A government-backed hackathon has been announced in South Korea as part of the 2018 Blockchain Promotion Week.
As reported by local news outlet Money Today, the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) will be hosting a 2018 Blockchain Grand Challenge. Sponsoring the event is the South Korean Ministry of Science, Technology and Information.
Race to innovate
The Blockchain Promotion Week event will be taking place from 26 to 30 November to boost public awareness of the technology and demonstrate what it can add to society and industries.
The hackathon challenge, announced on 17 August by KISA, is a chance for developers to create solutions for social issues, distributed apps (Dapps), as well as innovations for public and private industries with blockchain, “providing national benefits”.
Participants have until 28 September to sign up for the hackathon; the winners will receive “17 awards” from sponsors including the President of KIPA as well as a prize pot of KRW 100 million (USD 90,450).
Additionally, winners will be granted some significant opportunities, as written by Money Today, such as support for internship opportunities, participation in overseas hackathons and employment support.
Director of KIPA, Kim Seok-hwan said, “The use of blockchain technology will lead to an innovative change in people’s lives. By participating in this competition, everyone will have the opportunity to participate and contribute.”
Competition time
Competition that drives blockchain innovation at grassroots levels is proving to be rather popular, especially in the format of hackathons, with large prizes from entities such as the European Union (EU) up for grabs.
South Korea has a rather bullish approach to injecting blockchain into public discourse; as recently reported, a new reality game show created by Asia Economy TV called ‘Blockbattle – Who’s the Next Satoshi?’ will be reaching television screen in mid-October.
Contestants will battle it out in a similar manner to that of the hackathon; teams will “…go through a series of presentations, one-on-one battles, and other team competitions”.
Other news
South Korea is undoubtedly one of the foremost prominent nations in blockchain. Heightened levels of discussion surrounding many facets of blockchain technology have been taking place at the National Assembly, with topics including initial coin offerings (ICOs) and the Jeju Island Blockchain Hub proposal on the table.
Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter: @bitcoinnewscom
Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com: https://t.me/bconews
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
