Highlights from the Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh (BCOLBD) 2022.
lockchain technology offers fidelity and security at a level above any other database. The decentralised system was first popularised in 2008 and since then has seen continuous improvements and extended applications across multiple industries. Academics and practitioners in Bangladesh have been diligently putting time and effort to offer blockchain solutions in education, agriculture, finance, supply chain and healthcare to name a few sectors. Aiming to keep pace with the rapid development and adoption of blockchain technology, the Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh (BCOLBD) was founded in 2019. The third edition of the Olympiad, BCOLBD 2022, kicked off on 6 June 2022 at Krishibid Institution Bangladesh. A total of 50 student category finalist teams and 10 professional category finalist teams participated this year in the three-day event.
Keeping with the theme of BCOLBD 2022 – ‘Inspiring Empowerment and Innovation,’ teams from both the professional and student categories delivered promising prospects in the field of blockchain. Team UAP_Blockchain_Application_Research won the Bronze Award in the professional category for their project titled ‘Zakat Fund Distribution.’ The proposed blockchain-based Zakat funding network can facilitate deserving candidates to reach millions of possibilities for STEM studies. The Silver Award went to team Universal Machine for their project titled ‘AttoEarth.’ Their proposed blockchain implementation aims to solve the challenge of settling land disputes which mounts to a huge case backlog on the already overburdened judiciary. Team Leveor won the Gold Award for their project, ‘Shushashon.’ ‘Shushashon’ offers a solution that leverages blockchain technology to create a secure, transparent public procurement system that can automate the processes from project initiation to evaluation, ensuring accountability in every step of the process. Transparency issues in public procurement processes are commonly exploited, resulting in corruption and malpractice. Leveor’s proposed ‘Shushashon’ is a step in the right direction that leverages technology as a means of addressing this problem. The team’s proposed solution is also aligned with UN-designated Sustainable Development Goals – no poverty, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequality, sustainable cities and communities, peace and justice strong institutions and partnerships to achieve the goal.
Visitors and participants heard from field experts about crypto adoption across emerging markets, blockchain in governance, credentials in blockchain and blockchain in financial services.
In the student category, team Blue Crystal won the Bronze Award. Their proposed blockchain solution aims to solve the electricity billing system for Bangladesh. The Silver Award was won by team Spondon, who proposed a blockchain-based approach to digitalise the health sector for better transparency, privacy and security. They utilised Hyperledge-Fabric-Blockchain that can make the healthcare sector’s shift to electronic records faster and easier, preventing data transfer mismatches between healthcare systems. The winner of the Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury Award was team Messbook for their project titled ‘Real Trust.’ Real Trust is a public, permissionless blockchain-based real estate marketplace where the value exchange of physical assets happens in fiat currency, but exchange-related document authenticity is maintained by non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The proposed enables the immutable and irreversible history of real estate assets with the potential to reduce fraudulent processes in the time of buying, selling or renting properties.
Students also won Category Awards for exceptional display of blockchain utilisation across various industries. The categories were FinTech, e-governance, supply chain, identity/privacy, HealthTech and EduTech and best prototype.
Several seminars were held throughout the event. Visitors and participants heard from field experts about crypto adoption across emerging markets, blockchain in governance, credentials in blockchain and blockchain in financial services. During the event, there were booths for 60 teams where participants showcased their projects. Planning Minister M A Mannan was present at the opening ceremony as the chief guest. Also present were MP Aparajita Haque, N M Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior Secretary, ICT Division, Prof. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Eminent Author and Advisor, BCOLBD, Dr. Lawrence Ma, Founder and President of Hong Kong Blockchain Society, Advisor, BCOLBD, Prof. Mohammad Abdul Momen, Director, IBA, University of Dhaka, Professor Dr. Mohammad Kaykobad, Convener, BCOLBD and Habibullah N Karim, Coordinator, BCOLBD 2022.
With technology reaching new heights at accelerating speeds, initiatives like the Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh presents the platform necessary to support aspiring innovators to make a contribution to the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.
