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Venue: Tampere University of Technology, Tietotalo, Auditorium TB109
Time: 14:00-16:00, 6/10/2016

This lecture is presented in collaboration with TUT / Department of Pervasive Computing. The lecture is free, open to the public, and no registration is required.

Dr Keir Finlow-Bates from chainfrog.com will be giving a lecture on blockchains at Tampere University of Technology, with the title “Are Blockchains the Next Big Thing?”

Abstract:
For the first part of this lecture I will provide a general overview of what blockchains are, how they function, what features they posses that make them of interest to industry and finance at the moment, and why they have great potential for the future. A couple of use cases will be provided to illustrate how companies may be implementing and applying blockchains in the future.

In the second part of the lecture we will dive deeper into the mechanics underlying blockchains, and examining amongst other things:

  • hash functions
  • asymmetric key cryptography
  • proof-of-work and proof-of-stake algorithms
  • the use of peer-to-peer networks
  • “mining” and achieving consensus on a blockchain
  • transaction scripts and smart contracts

If time permits, the last part of the lecture will look at specific examples of functioning blockchains, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, the IBM Hyperledger (Fabric) and the Intel Hyperledger (Sawtooth Lake).