Blockchain in Business 2019 Conference
5 December 2019
TÜSİAD Headquarters, İstanbul
Program:
14:00-14:05: Opening Speech
14:05-14:50: Keynote Speaker, Dr. Zekeriya Erkin, TU Delft
14:50-15:00: Discussion
15:00-16:00: Panel Session
Panelists:
Barış ÖZİSTEK, Boğaziçi Ventures
Arda KARAÇELEBİ, Ernst & Young
Muhammed Emin TORUNOĞLU, Ministry of Trade
Pınar ÇAĞLAYAN AKSOY, Bilkent University, Faculty of Law
16:00-16:30: Reception
Bilkent–TÜSİAD ISF Holds “Blockchain in Business” Conference
On December 5, the Bilkent University–TÜSİAD Information Society Forum (ISF) held a conference on the topic “Blockchain in Business 2019.” The conference took place in the TÜSİAD headquarters in İstanbul and hosted more than 80 attendees from the business sector.
Opening remarks were offered by ISF’s director, Prof. H. Altay Güvenir of the Bilkent University Department of Computer Engineering, and Burak Aydın, chair of the TUSIAD STEM Working Group, after which Dr. Zekeriya Erkin from TU Delft delivered the keynote speech.
In his presentation, Dr. Erkin declared that blockchain provides “distributed trust” and a suitable collaborative working environment, thus creating new opportunities for the business world. “We analyze these opportunities that come with blockchain technology in terms of current projects,” he noted.
The centerpiece of the conference was a panel session moderated by Prof. Güvenir. Panel members were Barış Özistek, general partner in Bogazici Ventures; Arda Karaçelebi, associate partner and supply chain consulting leader at EY Turkey; Muhammed Emin Torunoğlu, head of the Ministry of Trade’s Department of Behavioral Public Policy and Disruptive Technologies; and Dr. Pınar Çağlayan Aksoy, assistant professor in the Bilkent University Faculty of Law.
While Mr. Özistek focused on the general topic of blockchain technology in the business environment and its potential areas of application in industry, Karaçelebi discussed the effects of blockchain with respect to supply chain management in particular, providing information about the projects his firm has implemented. In his presentation, Mr. Torunoğlu stated that the Ministry of Trade is about to create the first blockchain application. Finally, Dr. discussed the legal dimensions of blockchain and smart contracts.
