Speaker:
Dr. C. Mohan
IBM Fellow and Former IBM India Chief Scientist
IBM Almaden Research Center
Abstract:
Blockchain (distributed ledger), the underlying technology of Bitcoin, has become very popular for use in commercial or permissioned environments. Computer companies like IBM and Microsoft, and many key players in different vertical industry segments have recognized the applicability of blockchains in environments other than cryptocurrencies. IBM did some pioneering work by architecting and implementing Fabric, and then open sourcing it. Now Fabric is being enhanced via the Hyperledger Consortium as part of the Linux Foundation. While there is no standard in the blockchain space currently, all the ongoing efforts involve some combination of database, transaction, encryption, consensus and other distributed systems technologies. Dr. Mohan will focus on how the functionality of traditional and modern data stores are being utilized or not utilized in the different blockchain projects. Since most of the blockchain efforts are still in a nascent state, he believes the time is right for database researchers and practitioners to get more deeply involved.