FIRST THINK TANK MEET UP: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The very first meet up of Blockchain Think Tank associates was held on 12th of December 2017 at esteemed Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana. Think tank received splendid response from its first members. The main objective of this meet up was presentation of a think tank working plan and above all, for the members to acquaint with the project as well as themselves. Linking knowledge and experience amongst all participants who find interest in blockchain coins the focal slogan of the Blockchain think tank.

1. KEY SUMMARY OF THE MEET-UP

1.1 Activities performed so far

Briefly presentation of already carried out think tank’s activities. A detailed description of such activities is also available on the following link.

1.2 Future operation of Blockchain think tank

Dr. Peter Merc, the main coordinator of Blockchain think tank, shortly presented structural organisation of the think tank and its expected operation performance. Key guidelines of the think tank are (i) complete transparency, (ii) distribution of intellect and organisation, (iii) unlimited accessibility.

The organisation of think tank:

• In January 2018 think tank will be transformed into a non-profit association. The corporate governance of the following will be specified in articles of association (i.e. Statute);
• Each think tank member is eligible for running a function within think tank (to perform a function of working group coordinator, management, etc.);
• At the moment think tank is shaped by 7 different working groups, however would the need for a new working group become evident, think tank will adapt and reshape accordingly.
• Besides working groups, think tank will form a collegiate body (of three or five) to synchronise and coordinate think tank’s work;
• Meet ups of all think tank members will be held on a quarterly or biannual basis;
• Management of the think tank, along with active participation of think tank members, will be performed digitally through an application or a platform yet to be defined.

Working groups

Dr. Merc presented think tank vision and dispersion of its working fields into the following seven working groups: (i) Regulation, (ii) Fintech, (iii) Taxation, (iv) Public Sector, (v) Smart Cities And Logistics, (vi) Blockchain Community, (vii) Energy;

• Coordinators of each working group will propose and elaborate focal points of each group in a harmonised way amongst all group participants;
• According to the response rate, each working group is represented by 20–40 participants;
• Coordinators of respective working groups briefly provided group introspection, namely how participants will interact with each other, the search and analysis of ‘use case’ scenarios for public and private sector and preparation of proposals for legislation amendments.

2. FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION: Think tank activated

In terms of blockchain, time seems to move faster than in real life. Yet, think tank members are eager to work on the agenda presented above and reject the idea of awaiting the official and formal amalgamation. Some activities regarding formation of the blockchain friendly environment in Slovenia are already under way.

2.1 Talking to Regulators

Think tank participants and coordinators met with representatives of three Slovenian regulating agencies. All three meeting were utmost productive; there was evident interest and understanding of blockchain technology as well as legal framework and risks associated with blockchain industry from both sides.

Blockchain think tank met with the Securities Market Agency on 8th of December 2017, another meeting with representatives of Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia was held three days later. As it is one of think tank’s highest priorities to be transparent, all the talks were recorded. The records will be publicly available on Blockchian Think Tank Medium profile once regulators approve publishing request.

2.2 Platform for the exchange of views

Within Blockchain Think Tank Telegram group one can already observe a very dynamic debate between think tank members. We invite everyone to present their questions and express their opinion regarding blockchain community and industry.

Feel free to join anytime and actively participate in a debate in our Telegram group. At the same time you are kidnly invited to follow our Telegram subscription channel.

3. CALL FOR THE BLOCKCHAIN START-UP COLLABORATION

Slovenia occupies the highest positions on scale of countries with successful ICO campaigns per million inhabitants. Team members behind these projects are the ones that put this tiny little country on a global map and made it recognisable on a world wide level. In order to facilitate and foster further developments of products and services on blockchain, think tank is issuing a call for a response asking all the teams, companies and individuals to provide as much legal and regulatory issues they have encountered on their way to success.

Identification of above mentioned obstacles along with the quest for an appropriate solution, strategy for communication with regulation bodies and respective ministries are exactly what Blockchain think tank stands for.

Blockchain think tank issued the following letter addressing startups with successful ICO campaigns to cooperate with us. Teams who haven’t received such letter and are keen to tackle the above mentioned problems, are hereby invited to join us on a journey.