Binance Academy, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider’s educational platform, recently completed the first leg of its Southeast Asia University Tour in the Philippines.
The Binance Academy team and Kenneth Stern, General Manager of Binance in the Philippines, visited some of the country’s most prominent universities from April 17 to April 20.
They visited the Asia Institute of Management, the University of Batangas, the National University of Laguna, Enderun Colleges, and the Far Eastern University, where they met with over 1,000 students and faculty.
During these visits, Adam Smurthwaite, Content and Partnerships Manager at Binance, led introductory blockchain and cryptocurrency training sessions.
Binance Academy collaborated with Yield Guild Games (YGG), a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that invests in NFT gaming projects, to educate attendees about Web3 gaming and NFTs at National University Laguna.
The 400 students in attendance were divided into groups to brainstorm and develop innovative ideas for gamifying a learning platform, with the winning team receiving exclusive Binance merchandise as a prize.
Binance Academy has gone on college tours to 75 schools in 25 countries to teach people about blockchain and digital currencies and make them more knowledgeable. As Binance Academy’s first stop in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, the Philippines has seen much growth and interest in the Web3 ecosystem. The country has a proven track record of using Web3 and blockchain. As this new technology develops, it is important to close the knowledge gap by making information and educational materials easy to find and use.
Kenneth Stern thinks this push for education is one of the most important ways for the Philippines to reach its full potential and become a leading blockchain and Web3 hub. He said on tour, “By working together to build the Web3 infrastructure in the Philippines, we will be able to create more Web3 jobs and build a pipeline of local talent.” Now is a good time for young people to find out more about technology and the good things it can do.
Adam Smurthwaite said the same thing on tour: “The Philippines is a natural choice for the first stop of our Binance Academy Asia Tour because our university partners were so excited about us coming to train their students. Even though blockchain technology is new, many Filipinos have heard of it because GameFi is so popular in the country. We hope this tour will be a good way for younger people to learn about Web3.
Adam Smurthwaite taught a class at National University Laguna called “Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency 101.”
Binance Academy has partnered with Enderun Colleges in the Philippines to reach more students and teachers and help them learn more about cryptocurrencies. For this visit to Enderun Colleges, the Binance Academy team was joined by people from the Department Of Information And Communications Technology (DICT) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC): Carlos Antonio Albornoz, Project Development Officer at DICT, Vienne Mari Velasco, Project Development Officer at DICT, and Jeannine Roxas, Technology Consultant for the CICC and Assistant Vice President for IT Audit of SM Retail, Inc.
At the event, Jeannine Roxas said, “Blockchain is a promising technology that is becoming more popular and used in the Philippines.” But Web3 is still very new, so Filipinos need to learn more about it if they want to use it. People are lucky to be able to attend training sessions like this one put on by Binance Academy.
University students who attended the Binance Academy sessions said that these educational programs are a great way to learn about new technologies and improve your knowledge. They also allow you to meet industry leaders and experts in your field. They said they wanted to keep participating in similar programs and use the new skills they had learned to improve their communities.
Timothy Shi, a college student at Enderun Colleges, said, “Education drives like the Binance Academy University Tour can help people who are new to blockchain, and Web3 get past their preconceived ideas and technological challenges.”
Binance Academy has been involved in several regional educational projects to provide and improve crypto and Web3 education. Beyond the Philippines, Binance Academy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Chengchi University in Taiwan to develop educational programs and do joint research. In Australia, Binance gave the University of Western Australia USD 300,000 in digital currency to help it improve its Web 3.0 curriculum. Binance also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the South Korean city of Busan to help it build its blockchain ecosystem. Also, Binance Academy and the Inter-Institutional Inclusive Innovation Centre in India started the “Blockchain for Good” Ideathon to give college students a chance to come up with solutions for the blockchain ecosystem that are accessible to everyone.
The Binance Scholar Philippines Web3 Scholarship was made possible by a recent partnership between Binance Academy and Edukasyon.ph, the Philippines’ largest education technology platform. This scholarship program aims to improve access to education in the market and give Filipinos more chances to work in the Web3 industry. This scholarship is just one of many plans for 2023 that Binance Academy has.
