By Ram Superable Agustin
Two local technology business incubators – QBO Innovation Hub and Animo Labs – have inked a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-based BCB Blockchain for joint projects on incubations, hackathons, and smart city solutions.
The MOU is aimed at attracting researchers, startups, and community members to create smart city solutions on the BCB Blockchain platform.
Aside from solution-building, the MOU also covers R&D as well as trainings and seminars geared towards propagating a more holistic understanding of the blockchain technology.
Under the deal, promotional activities such as hackathons and similar competitions are slated to be launched by the second half of this year.
The hackathons and bug bounty programs are an integral part of BCB’s educational initiatives with prizes expected to reach amounts of up to $15,000 for participants.
Selected projects that are sourced out from competitions will be part of incubation programs where they will be exposed to fundraising and commercialization.
BCB co-CTO Vanessa Koh shared during the MOU signing that providing QBO and Animo Labs access to the platform, support, and educational materials will allow startups to explore blockchain-based solutions for smart city development and design.
“We are glad to have a strong and rigorous collaboration with QBO and Animo Labs, tapping on their expertise, knowledge and experience to create the next wave of applications for the development of sustainable smart cities of the future,” Koh remarked.
“We believe that blockchain will play a crucial role in the development of smart cities with increasing number of people living in urban areas. We are pleased to work closely with BCB and establishing their BCB Blockchain platform and technology in QBO hub to create the next generation of smart city applications,” added Chan.
Animo Labs executive director Frederico Gonzalez said they plan to exploit into their technological expertise and access to research institutions to help build and promote blockchain’s growth.
Jhaze Asuncion, business development lead of UPSCALE Innovation Hub at The University of the Philippines (UP), also vowed to lend its support to develop the blockchain ecosystem in the Philippines.
“Through BCB’s proposed ecosystem of smart devices within cities, its blockchain platform could hasten the development of various solutions. This partnership is an initial step towards reaching that goal,” Asuncion said.
