“In terms of its development, Blockchain is where the internet was 20 years ago”—Forbes

From crypto startups to established enterprises, global demand for blockchain expertise is far outstripping supply, making it one of the hottest areas for technology recruitment.

As a leader, how do you separate the hype from reality to fully understand blockchain's potential impact on business models and what skills do you need to navigate this emerging industry?

Join Australia's leading experts on blockchain in a panel discussion moderated by The Australian’s technology reporter, David Swan, on Beyond the Hype: What every executive needs to know about blockchain and its impact on business models.

Panelists include: 

• Professor Jason Potts: Director of RMIT University Blockchain Innovation Hub
• Alan Tsen: Melbourne General Manager, Stone & Chalk and board member Fintech Australia
• John Harris:  Managing Director, Financial Services Technology Consulting, Accenture Australia and New Zealand
  
• Gendry Morales: Founder and CEO, Flight Plan
• Helen Souness: CEO RMIT Online

Date: Tuesday 27 February.  

Time: Panel starts at 6:30pm with doors opening at 6pm for drinks and networking. 

Venue: RMIT Media Portal, Building 14, Level 2 (street level), corner of Swanston and Franklin Street

The event is hosted by RMIT Online, in partnership with Stone & Chalk and Startup Victoria. 

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About the speakers

Professor Jason Potts, Director, Blockchain Innovation Hub

Jason Potts is an economic theorist specialising in problems of economic growth and change. He works in areas of crypto economics, economic evolution, technological change, institutional economics, economics of innovation, economics of cities and the economics of cultural and creative industries. His current research focuses on innovation in the commons, and on global innovation policy.

Potts is a Professor of Economics at RMIT University, Director of the Blockchain Innovation Hub at RMIT University, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.

He was the 2000 winner of the International Joseph A. Schumpeter Prize, and in 2017 became a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He has published over 80 articles and six books. He is currently an editor of Journal of Institutional Economics

Alan Tsen, Melbourne General Manager, Stone & Chalk 

Alan Tsen is the Melbourne General Manager of Stone & Chalk – an independent, not-for-profit fintech hub which fosters and accelerates the development of world leading fintech start-ups.

He is also currently a board member of FinTech Australia where he has led numerous submissions to government departments on digital currency and blockchain technology – including the removal of ‘double GST’ from digital currencies and amendments to KYC/AML laws designed to incorporate digital currencies.

Alan holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Law and Commerce and a Master’s Degree in Commerce (Econ). He is also admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor in the state of Victoria.

John Harris, Managing Director, Financial Services Technology Consulting, Accenture Australia and New Zealand

John is a Senior Executive within Accenture’s Financial Service practice. With almost 25 years of experience in information technology delivery and consulting, John has managed all facets of systems implementation. His work has involved leading large transformational projects for eminent financial services and telecoms organisations.

John's expertise is architecting and implementing change programs within complex technical and business environments in a wide range of financial services Industry areas. Recently, his focus has been on sales force effectiveness within retail banking, investment, insurance and telecommunications.

For the past decade, John has concentrated on the implementation of customer facing applications. These have included Internet banking, marketing, CRM, order capture, risk, commissions and 3rd party sales channel applications. In addition, John is responsible for delivery of Accenture’s Financial Services technology solutions in Australia.

Gendry Morales, Founder and CEO, Flight Plan

Gendry is the founder of Flight Plan, a Platform for rapid prototyping and an Experimentation Ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of use cases on the blockchain. This idea was born after her team launched a decentralised application called CryptoCats last year, digital collectible avatar art on the Ethereum Platform.

Gendry has 20 years of technology experience, 12 years of that in leadership roles specialising in modern engineering practices and product delivery. Gendry has a degree in Computer Science and background in backend development. She is a thought leader in Digital Transformation and Post Conventional Leadership. She regularly speaks at conferences covering topics in advanced Product Delivery practices at scale and how to use data science with team performance. And she helps demystify blockchain technology through a user experience lens with use cases in fashion, supply chain, art and games.

Helen Souness, CEO RMIT Online

Helen was appointed to the role of CEO at RMIT Online in August 2017. Helen is leading the RMIT Online team to support a growing community of learners to successfully navigate the world of work by offering directly relevant, accessible and flexible educational opportunities online.

Helen Souness is a senior leader with a career that spans more than 20 years of commercial experience working in digital strategy, marketing and product across market-leading enterprises including Seek, Lonely Planet, Envato and Etsy. Helen has operated in General Manager, Managing Director and Board Director capacities for Envato, Canteen, Etsy and Sendle. Most recently as MD of Asia for Etsy, Helen’s team tripled the size of Etsy’s Australian seller community and entered new Asian markets.

David Swan, Technology Reporter, The Australian 

David Swan is a technology reporter at The Australian. With deep experience across startups, business and technology David is uniquely positioned to cover Australia’s fast-growing technology ecosystem and how it’s changing how we work, live and play. David writes regular features for national media and regularly appears on TV and radio as a technology commentator.