"This is no longer the future. The present is what drives us." With that message, Zaragoza became the epicenter of the debate on the application and use of blockchain technology among companies and citizens on November 28 and 29. Up to 1,500 participants gathered in the second edition of the BDZ Congress, the most important meeting in Spanish that addresses the short, medium and long term challenges of the digital transformation of society as a whole.

Indeed, Blockchain has "absolute" transformational potential, Blockchain Aragon president Daniel Labeaga explained at the opening, adding that the Internet of the future will bear little or no resemblance to what we know today. "We put our people and companies at the center of digital transformation. The development of the digital world has evolved a lot and is being centralized to a great extent. Web3, a concept based on blockchain technology, aims to decentralize the development of the Internet so that people, citizens and companies are at the center of this digital transformation," he explained.

Blockchain technology that will allow companies and individuals to "own our data, maintain privacy," rather than "share that value," such as each person's digital footprint, "access to exchange services that we now provide for free to many apps and companies." The origin would be in cryptocurrencies, and in the "transmission of economic value" without intermediaries, and it would be on the way to a "new digital model". “NFTs allow any unique and exclusive digital asset to move between peers without the possibility of duplication, and this is a game changer. It's a completely different website," Labeaga pointed out.

However, this entire path must go in parallel with an advancement in cybersecurity, which is the foundation of any blockchain-based model. "What cannot happen is what is happening now, we are constantly being attacked and raped. Our people and companies need to develop their digital activity in a secure environment, and blockchain is the most secure we know now and on which this new technology will be developed. Cybersecurity essential is for the sustainable and efficient development of the digital world, and the foundation is provided by blockchain technology", said the organizer of the BDZ Congress.

Over two days, this conference received 75 presentations with 200 panelists, as well as top companies that will play a key role in the digital transformation of society. Such has been the reception of this second edition that the Conference Center of Zaragoza is "growing" and is considering moving to the facilities of the Zaragoza Fair, as acknowledged by its honorary president Manuel Teruel. "Technology is what will revolutionize the way we transmit and verify data and we will see how it grows exponentially," he added.

In this sense, Mar Vaquero, the second vice-president and Minister of Economy, wanted to demonstrate that Aragon is at the "epicenter of innovation, technology and the ecosystem of the digital world", reaffirming its commitment to attract projects of these characteristics, such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft's data centers. "We have attracted great technological giants and this is how we will present ourselves to the world. We can go into the future with an avant-garde Aragon that will take advantage of the digital transformation", he explained.

With that, as stated by Ángel Lorén, the City Councilor for the Presidency, Zaragoza is the 21st century. He wants to be the "leader of new technologies" of the century. "We are one of the most competitive cities in Spain and we will create an environment to be an oasis for companies. It's not only the strategic location, the price of the infrastructure or the talent of the people, but also the institutional cooperation, so that big projects can go ahead", he assessed.

Immersive virtual reality experiences and a competition to reward the best blockchain 'start-ups' were some of the novelties that could be seen at the second edition of the Web3&Blockchain (BDZ) 2023 Congress, which met on November 28 and 29.

The Business Development Director of the Zaragoza Fair, Alberto López, and Daniel Labeaga of the Aragon Blockchain Association, presented the competition that wanted to publicize their experiences of the "paradigm shift" of the network and the change towards greater security and reliability.

"We are in Web3 and this goes beyond cryptocurrency or bitcoin. It represents a disruptive change, with a much safer Internet, where our identity cannot be usurped and the data belongs to the people," explained Labeaga.

In addition to the congress, this event included an exhibition space of more than 2,000 square meters, and 170 speakers and experts participated in three stages to present the most important news, applications and projects they had.

As Labeaga highlighted, Web3 "is common sense, the future where privacy and data ownership is in the hands of those who create it, such as users and companies."
Participating companies include DeFi, CeFi and TradeFi, as well as Animoca Brands, Audius, Banco Santander, BBVA, Bank of New York Mellon, Binance, BitBase, Estrella Galicia, eToro, Havas Media Group, Iberia, LaLiga, Mahou San Miguel, Mango, MediaPro, Polkadot, Polygon, Telefónica and Vodafone, among others.

Labeaga highlighted that this event has great practical application in the finance, fashion, gaming, e-sports, art, industry, health and real estate sectors. More than 75 activities were held including presentations, panel discussions and workshops.