Press release For immediate release

Cyberport joins hands with industry to foster Blockchain development Partners with top global and Mainland blockchain consortia to bolster blockchain talent support

Hong Kong, 12 March 2019 – Blockchain technology has been gaining prominence in tech innovation across the world, while its applications in FinTech have been progressing rapidly. As Hong Kong’s largest FinTech community, Cyberport has been cultivating and nurturing Hong Kong’s blockchain cluster. In addition to introducing blockchain-related start-ups and tech companies to the Cyberport community, since early 2019, Cyberport has begun boosting the blockchain ecosystem’s upstream activities. It is working with different industry giants to organise blockchain workshops, bootcamps, and other practical training to cultivate more talent for the industry and to help Hong Kong capture more opportunities in this great age of blockchain. Hyperledger, the world’s largest blockchain consortium, and the Financial Blockchain Shenzhen Consortium (FISCO), the Mainland blockchain pioneer, are among the partners with which Cyberport is working this year. Cyberport has been at the forefront of the FinTech revolution with an evolving and diversified ecosystem. Last year, blockchain accelerators such as Hashkey and Loopnest landed in Cyberport to integrate into Cyberport innovative community and join hands in incubating blockchain talents and start-ups. “Blockchain technology’s potential is enormous. According to a study1, global spending on blockchain solutions is expected to reach US11.7 billion in 2022,” said Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport. “By offering systematised blockchain training, we hope to strengthen Cyberport’s support for blockchain and attract more innovative talent to join the blockchain industry. We will also connect these blockchain experts with other industries to encourage the development of more market-ready blockchain products and services.” “Additionally, Cyberport will continue to leverage its international network to work with globally and regionally leading blockchain experts, such as Hyperledger and FISCO, to offer all-encompassing blockchain support that addresses the industry’s needs and to facilitate blockchain adoption. Our goal is to relieve Hong Kong’s blockchain education and application shortage and to inject new impetus into the industry,” "As a member of the global blockchain community, Cyberport also led the blockchain enterprises to participate in the Hong Kong Blockchain Week held last week, in which 3,000 industry elites including investment institutions, government delegates, start-ups, academic institutions and financial services giants from more than 50 countries, gathered to discuss the

1 https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44150518

latest developments in blockchain technology. I look forward to working with the industry to accelerate the application of blockchain and foster Hong Kong to become the leading international blockchain hub," Mr Chan added. Hyperledger is the world’s largest blockchain consortium. Its members include more than 260 globally renowned corporations such as American Express, Accenture, IBM, Baidu, JD.com, Alibaba Cloud and Tencent. Julian Gordon, the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger VP, Asia-Pacific, said, “In the past few years, we have seen companies in Hong Kong exploring blockchain as a technology in different industries, including trade finance, stock settlement, supply chain. Hong Kong is well positioned to be the digital technology hub of Asia, and yet we are currently seeing a shortage of qualified candidates for key roles including front-end developers. Hyperledger is delighted to collaborate with Cyberport Hong Kong on the first global Hyperledger Bootcamp to nurture the FinTech community." Hyperledger has already organised the world’s first Hyperledger bootcamp at Cyberport on 7-8 March. The event enabled developers from Hong Kong and around the world to come together and examine the technical issues surrounding blockchain’s development, to exchange ideas with top technical experts in the ecosystem, to gain a deeper understanding about blockchain’s trends, and to establish strategic partnerships with other industry players. More than 130 core developers, software engineers, and project managers from Asia Pacific, US, Australia and South America attended the event. Plans are also being made in the second quarter of 2019 for Hyperledger and Cyberport to co-organise workshops to shed light on enterprise blockchain frameworks, smart contracts, eID application, blockchain security etc. Regionally, in Mainland China, blockchain development has also progressed in earnest in recent years. FISCO, co-founded by the Mainland’s first online-only bank, WeBank, engages members in 30 cities across the nation, including banks, funds, securities, insurance companies, and other licensed financial institutions and technology companies. FISCO is also one of Cyberport’s blockchain partners. Together, they will be co-organising events to examine the application of blockchain technology in FinTech in Mainland China. Themes include blockchain application, case studies and experience sharing. Talent development aside, Cyberport has also been actively taking part in major industry events. These include leading blockchain start-ups to join last week’s Hong Kong Blockchain Week. Charles Lam, Senior Manager of FinTech & Blockchain, Cluster Team, moderated a panel discussion entitled “Blockchain Development in Cyberport”, during which he spoke with Hashkey Group, Armada Chain, and Loopnest Accelerator, about blockchain’s applications and trends.

Event Calendar of Cyberport Blockchain Series Month Date Topic

March 20 March 2019 "WeBank Blockchain Roadmap: Open Source Technology in Fintech Innovation"

April 29-30 April 2019 Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain Smart Contracts Application Development Workshop

May 23-24 May 2019 Hyperledger Indy Blockchain eID Application Development Workshop

June 15 June 2019 FISCO Financial Blockchain Application Development Workshop

For more information or registration, please email to training@cyberport.hk. Photo captions:

1. Cyberport partners with Hyperledger, the world’s largest blockchain consortium to promote

blockchain development and application. (From left to right: Julian Gordon, VP, Asia Pacific, Hyperledger, Linux Foundation APAC, Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport, Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of Hyperledger and Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport)

2. Hyperledger and Cyberport partnered to organise the world’s first Hyperledger

developers bootcamp on 7-8 March.

3. FISCO Financial Blockchain Workshop was held in Feb 2019.

4. Cyberport led blockchain companies to attend the Hong Kong Blockchain Week.

Please click this link for photos.

# # # About Cyberport Cyberport is an innovative digital community with over 1,200 technology companies. It is managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government. With the vision to become a main force in developing the digital tech industry as a key economic driver of Hong Kong, Cyberport is committed to nurturing youth, start-ups and entrepreneurs to grow in the digital industry by connecting them to strategic partners and investors, driving collaboration with local and international business partners to create new opportunities, and accelerating digital adoption amongst corporates and SMEs. Cyberport focuses on building five key clusters of digital tech, namely E-sports/digital entertainment, FinTech, AI/big data, smart city/smart living, and blockchain solutions, to foster the development of Hong Kong into a “Smart City”. With a committed team of professionals providing all rounded value added services to support our digital community and an array of state-of-the-art tech facilities, Cyberport is the flagship for Hong Kong’s digital tech industry. For more information, please visit www.cyberport.hk For media enquiry, please contact: Cyberport

Sandra Chong

T: (852) 3166 3867

E: sandrachong@cyberport.hk

Tiffany Lau

T: (852) 3166 3905

E: tiffanylau@cyberport.hk