Philippines And BCB Blockchain Will Support ‘Local Smart Cities’

The Singapore-based blockchain firm BCB Blockchain is making waves in the industry this month. As the blockchain news today show, the government of Philippines and BCB Blockchain have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) under which one branch of the Philippines Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will support the development of local smart cities.

According to a November 23 press release, BCB Blockchain contributed $300,000 to support the incubators and startup accelerators in the Philippines by signing an MoA with the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEETRD).

This joint initiative will facilitate the development of local startups which are focused on the creation of smart city projects as well as applications. In the partnership, Philippines and BCB Blockchain will work towards research and development, promotional activities, hackathons, collaborative endeavours, smart city projects and other initiatives. The official statement reads the following:

“By providing DOST, universities and TBIs the resources and technical knowledge that BCB Blockchain has, we expect them to deepen their competencies in the area of designing and developing applications and projects for smart cities. We will guide and provide them the access to hands-on workshops, funding, materials, events and technical support.”

Previously, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Philippines signed an MoA with the United States-based blockchain firm Monsoon Blockchain Storage. In the partnership, Monsoon was set to act as a blockchain consultant and advisor to DICT – offering its services such as cost-benefit and socio-economic analyses regarding blockchain solution in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the senator of the Philippines Grace Poe recently said the following:

“To most of our countrymen, this is alien to them, but in fact some of them have been availing of it through online lending. And without the proper information and education, a lot of them are actually victimized.”

All of this leads to the fact that the country of Philippines is ready to accept the emerging technologies such as blockchain and innovate in the field of fintech. In fact, many countries in the Asian region are pursuing technologies such as blockchain and hoping that they will bring a lot of novelties into our future.