Opening BrainBloC on the TU/e Campus by Rob van Gijzel

On April 12, Rob van Gijzel, former mayor of Eindhoven and chairman of the Dutch Blockchain Coalition, will open BrainBloC. Partly thanks to a contribution from the municipality of Eindhoven, the BrainBloC lab was set up. Within the lab, data-driven organization with blockchain and the digital conveyor belt plays an important role. Just as they did a hundred years ago with the physical assembly line, ecosystems in the Eindhoven region play an important role in innovation today.

The revolution of the 'digital assembly line', that's what BrainBloC stands for. As with the introduction of the physical conveyor belt, within BrainBloC data crafts are brought together under one roof. The biggest gain cannot be achieved with even more technology, but by bringing together and  organizing existing data technologies in the right way. The digital assembly line therefore stands for the combination of the internet of things, blockchain and artificial intelligence. In other words, the generation of data by, for example, sensors or cameras (IoT), a reliable digital infrastructure to store and exchange this data (blockchain), and smart algorithms to analyze and enrich this data (AI). Complex? Not at all! In the BrainBloC lab you can see that with a new perspective, a different way of organizing and consciously focusing on social innovation, there is a lot of profit to be made. 

More and more organizations are becoming data companies. However, organizing data can be much more productive. Consider, for example, a date of birth. It is now stored in dozens of places. Basically, this should be in one location if access to it is properly accessed.  Data-driven organization with the digital conveyor belt ensures less digital and human waste. We can use this surplus for sustainability. But what is data and how do you organize it?

You cannot immediately see, smell, hear and feel data. That is why the BrainBloC lab makes data visible and human. In the BrainBloC lab, we not only show that data technologies are interesting for almost everyone, but more specifically show that it is precisely the combination of data technologies that offers new solutions. We also show that applying data-driven organizing requires a fundamentally different thinking and design. With building blocks such as sensors, computers and even Lego (trains), data and data flows are imitated to make a new form of systems thinking and the principle of a digital assembly line more familiar.

BrainBloC is unique in that it initially focuses on the design side and organizational change. Disruptive data technologies such as blockchain only work if companies adapt their business and operating model. This is necessary for a sustainable, digital and decentralized future. Innovation now takes place too much and too often from a business perspective, and this often makes society unnecessarily complex and unproductive. In the BrainBloC lab, you can see that social issues are more solvable by simply organizing data and making it work for itself.

This involves the combination of: generating data and establishing facts (internet of things); finding consensus on this and then not being able to unilaterally manipulate and securely store it (blockchain with rich data); making it accessible (tokens, smart contracts and data logistics) and finally enriching data (artificial intelligence).

BrainBloC consists of a physical place, a community of startups, professionals and entrepreneurs, and a learning program for new organizational designs and transformational leaders. Free and non-binding events are regularly organized so that the target group becomes easily aware of the benefits of data-driven organization.  BrainBloC is an initiative of Twice and Weconomics.