Blockchain in Kyoto 2021 (English)

[Click here for homepage in Japanese]

Scope

The International Conference on Blockchains and their Applications aims at bringing together
researchers and practitioners from various communities of science and technology working on
areas related to FinTech, Crypto-asset, and Blockchain.
Contributors are encouraged to submit theoretical and/or applied articles on their research
related to Blockchains in general.

Topics of the conference include but are not limited to the followings:

• Crypto-asset, cryptocurrency
• Blockchain technologies
• B2B and B2C solutions
• Regulatory issues
• Anomaly detection, cybersecurity
• Digital assets market, credit network, smart contract, remittance, digital ID
• Application to energy and environmental issues
• Financial inclusion
• Innovation policy
• Network science

The document of Call For Paper can be downloaded here for the benefit of circulation.

Journal Special Issue

• We will publish peer-reviewed papers in the Physical Society of Japan’s JPS Conference Proceedings.
  Contributors can submit papers!

Organized by

• Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University
• Co-sponsors:
  • RIKEN iTHEMS
  • Ripple Labs Inc.
  • SBI Holdings, Inc.
  • The B.E.S.T. Society (The Big data on Economy, Science, and Technology)
  • The Nomura Foundation (Grants for Social Science)

Date

• February 17 (Wed) and 18 (Thu) , 2021

Venue

• Hybrid conference. Those who wish to come to the conference are welcome to the following venue.
  On-line presentations and discussions are also welcome.
  • International Conference Room I, Clock Tower Centennial Hall, Kyoto University
  • Place: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/about/profile/facilities/staff/clocktower
  • Access: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/access/main-campus-map

Keynote and Invited Speakers

• Keynote speaker
  • David SCHWARTZ (CTO, Ripple, USA)
    “Under the Hood: Introduction to the XRP Ledger”
• Invited speakers (Japanese session)
  • Emi YOSHIKAWA (VP of Corporate Strategy & Operations, Ripple, USA)
    “Sustainability Strategies for Decarbonizing the Financial System”
  • Naoki SAKAI (Denryoku Sharing Ltd.)
    “The Future of Energy and the SDGs with Blockchain”
  • Mamoru FUJIMOTO (SBI Holdings)
    “How can blockchain technology help revitalize communities and SMEs?”
• Invited speakers (alphabetical order)
  • Kensuke FUKUDA (National Institute of Informatics)
    “Characterizing money laundering activities on Bitcoin ecosystem”
  • Taisei KAIZOJI (International Christian University (ICU))
    “Market Efficiency and Information Transmission in Cryptocurrency Markets”
  • Anjum KHURSHID (Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin)
    “Empowering patients in the U.S. healthcare system using blockchain applications”
  • Dániel Kondor (MIT, USA)
    “The complex network structure of cryptocurrencies”
  • Raffaella MULAS (The Alan Turing Institute, London, and University of Southampton, UK)
    “Hypergraph Spectral Theory and Applications”
  • Kenichi UEDA (University of Tokyo)
    “Digital Currency and Banking”

Program

• Program final

Committee Members

• Yuichi Ikeda (Kyoto University), Chairman
• Kazuki Ota (Kyoto University Research Administration Office)
• Hideaki Aoyama (RIETI; RIKEN iTHEMS)
• Tetsuo Hatsuda (RIKEN iTHEMS)
• Yoshi Fujiwara (University of Hyogo)
• Emi Yoshikawa (Ripple Ltd.)

Scene of the day

On February 17 and 18, the Center for Social Innovation at the Institute for Integrated Ars Vivendi
Blockchain in Kyoto 2021 (BCK21), a hybrid international conference.
This international conference was held to discuss blockchain and its applications in the fields of fintech,
crypto-assets, and blockchain.This international conference brought together researchers and practitioners
from various disciplines working in the fields of fintech, cryptography, and blockchain and its applications.
The conference was a great success.
We had one keynote speaker (from the U.S.) and nine invited speakers (six from Japan, one from the U.S.,
and two from Europe) from a wide range of regions including Japan, the U.S., and Europe.
We invited one keynote speaker from the United States and nine invited speakers (six from Japan,
one from the United States, and two from Europe).
Together with 13 other general speakers and many online participants, we will discuss various researches
on blockchain in general.
We will discuss not only academic issues, but also the current status and future prospects in practice.
For example, on the morning of February 17, we invited people who are active in the corporate world to
participate in a “Session on Social Communication in Japanese.
In the morning of February 18, we invited Mr. David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple, a US company known
for its cryptocurrency XRP.

Number of registered participants (206 people in total)

・126 university students (41 from Japan, 83 from overseas)

・79 from companies (16 from Japan, 63 from overseas)

Both universities and companies had many participants from overseas, accounting for about 70% of the total.
We were able to reconfirm the high level of interest in this field overseas.
On the other hand, we believe that the revitalization of domestic trends is an issue that the Social Innovation
Center should address in the future.
To this end, we believe it is necessary to continue holding the second international conference, BCK22, next year.
We would appreciate the cooperation of many people.

Opening remarks at the Kyoto University Clock Tower venue on the morning of February 17