The still unchartered frontier of blockchain technology has some experts in Colombia excited about rejuvenating options for the country’s economy. Dave Mejía, a blockchain strategist from Talos Digital, recently sat down with the Bogotá Post for an exclusive interview where he touched on how the relatively young technology can be used to Colombia’s advantage.
Talos Digital, which has offices in Medellín on top of three North American office locations, uses blockchain in a variety of ways to help efforts in a number of industries. Mejía said blockchain often gets used by companies and startups wanting to catch in on a trend, but only a few have been able to master what its really about.
“A lot of people talk about blockchain and use it as a buzzword, but they don’t realize that it’s a tool, you have to find the right use case for it and the right time to use it,” Dave Mejía told The Bogotá Post.
In terms of its future use in Colombia, Mejía said there are plenty of chances for it to be used going forward. New President Iván Duque has been bullish on the prospective use of blockchain technology in the Colombian economy, discussing it on a few occasions in his campaign. Now it’s just a matter of how it gets implemented in the fight against corruption or preventing disasters.
“It’s great that Duque is actually aware of the idea,” Mejía said. “And yes, blockchain is great for shining light on a system if it is implemented correctly.”
Mejía added that blockchain “can and will be used to help Colombia’s economy” in a way that revolves around the use of ID numbers and cards to keep track of and organize people.
One possible avenue for the government is one that Talos Digital is currently developing where insurance information for companies in the industry is stored in a more secure database and is housed in a number of sites so it is not vulnerable to crashing.
“A good use case for blockchain is insurance information, blockchain is basically a database, and because it’s not in one particular place, it’s not as likely to come down to be dependent on one point of failure, which is very useful,” he said.
The main takeaway is that there is any number of possibilities for Colombia’s future relationship with blockchain technology.
Disclosure: This article includes a client of an Espacio portfolio company
