BLOCKCHAIN is sweeping the world during this Fourth Industrial Revolution. The initiative to organise BCOLBD comes from the imperative necessity to keep up with the fast growth and use of blockchain technology in Bangladesh.
Blockchain technology is still quite underrated in Bangladesh, but the technology can be of great use in education, agriculture, finance, supply chain and healthcare to name a few sectors. Keeping this in mind, BCOLBD took the initiative to organise a blockchain competition to promote the use of the technology and to encourage students and professionals to formulate strategies and practical solutions to real world problems. The Olympiad is aimed at filling the shortage of blockchain professionals, which as of today stands at over 500,000 worldwide. In ten years, the number may exceed several million as blockchain revolutionises business transactions the way the internet has revolutionised communications.
Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh (BCOLBD)
The Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh (BCOLBD) was founded in 2019 aiming to keep pace with the rapid development and adoption of blockchain technology in the country. A high-level committee was created under the supervision of National Professor Late Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Founder Advisor at that year. State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP is the Advisor & Chief Patron of the committee. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Kaykobad, BRAC University is the Convener and Mr. Habibullah N Karim, Founder & CEO, Technohaven Company Ltd is the Coordinator of the committee. The first Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh was held in 2020. The Committee conducted BCOLBD 2021 and International Blockchain Olympiad (IBCOL) 2021 coinciding with the 50th year of Bangladesh, that had been a great success. This year the BCOLBD is preparing for the 3rd Blockchain Olympiad, BCOLBD 2022.
BCOLBD 2022
Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh 2022 will be held on May 22-24 jointly with the ICT Division, Bangladesh Computer Council, IBCOL and Technohaven Company Ltd. Other Partners are FBCCI, BASIS, IBA, Ekattor TV, The Business Standard, ICE Business Times and Radio Aamar. BCOLBD 2022 invites young and talented people of the country including students and professionals interested in blockchain technology to come up with their innovative ideas on this emerging technology. The event will take place at Krishibid Institute Bangladesh (KIB) Center and it will be simultaneously run on an online platform.
BCOLBD 2022 Registration & Deadlines
BCOLBD has arranged 2 categories for the 2022 Olympiad – Student Category and the newly introduced, Professional Category. Eligible candidates for the Student Category are all high school, college and university students. Eligible candidates for the Professional Category are service holders, entrepreneurs, practitioners and freelancers. This year, for both the Student and Professional categories, non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB) are also eligible to register for BCOLBD 2022. Registration started on 5 March 2022 and will be open till 30 April 2022. The registration link is bcolbd.org. For the primary evaluation, students are required to submit whitepapers, and professionals are required to submit whitepaper and a 10-min limit prototype/demo video (draft). The finalist team list will be announced on 11 May 2022. The finalist teams will then be required to submit the following items before 16 May 2022. Students are required to submit whitepaper, posterboard, pitch deck (presentation), 10-min pitch presentation video. Professionals are required to submit whitepaper, posterboard, pitch deck (presentation), 10-min pitch presentation video, 10-min limit prototype/demo video. Students can optionally submit prototype/demo video to compete for the best prototype award.
Prizes
The awardees will be given cash prizes. Prizes worth BDT 10,50,000 is allocated for the Professional Category. For Student Category the allocated prize pool is BDT 6,00,000.
The winning team from the Student Category will be awarded with Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury Championship Award of BDT 2,00,000 Tk. The 1st runner up team will be given Silver Award of BDT 1,00,000. The 2nd runner up team will be provided Bronze Award of BDT 50,000. Additional awards will be given based on 7 different theme categories – Document Authentication, E-governance, FinTech, Identity & Privacy, Supply Chain, EduTech and HealthTech. Participants will also have the chance to win a special award for Best Protype. Each theme category winner team will be awarded BDT 30,000.
The Professional Category will have 3 prizes. The winning team from Professional Category will be given the Gold Award of BDT 5,00,000. The 1st runner up professional team will be given a Silver Award of BDT 3,50,000 Tk. The 2nd runner up professional team will be given the Bronze Award of BDT 2,00,000.
Participants will also get additional chances to win gift items by winning on-spot quizzes. Visitors will also get the chance to participate in online quizzes to win the attractive prizes. To win prizes in the on-spot quizzes, visitors and participants have to attend the seminars and visit the exhibitory booths.
