Blockchain W4B Nashville Hackathon + Learning Hub coming to Lipscomb University Feb. 8-10

Information technology professionals of all levels, managers and students alike will have a unique opportunity to enhance their skills and knowledge at the Blockchain W4B Nashville Hackathon + Learning Hub coming to Lipscomb University Feb. 8-10.

Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 | 01/24/2019

The event is being offered in partnership with Women4Blockchain, whose mission is to build and empower pioneers and empowering pioneers in the world of blockchain technology.

Hackathon_350Developers, network engineers, IT/Systems analysts, UX/UI designers, business analysts, project managers, directors, lawyers, high school and university students or anyone interested in learning more about blockchain in the areas of health care, supply chain management, banking and fintech, and hardware mining. No previous blockchain experience is required and no blockchain development skills are necessary to participate.

The Blockchain W4B Nashville Hackathon + Learning Hub begins on Friday, Feb. 8 with a Learning Hub workshop from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Participants will prepare for the Hackathon on the first day of the event through the Learning Hub, conducted by leading blockchain companies and thought leaders.

Participants will then be formed into teams. Each team will be paired with a mentor from the blockchain industry to guide the group through the assigned project. Hackers may create their own teams or be assigned to a team at the workshop. Teams will work on their project during the all-day Hackathon on Saturday, Feb. 9. On Sunday, Feb. 10, teams will present their projects to a panel of judges as they compete for bounties in the form of monetary prizes from event sponsors for solving a problem on blockchain.

Teams will be assigned a project in one of four areas. Health care track teams will develop a solution to a health care challenge on blockchain. Blockchain is becoming a significant asset in many aspects of health care. Supply chain track teams will work on developing solutions related to supply chain management such as tracking and tracing a material or product across a supply chain. The banking and fintech track will challenge teams for solve a problem that a current banking system presents or to improve an existing process for more efficient money transaction. The mining track is a new track that will focus on developing solutions related to mining cryptocurrency.

Tickets for students are FREE for the three-day event. To registered, students will be required to pay $100 which will be reimbursed after the event within 24-48 hours. Student ID needs to be presented to be reimbursed. To register or for complete schedule information, visit www.women4blockchain.com.

Blockchain is a technology developed in 2008 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamato that contains a secure history of data exchanges, utilizes a peer-to-peer network to time stamp and verify each exchange, and can be managed autonomously without a central authority. It is a technology that originated in the computer science field and has been adopted by other industries — particularly in the health care arena — as innovative uses have been developed.

Lipscomb University’s College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences is a leader in developing partnerships involving advanced technology. Last year, the college announced a partnership with Good Shepherd Pharmacy in Memphis, Tennessee, and the FedEx Institute of Technology at the University of Memphis to develop a first-of-its-kind system to provide underinsured patients the medication they need through an innovative use of blockchain technology. In 2017, the university announced partnerships with IBM WatsonTM  and with Hashed Health a company pioneering the use of blockchain technology, the secure distributed ledger technology behind bitcoin. Lipscomb followed up its partnership with IBM with a new membership in the Hashed Health Consortium, a group of organizations led by Nashville-based Hashed Health devoted to leveraging blockchain and distributed ledger technologies to transform the health care industry. Lipscomb was the first academic institution to join the consortium. These partnerships have already paved the way for students to engage in a number of software development projects, database mining projects and other real-world applications that could change the way health care is provided now in the future. For more information about Lipscomb’s College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences visit www.lipscomb.edu/cphs.