IEEE Briefing Document

Date Last Updated: 14 March 2018

IEEE Introduction to Blockchain Technology

Live Virtual Event to be held 20-22 March, 2018
On-demand recording available until 30 April, 2018

Contact: Jennifer Fong– Sr. Marketing Manager, Educational Activities – j.fong@ieee.org

Claire Olini – MSD Assoc. Marketing Manager, Corp Sector – c.olini@ieee.org

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Table of Contents

Summary
Virtual Event Outline
Target Audience
Top Industries
Pricing
Taking Orders

Summary

The IEEE Introduction to Blockchain Technology live virtual event will be held 20-22 March, 2018. The
event is based on content from Spectrum Magazine’s special issue called “Blockchain World,” and is
hosted by a contributing editor to that issue, Morgen Peck. After the live event, a recording of the event
will be available on-demand until 30 April 2018.

Morgen Peck has been writing about Bitcoin and blockchain technologies as a freelance journalist since
2011. Her first feature article about Bitcoin “The Cryptoanarchists Answer to Cash” appeared in IEEE
Spectrum Magazine and was one of the first pieces in the mainstream press to explain how the
technology works and to provide cultural and historical context for the project. While reporting stories for

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IEEE Spectrum, Wired, Scientific American, American Banker, and other outlets, Morgen has witnessed
some of the more consequential moments in the history of cryptocurrency evolution. She attended the
first Bitcoin conference in New York in 2012. She was a resident in the Air BnB where the founders of
Ethereum met in person for the first time during a 2014 conference in Miami. She has toured multiple
cryptocurrency mining facilities, both large and small, in mainland China. In November 2016, she acted as
an independent observer of the key generation ceremony that marked the birth of the Zcash blockchain,
an experience that was the basis for a recent full episode of the NPR show, Radiolab. In 2017, Morgen
served as contributing editor on a special print issue about blockchain technology for IEEE Spectrum.
She is also a frequent guest on the weekly Science Radio show, Science Friday.

Blockchain technology holds immense promise for a variety of industries, beyond just Bitcoin, including:
● Financial services and banking
● Supply chain management
● Academia
● Real estate
● Health care
...and many more

From smart contracts to blockchain-encrypted academic credentials, the use cases are vast and far-
reaching.

To make sense of this revolution, learners need to understand what a blockchain is and what it is capable
of doing. The IEEE Virtual Event: Introduction to Blockchain Technology will help learners take the first
steps in understanding how blockchain my impact, and even disrupt, their industries. Over the course of
three days, learners will discover how blockchain works, and how this technology can be applied to a
variety of industries.

Virtual Event Quick Facts:

● Live sessions will be held Tuesday - Thursday, 20-22 March 2018.
● Sessions start at 12pm ET each of the three days.
● Sessions will run for 60 minutes each day.
● Each session will be recorded, and will be available until 30 April 2018.
● Each session includes live Q&A via chat with Morgen Peck, contributing editor of the IEEE
Spectrum Magazine special report on blockchain technology.

Virtual Event Outline

There are three sessions of this online, virtual event. Each session is one hour, and includes live Q&A
during the session via chat with the event instructor, Morgen Peck. Session topics include:

Session 1: Understanding Blockchain Technology: The Bitcoin Case Study

Tuesday, 20 March 2018
12:00-1:00pm ET
Blockchain is now a buzzword in meeting rooms across the technology industry. As the range of potential
applications for this revolutionary invention has broadened, so too has the very definition of the
technology. What do we mean when we say “blockchain” today? What will we mean when we say it

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tomorrow? In this virtual event Morgen Peck travels back to 2009 when Bitcoin, the first blockchain-based
technology made its debut. After reviewing the cultural and technological context for this technological
breakthrough, Peck rebuilds the system from scratch, providing a step-by-step guide to the fundamental
components in a blockchain, ending with a look at how these features interact to balance the economic
incentives of network participants.

Session 2: Beyond Bitcoin: Abstracting the Blockchain

Wednesday, 21 March 2018
12:00-1:00pm ET
Bitcoin is one of thousands of cryptocurrencies and blockchain-inspired technologies, some of which are
in no way intended to be used as money. It can now safely be said that currency was the first of many
blockchain applications. Most of these applications will evolve on platforms with more general-purpose
designs than Bitcoin. In this virtual event, Morgen Peck will abstract the functions of a blockchain, looking
at how it serves as a method for decentralizing computation and data storage. She will then explain how
innovators in the space are leveraging these features to turn blockchains, such as Ethereum, into
platforms for the execution of smart contracts. This virtual event will also examine new funding schemes,
known as Initial Coin Offerings, that blockchain startups are using to raise money.

Session 3: The Limits of Blockchain Technology: The Costs and Benefits of Decentralization
Thursday, 22 March 2018
12:00-1:00pm ET
Blockchain technology enables participants in a network to collaborate regardless of whether they know
each other or trust each other. However, this decentralization of trust comes with great costs. Today,
blockchains have high latencies, low throughput, and minimal storage. Furthermore, the security of these
systems, determined as they are by economic incentives, requires large investments by the people who
run them. In this virtual event we will look at the costs of running a blockchain and how their performance
compares to other technologies. We will then look at avenues for improving the technologies and point to
some of the many improvements we are likely to see in the near future.

Target Audience

From C-suite executives down to entry level employees, there is a growing need for blockchain
technology training.

Common job titles with interest in blockchain include:

● Research Director
● Analyst
● Manager - Banking Relations
● Lead Frontend Engineer
● Blockchain Research & Development
● Emerging Technology Advisor
● Software Engineer/Developer
● Chief Operating Officer
● Business Development
● Content Marketer
● Director of Digital Strategy
● Inside Sales Executive
● Lead Digital Architect

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 ● Business Operations Specialist
● Digital Marketing Specialist
● App Developer
● Product Delivery Manager
● Operations Support Associate

Top Industries

Banking and payments aren't the only industries that could be affected by blockchain tech. Law
enforcement, transportation (e.g. ride hailing, car leasing and sales) education and academia, music and
entertainment rights and IP, real estate, insurance, and many other sectors could also have blockchain in
their future.

Academia
● Blockchain may be a useful way of cutting administrative costs and making degree records more
secure and accessible. Academic institutions can use the technology to create a secure, publicly
accessible ledger of academic qualifications whereby universities ratify a student's progress and
a graduate’s degree on the blockchain.

Networking and IoT

● Blockchain could serve as a public ledger for a massive amount of devices, which would no
longer need a central hub to mediate communication between them. Without a central control
system to identify one another, the devices would be able to communicate with one another
autonomously to manage software updates, bugs, or energy management.
Money payments and transfers
● Blockchain could be used to create a more direct payment flow that connects payers and payees
— across borders or domestically — without intermediaries, at ultra-low fees and almost instant
speed.

Cyber Security
● Though blockchain’s ledger is public, its data communications are sent and verified using
advanced cryptographic techniques — ensuring that data is coming from correct sources and that
nothing is intercepted in the interim. Thus, if blockchain is more widely adopted, the probability of
hacking could go down, as the cyber protections of the technology are more robust than legacy
systems.
● One way blockchain reduces conventional cybersecurity risk is by simply removing the need for
human intermediaries — thus lessening the threat of hacking, corruption, or human error.

Government and Public Records

● The management of public services is yet another area where blockchain can help lessen paper-
based processes, minimize fraud, and increase accountability between authorities and those they
serve.

Healthcare
● Healthcare institutions suffer from an inability to securely share data across platforms. Better data
collaboration between providers could ultimately mean higher probability of accurate diagnoses,
higher likelihood of effective treatments, and the overall increased ability of healthcare systems to
deliver cost-effective care. Use of blockchain technology could allow hospitals, payers, and other
parties in the healthcare value chain to share access to their networks without compromising data
security and integrity.

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Supply Chain Management
● One of the most universally applicable aspects of blockchain is that it enables more secure,
transparent monitoring of transactions. Supply chains are basically a series of transaction nodes
that link to move products from point A to the point-of-sale or final deployment.
● With blockchain, as products change hands across a supply chain from manufacture to sale, the
transactions can be documented in a permanent decentralized record — reducing time delays,
added costs, and human errors.

Cloud Storage
● Enterprises that offer cloud storage often secure customers’ data in a centralized server, which
can mean increased network vulnerability from attacks by hackers. Blockchain cloud storage
solutions allow storage to be decentralized — and therefore less prone to attacks that can cause
systemic damage and widespread data loss.

Energy Management
● Energy management is another industry that has historically been highly centralized. As with
other industries, the distributed ledger could minimize (or eliminate) the need for intermediaries.

Retail
● Currently, consumers’ sense of trust in the retail system is mainly linked to their trust in the
marketplace where their purchases are being made. Blockchain could decentralize that trust,
attaching it more to the sellers on various marketplaces and platforms than to the sites
themselves.

Real Estate
● By providing a way to securely share data, the blockchain makes a shared, nationwide database
possible, one that offers real-time access to property information straight from the source and
enables a more holistic view. It also opens up more opportunities for collaboration among players
in the real estate industry. The blockchain could provide a central title database for an entire
country to securely store and instantly access historical title records, allowing for the streamlining
of title transfer in a property sale. The third area of real estate that the blockchain will transform is
the efficiency and the security of transactions. The blockchain does not require there to be trust
between two parties to conduct business. Each user has a unique identity on the blockchain via
cryptography, which means consumer financial information can be shared securely with other
parties during transactions. One person can send funds to another person that won’t release until
the transaction is formally completed.

Source: Banking Is Only The Beginning: 30 Big Industries Blockchain Could Transform

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Pricing

The IEEE Introduction to Blockchain Virtual Event can be purchased by individuals, as well as in bulk.
When selling bulk seats, a group discount is available.

Pricing for Individuals

Individual seats can be purchased via the event registration page here: http://bit.ly/ieeeblockchainevent
● Nonmember price: $295/seat
● IEEE & ISACA* member price: $245/seat

Each registration includes a username/password, along with an IEEE certificate that includes
CEUs/PDHs upon successful completion of a post-event assessment.

* Note: ISACA members can purchase individual seats at the same price as IEEE members. ISACA is a
nonprofit, independent association that advocates for professionals involved in information security,
assurance, risk management and governance.

Bulk Pricing
The IEEE sales team can sell seats at the following prices:

Number of Seats Price

1 seat $295/seat (IEEE or ISACA member $245/seat)

2-9 seats $245/seat

10+ seats (individual logins for each seat) $225/seat

1 login for a room (In this model, a company can
project the live event in a room, and can have as
many people as desired in the room.)
$1,995 (includes 1 user name/password and 1
IEEE certificate)
Additional certificates for participants (optional):
$25/each

Taking Orders

Orders can be submitted via Salesforce.com. Please select eLearning Blockchain Virtual Event in
Salesforce.com to enter this opportunity, and manually enter the price quoted to the customer.

***Please remind your customer that the invoice must be PAID prior to the event date
in order to access the event live.***

IMPORTANT: As part of the order process, please get the name and email address for each attendee.
After the order is processed, please email the list of names and email addresses to m.s.white@ieee.org.
(In the case of one login for a room, just email us one name and email address.)

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 ● Once these names and email addresses are sent, individual logins will be sent to each user for
each seat purchased, and they will also receive follow-up reminders through the virtual event
system.

ALSO IMPORTANT: If the customer purchases individual certificates (1 login option for a room),
the customer needs to send, post-event, a list of the attendees (name/email) who are eligible to receive a
certificate. Those individuals will be sent a link to an assessment. Upon successful completion of the
assessment, learners will receive a certificate.

● IEEE Educational Activities will email the address provided for the 1 login, and ask for the list of
people eligible for the certificate. Please let your customer know to expect this email, and be
prepared to send the list shortly after the event. This gives attendees a chance to successfully
complete the assessment while the content is still fresh in their minds.