, the healthcare industry and non-profit organisations.

Ericsson Media technology

Ericsson is one of the biggest technology providers for the broadcasting industry. Behind a lot of things there’s Ericsson, whether it’s about conversion of video or media platforms. Let’s take a look!

Ericsson MediaFirst

MediaFirst is a cloud-based mediaplatform for the whole family. You can watch your favourite shows on all your devices based on your own profile with your own preferences. It’s being deployed later this year in the USA and they are also working hard to launch it in Europe at the end of this year.

Ericsson Digital Video Recorder

We all know the digital video recorder, Ericsson is taking it to a next level. Ofcourse it’s cloud based so you can watch your recorded content on every device you own. An interesting feature is that you can save one file (like a football match) and share it with multiple users.

Ericsson Integrated Video Insights

I love statistics, and so does Ericsson. Integrated Video Insights analyses user satisfaction and their activity so Ericsson can improve the customer satisfaction.

Ericsson live subtitles

Everything at MWC TV was subtitled live. It was done by Ericsson. Real people were listening to a live audiofeed and they made sure that all the subtitles were spelled correctly.

Ericsson encoding

All the digital tv channels are encoded by really powerful computers. Ericsson is one of the biggest encoding companies. The popularity of 4K video requires more and more powerful machines.

Bitcoin expert Dr Paolo Tasca about the Bitcoin market

Bitcoin expert Dr Paolo Tasca (PhD) is a financial economist for the Deutsche Bundesbank specialized in P2P financial systems and systemic risk. I talked to him at Bitcoin Wednesday, a monthly Conference on Digital Currency in The Netherlands.

He presented his research A Market Analysis of Cryptocurrencies about what is happening in the world of Bitcoin. He researched 8 facts. Bitcoin is small but it has the highest average transaction size of all the networks. It is not used for micropayments a lot but its popular for the bigger numbers you have to send between different countries due to the low costs. It’s still not a very big network. In comparison to VISA that transfers 20 billion USD a day, Bitcoin transfers about 60 million each day.

Bitcoin exchanges and the black market

Dr Paolo Tasca looked at 70 million wallets. The most active wallets are the ones from BTC exchanges like Kraken and the wallets from the black market and gambling industry. China is dominating the Bitcoin market. 33% of the transactions happen in China and also the most active miners are Chinese.

Is Bitcoin ready for the serious work?

So is Bitcoin ready for the serious work or will there be a new digital currency that will be popular in the whole society? Or is the technology (blockchain) more important than the Bitcoin currency itself? According to Dr. Paolo Tasca it is too early to say whether the Bitcoin will be extremely popular or not. But the blockchain technology is super interesting and opens the door for new technologies.

More Bitcoin events

This year there will be another Bitcoin Congres in The Netherlands, we are going to announce the exact date very soon.

Next week on Wednesday evening March 9. there is a Bitcoin event in Dutch called Miniconferentie Blockchain & grenzeloos zakendoen. You can register here.  For the people that work for the Dutch (Rijks)overheid there is a conference during the day as well, click here for more info.

5G is hot @ MWC 2016!

We have seen a lot of 5G applications at the Mobile World Congress. Also in Europe we are working hard on this new technology. Thanks to a special beam-technologie (that tracks devices and points the signal at them) Ericsson reaches speeds up to 25Gbit/sec.

Ericsson 5G area ‘On the road to 5G’

Another big player is of course Ericsson. Last year I was incredibly impressed with 3Gbit/s 5G, and what do I see now?! 25Gbit/s! In one year! The secret is the use of smart antennas that work as a beam that targets the device. Thanks to this technology every user can get up to 16Gbit/s internet, no matter how many people are around you. Another great thing about 5G is zero latency. This makes it possible that we can operate devices in other countries live with haptic feedback, like we are there in the room controlling the device. Take a look at Ericsson’s 5G area:

Internet of Things (IoT)

The internet of things is about to grow from 5 billion connected devices to 50 billion. All the devices are going to be smart, from smart devices in your own home to smart cities. They will be able to communicate with each other. Like a bus stop that can communicate with the bus and the customers who are waiting. Ericsson shows how smart a bus stop can be, but we also see ‘connected water’ (water monitoring tools) for clean water and connected wineyards and farms.