Recently, Topl was a conference partner at chainges, the “first two-day blockchain and cryptocurrency event shaped by the community.” Reflecting on my experience at chainges, I am both excited and concerned. During and after the conference, I had conversations with many people — ranging from enthusiasts to those just scoping out the community. These discussions made me realize how important it is that we, as “Blockchain pioneers,” create positive experiences for newcomers and contribute to the education of those who are still navigating this space. We must bridge the gap between their enthusiasm and desire to understand and our excitement and knowledge. As someone who has committed herself to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), I think an increased focus on interdisciplinary thought and a renewed concentration on the mentorship of new community members will be vital for the blockchain community’s success. The first of these “chainges,” I will discuss in this blog and I will follow up with the second in a later blog.

Interdisciplinary Thought

Over the past few years, I had the chance to be a part of and contribute to all four STEM fields. As an undergraduate, I developed methods for decision processes using problem-solving skills and earned a degree in Mathematics focusing on various scientific applications. After graduation, I joined the team at Rice 360°, an NGO that partners with communities throughout the world to design and implement low-cost, high-performance technologies that address major global health challenges. Currently, in my department at Rice University George R. Brown School of Engineering, I have the unique opportunity to simultaneously earn a Master’s Degree in Economics as well as a PhD in Statistics. This interdisciplinary research program allows me the opportunity to contribute to large-scale economic issues that impact the availability of and accessibility to basic needs.

Such a diverse foundation often leads me to approach problems in unconventional ways.

In this ever-changing and fast-paced world, continuous discovery of new, unique insights remains extremely necessary to create a shared intellectual environment. The current age of protocol innovation gives us opportunities to work together across disciplines, to find unique solutions to problems that have lain dormant for years. However, with new discoveries also come responsibilities. Insights must be shared not only through whitepapers but also through continuous academic and institutional publications. Sole reliance on self-publication could prove detrimental to the community in the long run. Engagement with the existing literature ecosystem adds validity to the underlying research and provides an avenue to open and further grow the blockchain community.

At Topl, this is our goal. By focusing our attention on contributing to the growing academic literature in crypto-finance and crypto-economics, we constantly improve our own methods and standards as well. As Jim and I finish up our PhD’s, we are determined to continuously deliver academic caliber research for Topl. Chris and Nick spend hours reading and listening to what other projects are doing — and if these projects have promise, they find ways to implement and expand upon these ideas. We even encourage our blockchain developers to reach out to any other technical teams to discuss their approaches, expanding the shared intellectual environment in the blockchain community.

As a part of the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES), directed by two of our advisors, we can access not just some of the leading statistics faculty at Rice University but also those in affiliated departments. These academic relationships are extremely important and are not unique to Rice University. We sincerely encourage all that have access to such interdisciplinary environments to work together to develop and deliver unique research that will benefit the whole community.

Intellectual creativity at Chainges

Chainges stimulated intellectual curiosity by encouraging innovative discussions in a variety of methods. Throughout the conference BlockchainTalks hosted “ask me anything” sessions. Topics ranged from tokenomics, smart contracts, to blockchain and business. It created the perfect environment to ultimately spur on interdisciplinary thought; the nature of these sessions is to abandon rigidity in favor of informal, creative discussion. I personally left with renewed ideas which might lead to future research publications. Even the conference layout was conducive to prompting interaction. To get to either one of the main stages, one had to walk past every single partner’s display, and as a result, questions and discussions flowed freely amongst conference-goers. Overall, chainges reflects many of Topl’s own core values, and we look forward to returning in the future.

Last Thoughts

I want to be clear: I am not saying there is no published literature in the blockchain community. Rather, I am encouraging an increased focus on interdisciplinary research between parties that are not traditionally collaborating. This way we can all play a part in improving the accessibility of this space.

If you want to learn more about our interdisciplinary thought process go to our website and GitHub.

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