Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
They found a way to limit Big Tech’s power: Using the design of Bitcoin
Excerpts from article by By Nathaniel Popper published in Economic Times
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, wrestled this month with the question of whether his social media service had exercised too much power by cutting off Donald Trump’s account. Dorsey wondered aloud if the solution to that power imbalance was a new technology inspired by the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
What is Blockchain Technology?
It’s a reference to the shared, decentralised, distributed ledger on which all of Bitcoin’s records are kept. This technology makes the history of any digital asset unalterable and transparent
When YouTube and Facebook barred tens of thousands of Trump’s supporters, many flocked to alternative apps such as LBRY, Minds and Sessions. What those sites had in common was that they were also inspired by the design of Bitcoin/ Blockchain tech.
The twin developments were part of a growing movement by technologists, investors and everyday users to replace some of the internet’s fundamental building blocks in ways that would be harder for tech giants like Facebook and Google to control. To do so, they are increasingly focused on new technological ideas introduced by Bitcoin, which was built atop an online network designed, at the most basic level, to decentralise power.
Unlike other types of digital money, Bitcoin are created and moved around not by a central bank or financial institution but by a broad and disparate network of computers. It’s similar to the way that Wikipedia is edited by anyone who wants to help, rather than a single publishing house. That underlying technology is called the blockchain, a reference to the shared ledger on which all of Bitcoin’s records are kept.
Decentralisation using Blockchain Tech
Companies are now finding ways to use blockchains and similar technology inspired by it, to create social media networks, store online content and host websites without any central authority in charge. Doing so makes it much harder for any government or company to ban accounts or delete content.
About Bitcoin
Bitcoin first emerged in 2009. Its creator, a shadowy figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto, has said its central idea was to allow anyone to open a digital bank account and hold the money in a way that no government could prevent or regulate.
For several years, Bitcoin gained little traction beyond a small coterie of online admirers and people who wanted to pay for illegal drugs online. But as its price rose over time, more people in Silicon Valley took notice of the unusual technical qualities underlying the cryptocurrency. Some promised that the technology could be used to redesign everything from produce tracking to online games.
The hype fell flat over the years as the underlying technology proved to be slow, prone to error and not easily accessible. But more investments and time have begun to result in software that people can actually use.
Career
This 17-yr-old’s startup is helping blue & grey-collar workers upskill and find employment
Excerpts from article by Trisha Medhi, published in yourstory.com
When the coronavirus-led lockdown first began, businesses were impacted overnight. This led to millions of job losses and pay cuts across sectors, affecting so many livelihoods directly and indirectly.
Blue and grey-collar workers were massively affected, with many left with no option but to make the arduous journey back to their hometowns and look for other options.
A report by Betterplace, a platform for blue-collar workforce management, estimated more than 10 lakh blue-collar jobs have been affected due to the ongoing pandemic.
Realising the seriousness of this situation, 17-year-old Ahaan Aggarwal conceptualised and developed Junoon — a platform to help struggling workers. Ahaan began working on the platform in April, alongside pursuing his IB and High School Diploma from the American Embassy School in New Delhi. In August 2020, Junoon, a simple, instruction-based online vocational training and job search platform focused on blue-collar and grey-collar jobs, was launched.
“Junoon serves to help unskilled and semi-skilled workers review or acquire career-specific skills and become better qualified. Our long-term goal is to provide necessary opportunities to enable widespread economic independence,” said Ahaan.
The Gurugram-based startup provides training programmes across 20 categories, including auto mechanic, auto driver, painter, plumber, electrician, warehouse keeper, security guard, carpenter, mason, construction worker, cleaner, laundry attendant, gardener, server, runner, cooking assistant, nanny, and delivery man.
The training programmes come in both text and video formats. “The aim is to standardise modest jobs in the country to provide a substantial living. It offers an end-to-end workforce management system by producing quality, skilled manpower, thereby contributing to the Indian economy,” Ahaan says.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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