Rensselaer Trustee and alumnus, Srinivasan “Siva” Sivaram ’85G, ’86 Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Memory Technology at Western Digital, recently hosted an engaging panel discussion on The Future of Blockchain presented by the Rensselaer Silicon Valley Executive Council.
Moderated by Curt Breneman, Ph.D.,Dean of the School of Science, featured panelists included notable alumni Steve Eliscu ’83, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at DMG Blockchain, Jayant Kadambi ’85, ’86G, Co-Founder and Former Chairman at YuMe, and Oshani Seneviratne, Ph.D., Director of Health Data Operations at the Center for Health Empowerment by Analytics, Learning, and Semantics (HEALS) and the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications (IDEA) at Rensselaer.
High on the list of disruptive technologies, the discussion explored the importance of blockchain technology and its ability to provide provenance and security sufficient for financial transactions with the establishment of secure “Smart Contracts.” Beyond finance, panelists also discussed the use of blockchain for many other decentralized applications—such as the safe exchange of personal medical records and intellectual property, supply chain management, and enhanced cybersecurity.