Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Consensus 2017, Coindesk's 3rd annual blockchain technology summit in NYC. It was a great learning experience to be midst among the who's who of the blockchain ecosystem and to see blockchain in action.

On the very last day, I was in conversation with Kevin Worth, the CEO of CoinDesk on the success of  the conference. I mentioned to him that two things stood out for me. One, there was a genuine openness among the blockchain community to listen, share, learn, collaborate and appreciate the power of blockchain from diverse perspectives. Unlike other technology conferences which focus on proven success stories (with spotlight on the millions of $ spent / saved), here the focus was on identifying solutions to make blockchain real and unleash its true power. Two, it was a power-packed event because most of the attendees had some strong connection with blockchain (either an investor, partner, startup, analyst or service provider) so it was a very focused audience, very young, spirited and energitic! The average age appeared to be between 27 to 35 years, which was cool and inspiring.

As I look back at what I recall 1 week after the event, a few points emerge strongly. In this post I am sharing a round-up of my key take-aways from Consensus 2017.

* The 2017 IBM C-suite study on blockchain was an interesting and insightful study. The key-highlights which got attention were

• Of almost 3,000 cross-industry C-suite executives surveyed, 33% are already actively engaged or are considering using blockchain
• Blockchain expected to support enterprise strategy and to increase transactional transparency
• 71% of those actively using blockchain believe industry consortia are important to advance blockchain efforts
• 78% of those actively using blockchain believe customers are important to advance blockchain efforts

* A public announcement on NASDAQ and Citi pioneering blockchain for Straight Through Payment Processing and automation of reconciliation using a Distributed Ledger Technology. For more details, click here

* A half day event agenda around the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and how the alliance is driving enterprise scale blockchain adoption brought to the forefront open dialog on the importance of technology maturity, standards and best practices to accelerate blockchain solution deployments.

* Toyota's vision for how blockchain could change driving - This was really an interesting solution demo in which Toyota is using blockchain to power next generation innovations and customer experiences for energy conversation and optimal vehicle utilization with  blockchain technology partners like BigChainDB and GEM

* Coindesk "State of the Blockchain Report" which was released at the event. This is a quarterly industry overview report that summarizes key trends, data and events in the public and enterprise blockchain sectors.

* While blockchain has always been associated with fintech, the overall sentiment was that the 2 industry sectors which hold tremendous promise are Healthcare and Life Sciences (HLS) and Energy & Utilities (E&U). The use cases and business case for transformation in these two industry segments are very strong. In HLS, the use cases around Digitization of Electronic Health Records, Insurance Claims Processing and Supply Chain Trace ability of medicines were of interest. In the E&U side, the use cases around P2p (peer 2 peer) energy trading and energy conservation with electric car charging are considered to hold significant potential. It is a matter of time and ecosystem collaboration for blockchain solutions to be accepted in these segments.

* Focus on blockchain IP's was interesting because there are so many startups / platforms / products building solutions on new innovations. Meeting with Perianne Boring (Founder and President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce) helped appreciate the systematic efforts done to curate blockchain IP's and to learn about some interesting trends around IP creation and protection. The efforts from the Chamber around education, advocacy and close alignment with policymakers, regulatory agencies and industry helps develop an environment that fosters innovations and investments.

* The focus from India and China on blockchain. It was interesting to hear panelists from both these countries highlight their interest, investments, focus and government support for blockchain investments. That was a big moment when China and India are betting big on blockchain to power next generation innovations and transformations!

Constellation Research VP and Principal Analyst, Steve Wilson sums it up well when he says "The innovation and speed of change seen at the Consensus conference is breathtaking. There's so much action on both the original blockchains, the advanced private ledgers, and brand new consensus algorithms. It's very challenging for mainstream businesses to just get it straight in their own minds, let alone keep up with the latest and get comfortable with what it all means. Businesses need sober braid based professional services and safe laboratory spaces in which to experiment."

Obviously, BLOCKCHAIN has ARRIVED and is here to STAY! Are you ready?

Those are my take-aways. What are yours? Leave a comment to let me know.

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Views expressed in this blog are my personal insights and perspectives only.