IDA meeting discussing support for Blockchain in Ireland

The IDA, the semi-state responsible for foreign direct investment in Ireland hosted a meeting on May 27th at their HQ in Dublin. I attended the talk, which had representatives from academia, both established blockchain companies and startups, IBM and some representatives of other industries.

In the morning session which lasted three hours, they discussed how companies can engage with the IDA around research and development grants and tax credits for blockchain research, as well as running through the wide ranging ecosystem now established in Ireland covering startups, international companies such as Coinbase, Kraken and Consensys, and semi-state bodies which are involved in the Blockchain Ireland initiative.

Also announced at the talk was a new M.Sc. in Blockchain which is run by the Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet in association with the IDA (we’ll run a dedicated piece on this later), as well as a very interesting talk by Moyee Coffee which is dubbed as the first blockchain coffee, and is sourcing coffee in Ethiopia and using the blockchain to manage the supply chain, while ensuring that farmers in the region where they’re working are receiving a premium price for the coffee they make.

This is just one of the events running across the Blockchain Ireland Week, so stay tuned for more coverage.