This week (20^th to 24^th September 2021), the Slovenian Digital Center in BTC City Ljubljana is hosting the European Blockchain Week (EBCW2021). The aim of the organisers is to present how the blockchain and artificial intelligence technology can help improve the competitive edge of the economy and the quality of life, whilst contributing to the European green and digital transformation. The BTC Company is a partner of the Slovenian Digital Center, and being a development-oriented company, it offers a supporting environment for the development of solutions for the future within its innovative ecosystem. As part of the European Blockchain Week, we will also see the presentations of two companies – OriginTrail and Eligma, which have developed and tested some of their advanced solutions in the living lab of BTC City Ljubljana.

Today, on the first day of the European Blockchain Week, the Slovenian-Hungarian Blockchain Business Forum is underway, in the scope of which blockchain practices from Slovenia, Hungary and Serbia are presented. The participants will discuss the services infrastructure and the financial ecosystem to support the blockchain technology. All other days will be dedicated to connecting blockchain and artificial intelligence technology to the European Green Deal.

On the topic of the European Blockchain Week, Nena Dokuzov, Head of the Project Group for New Economy and Blockchain Technology, Representative of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, which is the main supporter and organiser of the Slovenian Digital Center, pointed out: “The aim of this event is to encourage the use of advanced digital technologies in Slovenia and Europe to increase tolerance during the transformation into a digital, green society and economy. We can be proud of Slovenia preserving its leading position in the field of blockchain technology and the development of artificial intelligence. However, the use of advanced digital technologies must not remain in the domain of small, mid-sized and start-up companies, but must contribute also to the transformation of large companies. We believe it is exactly these technologies that can lead us to a faster economic and social recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Damjan Kralj, MSc, Chief Executive Officer at BTC, explains: “In the BTC Company, we believe that technologies can positively contribute to the transformation of economy and society. As an innovative and development-oriented company, we strive towards the connection and the cooperation with technologically advanced and start-up companies. Besides the business and social ecosystem, we have been developing an innovative ecosystem for several years in BTC City Ljubljana. This includes the physical as well as the digital space of BTC City Ljubljana, in the scope of which we enable advanced and development-oriented companies the testing of the most advanced technologies, services and products in a real-life environment, the so-called BTC Living Lab.” In the recent years, the BTC Company has also acted as an investor in start-ups (e.g. Eligma, OriginTrail, Lab4Pay, AV Living Lab) in addition to cooperation with start-ups in terms of content and business, as well as the integration with a wider ecosystem of start-ups and the constant synergy with the ABC Accelerator, also co-founded by the BTC Company.

An example of good practice of testing the most advanced technology in BTC Living Lab is the cooperation of the BTC Company and Eligma in establishing the first Bitcoin city in the world and testing the payment infrastructure GoCrypto which enables retailers, wholesalers and users (consumers) the processing of payments for purchased items with select cryptocurrencies in a real-life environment. The GoCrypto system and infrastructure are based on the blockchain technology. Another example of good practice is the cooperation of the BTC Company with OriginTrail in the implementation of blockchain technology in logistics with the purpose of tracking the source of goods. Both companies will present their experiences and good practices at the European Blockchain Week.

The European Blockchain Week is a hybrid event that is organised in English. Welcome to take part in numerous lectures, round-table events and presentations are representatives from the field of economy and expert public, as well as consumers who are interested in all sorts of technologies. The participants must apply to take part in the events, which are free-of-charge. The event programme and the application form are available at www.ebcw.eu.

The Slovenian Digital Center (DSS), organised in the scope of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, is supported by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Spirit Slovenia – Public Agency, Digital Innovation Hub Slovenia and the BTC Company. In September, the Slovenian Digital Center programme focuses on artificial intelligence as a breakthrough opportunity for Europe and Slovenia. In the BTC Company, the potential of implementing artificial intelligence is recognised in creating advanced solutions in logistics, retail and in the development of start-up companies. In the last three months of the year, the DSS programme will focus on three topics: 5G and cybersecurity (October), digitalisation (November) and Industry 4.0 and robotics (December).

Additional information

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