Monthly Meeting – 6pm
Wednesday 5th September 2018
Address Details: Fox Williams LLP, 10 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AF
Untangling the Blockchain
Jon Downing – Strategic Advisor, business investor and inspirational mentor to aspiring & successful entrepreneurs
This presentation will cover three essential areas to ‘untangle the Blockchain’ and separate fact from fiction:
Firstly, a little history and context as to how we all got to be talking about ‘blockchain’ in the first place.
Secondly Jon will share some of the essential fundamentals around blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (including the connection with crypto-currencies) and why there is so much excitement around its potential.
Finally he will share some practical use cases which illustrate its potential to transform companies and entire industries.
This talk is aimed at people who want to learn about the power and potential of blockchain technologies but may not necessarily know the detail or context as to how it works or the potential for their business or industry sector.
By the end of the talk the audience will be able to understand the fundamentals of blockchain technology and the linkage with crypto-currencies; separate the immense media hype from actual potential of this innovative technology and have a working understanding of how blockchain technology could transform their business and industry.
Jon is an experienced innovation, service and technology leader with over 25 years experience successfully delivering business & technology services to global financial companies – including Visa, J P Morgan and American Express, where Jon rose to become the Vice President of Technologies Operations for the Global Travel division and designed and implemented a new technology support organisation for Amex’s European travel business. Most recently Jon was a key member of Visa Europe’s Innovation Hub, Visa Europe Collab, which was responsible for identifying and testing the most exciting and revolutionary ideas in payments and developing them into a commercial reality. Jon setup and led the Blockchain practice at Visa Europe Collab and was responsible for leading multiple high profile proof of concept initiatives with key start-up companies including BTL, testing ideas for new products and services across the whole payments eco-system, with specific focus and thought leadership in the blockchain and crypto-currency domain.
Jon is now a strategic advisor, business investor and mentor who supports companies to develop and implement successful business strategies to achieve long term sustainable growth – and will be publishing his first book in 2018, The Innovators Ingredients. Jon enables his clients to develop plans for long-term business growth – with particular focus on innovation, service excellence, effective business scaling and successful deployment of blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technologies.
Jon lives with his family in Brighton & is a lifelong passionate cyclist who loves nothing more than tackling some of the South Downs hills on his road bike.