Mexico
News

Atix Labs betting on blockchain applications

Bnamericas Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Atix Labs betting on blockchain applications

Blockchain technology will become prevalent in industrial, business and government applications in Latin America over the next three to five years, an executive said.

Although the technology emerged 14 years ago, it is still mostly used for cryptocurrencies in the region.

“I think that those of us in the ecosystem struggled to bring blockchain closer to industries,” Ailín González, CEO of Globant unit Atix Labs, told BNamericas.

And at a panel during the Innovation Forum hosted by the American chamber of commerce (Amcham), González said the focus should be on solutions and improvement opportunities when approaching potential blockchain clients, rather than naming the technology directly.

Regional industry leaders have not yet grasped the opportunities of blockchain, Gónzalez said.

“We are achieving [the use of blockchain in other applications] in other parts of the world, perhaps that are more open to making changes and transformations,” she said. “Transformation has a cost, but I think it's worth it and I think it won't take long to reach the region,” she added.

But as Latin America is “a pioneer in the adoption of cryptocurrencies,” many players already understand the subject.

Atix Labs is developing some blockchain projects, although mostly pilots.

“We did a very interesting digital identity pilot in [Buenos Aires neighborhoodVilla 31 together with IDB Lab and NGO Bitcoin Argentina, where we were able to set up a pilot and see some of the benefits it brings. But we need much more support, so that it scales and can be replicated in other neighborhoods,” she said.

This pilot involved blockchain use in developing a digital identity and enhance options for informal workers.

Gónzalez said while cost is a barrier, distrust generates even more problems, including legal ones. “Blockchain attacks social, economic and legal aspects. And sometimes legal problems are the most complicated,” she said.

Atix Labs also ran pilots in the real estate sector, with tokens that represented physical assets. Additionally, it is working on non-fungible tokens for the gaming and entertainment industries and on digital contracts.

"It will be interesting to understand how this gets into much larger companies and much deeper processes. We will be working on that in the coming years," Gónzalez said.

Subscribe to the most trusted business intelligence platform in Latin America. Let us show you our solutions for Suppliers, Contractors, Operators, Government, Legal, Financial and Insurance.

Subscribe to Latin America’s most trusted business intelligence platform.

Other projects in: ICT

Get critical information about thousands of ICT projects in Latin America: what stages they're in, capex, related companies, contacts and more.

Other companies in: ICT (Mexico)

Get critical information about thousands of ICT companies in Latin America: their projects, contacts, shareholders, related news and more.

  • Company: Arneses y Conexiones, S.A. de C.V.  (ARCOSA)
  • Arneses y Conexiones, SA de CV is the OSCA-ARCOSA manufacturing plant located in Tijuana, in the Mexican state of Baja California. It was established in 1986 and dedicated to th...
  • Company: Grupo Televisa, S.A.B.  (Televisa)
  • Grupo Televisa is a Mexican media company and a participant in the international entertainment business. It distributes its programming throughout Latin America, Europe, Asia an...
  • Company: TV Azteca S.A.B. de C.V.  (TV Azteca)
  • Mexican broadcast giant TV Azteca S.A. de C.V., owned by Grupo Salinas, generates over 10,000 hours of content per year operating two national networks, Azteca 13 and Azteca 7 t...