Ian Keane

My first computer was the 8-bit Atari 800, which I got went I was 11 years’ old. Since then, I have always had the curiosity and passion to learn about the latest technologies.

My current role is the Head of Technology and Cloud Engineering for UK and Ireland at Oracle. When I was first introduced to Bitcoin in 2016 and was intrigued by the technology and my curiosity drove me further to learn more about crypto currencies and their applications. Next, I found out about Ethereum, which enables applications to be written on top of a blockchain settlement layer. I was completely hooked on blockchain technology and instinctively knew this was going to be the next big thing in technology and would form the bedrock of which Web 3.0 would be built on top of.

Despite having a technical background and being comfortable around blockchain technologies; it was 2018 when I realized that that my skills were inadequate for the coming decade as I didn’t understand the industries that blockchain was going to disrupt, particularly finance, supply chain and health care. If you think that’s going to be disruptive you might want to consider what exponential disruption is possible when you combine blockchain with IoT and Artificial Intelligence.

Through 2016 and 2017 I was a student of Andreas Antonopoulos and read his book ‘Mastering Bitcoin’ and followed his lectures on his YouTube channel. It was through Andreas I became aware of MSc in Blockchain and Digital Currency at the University of Nicosia as he was one of the lecturers on the ‘Introduction to Digital Currencies’ module.

I enrolled September 2018 and found that the format of the course worked very well for me. It was delivered remotely; I was able to complete my studies and assignments despite having a full-time job and a busy home life with three young children. I really enjoyed all the modules and electives I signed up for. The lectures and content were engaging and topical.

After graduating in July 2020, I have had the honor of being asked to become an ambassador for IFF, UNIC and I also chair the Enterprise Workgroup for Blockchain Ireland. In both these roles my mission to help people to learn and prepare for how blockchain will impact business in the coming decade. This is a task I thoroughly enjoy as I get great satisfaction when I see the people that I help progress.

In my day job at Oracle, now I have a much better understanding of how enterprise blockchains can benefit our customers to streamline intercompany reconciliation and bring trust to a low trust environment.