A light and breezy Saturday morning is a great time for a stroll through the suburbs of South London. Fortunately the destination is Merky FC, a partnership between Stormzy and Adidas with sportsfields, games rooms, and more. The event is the biggest and best Black Tech Day event yet!
Proceedings commenced with a tour of the Merky FC building, and then we were all invited to join the main event in an outdoor tent. The weather is nice (for a change), so why not. Speakers at Black Tech Day are special. They have a special insight into how hard it is to get into business, how challenging it can be for people to gain access to technology. They are here to share their knowledge with everyone. Even 16-year-olds have a reason to attend. Many of them together with their parents.
Content Creation and Artificial Intelligence at Black Tech Day
The first panel of the day was about content. Five of the most influential members of the black community got up on stage and were asked numerous questions by Zoe Garshong, CEO & Founder of Ms Independent. Delegates learnt about using Canva, Twitch, and other tools to get young influencers traffic on YouTube.
The content panel was followed by two more panels. These were about artificial intelligence. Michael Harding, of Blockchain Sensei, moderated one of them. Whilst Dexter Simms, the man behind Black Tech Day, moderated the second one. Delegates learnt about Claude AI, Sora Video AI generator and the Netflix documentary ‘Coded Bias’.
To get a better feel about the types of people at Black Tech Day in 2024 we spoke to one of the speakers. Barry Paisley is CEO and Founder of Canistore. Canistore is a licensing protocol that allows the community to upload, licence and securely store content on the blockchain.
Canistore Represented at Black Tech Day
“We have a service called Canistore that allows you to manage and protect your copyright,” Barry shared. “It allows a content creator to upload a song, and then attach legal documents to that song to protect copyright.”
This is a particular challenge in the UK, Barry highlighted. In the UK there is no register of copyright work. However, the Canistore app allows UK-based content creators to prove they own their copyright. This is all based on blockchain technology and is available to the global community.
Another thing that Barry is working on is the world’s first blockchain broadcast station, Caniplay. This new service allows content creators to send their material direct to the radio station. As long as they have the required copyright and licensing but avoiding the middleman.
“It decentralizes radio and television,” Barry explained. “It’s the community who vote on what is played, not a DJ or producer. It’s an ecosystem which is looking to remove all the unnecessary legal procedures that hold back content creators and the community from sharing music.”
Barry was keen to highlight how Canistore is about protecting a creator’s digital assets. He has been involved in music and entertainment for more than 20 years. Barry saw a problem in how the industry operated and he found a solution.
“I am trying to solve the issues I went through myself in the music industry,” Barry added. “I went through copyright issues and through trying to get my music on radio.” This is what inspired Barry to create Canistore. But that’s not all.
Barry’s project works because of Internet Computer or ICP. ICP is third generation blockchain in motion. The first fully sovereign network. With very reasonable pricing for storing data onchain. There is an impressive story behind ICP too:
Why Blockchain Sensei Supports Black Tech Day
Barry isn’t the only influential speaker at the event. Michael Harding, the CEO and Co-founder of Blockchain Sensei, has been a staunch supporter of the Black Tech Day movement since its inception. Michael is also a mentor and a significant member of the Web3 community globally.
Blockchain Sensei focuses on blockchain and financial literacy, which shouldn’t be treated as separate topics, Michael highlighted. It’s sister company, Foundation Ventures, helps early-stage businesses with their financial literacy, specifically when in need of fundraising.
“A lot of people don’t know basic terminologies like what a seed round is, what an angel is, or what things like SEIS or EIS are,” Michael shared.
When it comes to Black Tech Day, Michael’s demeanour changed slightly.
“Black Tech Day is really important to me,” Michael shared. “Just like the event, my main passion is to bring emerging technologies to the black community to help them get ahead. Whilst providing financial literacy for the black community.”
Michael went on to add how when it comes to businesses and startups, how the black community is dramatically underfunded in comparison to other demographic groups.
Black Tech Day is about Community
“Black Tech Day should have happened a long time ago,” Michael continued. “Many young black people aspire to be footballers or musicians, because of the lack of other opportunities. But unfortunately, in both those jobs you are not in charge of your financial destiny. The record label or the football club is.
“It’s important that Black Tech Day is here,” Michael explained. “If you look at the S&P 500, the FTSE 100 or Nasdaq, most firms listed are tech businesses. Most billionaires on the planet come from tech businesses. So if the black community is not focused on tech, then we’ve already been left behind. Now is the perfect time with the tech revolution in AI and blockchain for black people to be able to have a level playing field.”
What if a black tech entrepreneur made a company worth a billion dollars? What if they were based out of Croydon? Michael asked. It’s not just the black community in Croydon who would benefit. It’s everybody.
“Today’s event might be ‘labelled’ Black Tech Day, but black people being under-privileged affects everyone,” Michael summarized.
The event took place in a suburb of Croydon, South London. Young children of all kinds of ethnic backgrounds were playing football on the myriad of pitches whilst the event continued. What Dexter has done has hit the spot. Attendees have travelled from as far away as Bradford and Manchester. What were the biggest takeaways these people shared? That they want a Black Tech Day in Bradford and Manchester too!
The DisruptionBanking editorial team is very selective with the events we partner with. We look for partners who embrace inclusivity, who embrace diversity. But most of all we look to partner with events that make a difference to society. And that’s exactly what the movement that is Black Tech Day has achieved.
Now, back to the next panel, great music with a live DJ in the background, and some amazing Caribbean food. What did you do this Saturday?
Author: Andy Samu
#content #contentcreator #copyright #blockchain #artificialintelligence #btd2024 #blacktechday #diversity #inclusion #equity #web3 #icp
About Canistore
Canistore was voted the best project at Agora’s 8th Blockchain Congress in Dubai. The votes were cast by a variety of investors, after a series of one on one meetings held over two days, with over twenty projects taking part. #JoinTheFrequency
See Also:
Black Tech Day is Back! Register Today | Disruption Banking
Why Black Tech Day Made History | Disruption Banking
The First Black Tech Day in London | Disruption Banking
How AgriTech in Africa is what Hedging was created for with InventoryClub | Disruption Banking
How The Tech Industry Abandoned People of Colour In The Latest Round Of Layoffs | Disruption Banking
