We caught up with Karen Bhatia, vice president of Creative and Applied Tech at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, to talk about the launch of the NYC Blockchain Resource Center.
Earlier this week, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced a project aiming to reshape New York into a more blockchain-friendly environment. The non-profit corporation will be launching the NYC Blockchain Resource Center later this summer.
"We understand the need to protect consumers and investors … and we want to provide a forum where we're bringing everybody to the table and saying, 'Let's have smart regulation, but simultaneously, let's create an environment that fosters innovation,'" said Karen Bhatia, vice president of Creative and Applied Tech at the NYCEDC.
Since the BitLicense[1] was implemented, several prominent blockchain ventures have left[2] New York. The new initiative aims to kickstart an open discussion around regulation. The center will hold workshops for government leaders and community members to learn the basics of blockchain technology and potential use cases.
Parallel to its advocacy and education efforts, the center aims to provide guidance to entrepreneurs who are building blockchain startups. "It will be like a community center of sorts, where people can come in and we can help them build a roadmap for how to proceed with their businesses. If they have questions about regulations, legal implications, accounting, commercialization … we'll have a network of support services that can help them," Bhatia continued.
Following a series of workshops to connect entrepreneurs to the public and to government leaders, startups will engage in a pitch competition organized by the resource center and NYC BigApps[3], a community-based technology competition and incubator. This particular challenge will focus on blockchain solutions to government problems; the organization
