North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics is set to host the Sixth Annual National HBCU Blockchain, FinTech and AI Conference on September 19 and 20. This significant gathering aims to bring together scholars, innovators, educators, and industry leaders to delve into the intersection of blockchain technology, intelligent systems, data science, computational engineering systems, and quantum innovation across various disciplines.
Taking place in the Deese Ballroom at the Student Center, the conference is organized in collaboration with the National Center for the Study of Blockchain and FinTech at Morgan State University’s Graves School of Business. Major sponsors for the event include Ripple, Coinbase, and LF Decentralized Trust. This year’s theme, “Beyond the Ledger: Rewiring Systems for a Decentralized Future,” encourages participants to explore cutting-edge research and case studies that highlight how emerging technologies can pave the way for a more advanced future.
Each day of the conference will begin with a networking breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m., providing attendees with opportunities to connect before engaging in a series of informative sessions led by experts from various academic and industry backgrounds. The conference will feature multiple tracks, including:
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Finance, Markets, and Business Applications: Focusing on blockchain in accounting, AI and machine learning for forecasting, tokenization, smart contracts, and FinTech solutions aimed at enhancing economic opportunities.
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Technology, Infrastructure, and Security: Exploring topics such as quantum computing, cybersecurity, privacy, and decentralized identity.
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Computational Systems and Engineering Innovation: Delving into scalable data architectures, distributed systems, optimization algorithms, and high-performance computing.
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Sustainability, Ethics, and Regulation: Addressing applications of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, as well as ethical considerations in autonomous systems.
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Education and Pedagogy: Discussing approaches to teach blockchain, AI, and FinTech across various academic disciplines.
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Creativity, Culture, and Innovation: Examining the realms of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the creator economy, and models for cross-disciplinary teaching.
Collins Okafor, Ph.D., an associate professor of finance at the Deese College, will co-chair the conference alongside Ali Emdad, Ph.D., the executive director of Research Centers at Morgan State’s Graves School of Business.
The conference is free and open to the public, with no prior registration required; however, seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information regarding the event, interested individuals can reach out to Okafor via email at ceokafor@ncat.edu.
