Tennessee’s business leaders, officials gather to help define state’s blockchain strategy

Business executives and officials from all over Tennessee gathered on October 23 at the offices of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development to assist in outlining the Volunteer State’s approach for blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) and create an action plan to strengthen the state’s DLT community, according a press release CoinReport received.

The about 30 corporate execs and leaders included representatives from FedEx Corp., HCA Healthcare Inc., Hashed Health and AllianceBernstein, among others, reported a Nashville Business Journal article.

The business leaders came together for the first Tennessee Blockchain Summit, an event of their newly formed organization called Tokenize Tennessee, which aims to make the state a more DLT-friendly place.  

The summit’s attendees were divided into four separate groups to focus on government and legislation, business enterprise, advocacy going forward and education.

Tokenize Tennessee’s website, which was launched at the summit, encourages community engagement and leadership to drive DLT education and adoption in the state, said the news release we received.

Kristen Johns, a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Waller, a top national law firm and the summit’s co-sponsor (along with ConsenSys), said in the release, “The blockchain community will grow and thrive in an environment with open communication and collaboration. This Summit brings together blockchain and industry leaders to define an action plan for establishing Tennessee as a leader in driving adoption of promising technologies, such as blockchain, and making the state a preferred place to grow technology-based businesses.”

In March, the Tennessee governor and State Legislature passed two bills that support blockchain development in the state. The bills recognize the legal authority to utilize DLT and smart contracts in conducting electronic transactions and protects ownership privileges of specific information protected by DLT. 

“The blockchain community in the state continues to grow at a rapid pace, and we want to enable collaboration to make Tennessee open for business in blockchain,” said Johns.

Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe

ConsenSys product strategist David Perry stated, “Blockchain and decentralized technologies have the potential to provide solutions for emerging economic, social and political operating systems.”

Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe commented, “Tennessee is excited about the current and future impacts blockchain will have on the global economy. We are home to a number of companies that are making significant investments in blockchain development including AllianceBernstein, HCA, FedEx and FreightWaves, which announced a $4 million expansion in Chattanooga earlier this month. Tennessee’s balanced budget, proactive and efficient government, and low tax burden provide an ideal environment for these companies to build on this growing technology.”

Image credits:

Department’s logo – Via dept.’s another press release on GlobeNewswire

Waller logo – Via the press release we received

Commissioner Rolfe’s photo – Via dept. senior staff page on Tennessee State Government’s website