前言：Penta战略合作的加纳及西非最大的年度黑客马拉松——Hacklab 2019于近日圆满落幕。Penta作为赞助商及官方合作伙伴，对活动给予了大力支持，以促进当地年轻人区块链技能提升，获得就业和投资机会，并挖掘优质的区块链应用项目丰富Penta公链生态。Penta联合创始人Dr. Steve Melnikoff、东非大使KuleWilson以及社会影响力生态负责人Lucia Gallardo也在活动期间参与了一系列线上讨论，与年轻的开发者技术交流。以下是对Hacklab2019的活动回顾与总结。

【正文】

如果把600多名西非最聪明的学生和优秀青年聚集起来，去碰撞有关商业和社会问题的创新解决方案，你会有什么收获？祝贺你，你将得到几十个用区块链去改变我们日常生活的创意项目。

可能我们已经习惯直接寄望于硅谷的创新技术，去解决人类社会的所有问题，从而让生活更加高效和方便。但或许现在可以把目光投向远方，那里有一批充满天赋的年轻人正在用下一代技术思维去应对当地的独特挑战。

近日，加纳以及西非最大的黑客马拉松——Hacklab 2019圆满落幕，Penta很荣幸作为赞助商和官方合作伙伴参与其中。今年黑客松的主题以一个问题的形式聚焦：“区块链能否改变加纳的服务业？”超过132个开发团队参与进来，共同思考如何使用区块链技术开发解决方案，让加纳的教育、农业、能源、税务、金融服务、医疗保健、运输和物流等领域变得更好。

（马拉松比赛现场）

Hacklab 2019得到了众多学术机构和公共部门的大力支持，比如沃达丰、IBM和Stanbic Bank等等。Penta及企业社区的合作伙伴Emerge作为重要的官方赞助商提供了全程支持，并见证了一个个令人兴奋的、孕育着改变现实潜力的项目诞生。

这些项目包括：

GXT：基于区块链的KYC /电子身份验证系统；Procure：基于区块链的采购系统，可在开放透明的平台上管理采购供应商的投标；Brainstorm：基于区块链的电子票务平台，用于运输、车队管理和客户支持；Blockcare：联盟链形式的区块链应用，用于验证药物产品的真实性；iCode：基于区块链的健康信息和紧急管理系统；Server Jockey：区块链手机应用，用于管理农民的价值链，并让生产者与消费者链接起来；RagnoX：基于区块链的教育机构的学生记录文件保存系统；Block Momo：加密货币项目，以促进加纳的数字支付。

以上提到的只是Hacklab 2019众多优秀项目中的一小部分。今年，黑客松共设10个奖项类别，上述提到的Block Momo夺得了一等奖及“最佳财务”解决方案，GXT获得了沃达丰的特别奖，ServerJockey则荣获“最佳农业”解决方案，当然还有更多。有关获奖项目的完整列表，以及其他富有潜力项目的更多信息，可以下载完整的Haklab 2019报告。提一句，内容很值得一探！

（颁奖现场及部分获奖团队）

Penta对Hacklab 2019的支持和重视，是希望借助这个富有意义的渠道，在促进非洲发展的同时，实现对Penta公链生态的拓展。

从上面提到项目的多样性和创新力可以看出，来自加纳和世界各地的创新者，正在利用区块链应用解决本地和全球的问题。而这些创新者的应用项目需要一个强大、可扩展以及安全的区块链基础设施，从而帮助他们把产品顺利推向市场。

这就是Penta牵手Hacklab的契机所在。Penta与Hacklab建立了战略合作伙伴关系，以接触到整个西非地区的区块链应用开发人员，希望成为他们优先选择的区块链平台，后续也会在Dapp开发上开展合作。

（Penta联合创始人Dr. Steve Melnikoff受邀进行线上交流）

Hacklab 富有远见的创始人Foster Akugri认为，平等地获取和使用技术是一项核心举措。他和Hacklab基金会希望激励加纳和西非的年轻人通过学习区块链等新技术的相关技能，在这些新兴行业获得更多成功机会。

“根据2018年的人力资本指数，加纳的人力资本赤字约为48％，我们希望通过黑客松的计划来解决这个问题，”Akurgi在发表Hacklab2019的开场白时表示。“但是，如果你希望在未来十年以及更长远的以后保持竞争力，需要自己愿意为获取新技能而投入。”

（Penta长期致力在非洲推广区块链技术解决当地问题，促进年轻人教育和就业）

平等的理念和技术的公平使用机会也是Penta使命愿景的核心。我们通过网络架构实现了这一目标，这个架构会优先考虑普惠性的门槛，以及公平分享Penta平台奖励的机会。这在Penta独特的DSC（DynamicStake Consensus）共识算法中体现地更为明显。

❖有关DSC共识算法的更多信息，请参见Medium文章：

https://medium.com/@penta2018/dynamic-stake-consensus-dsc-the-penta-concensus-algorithm-for-optimized-decentralization-687604b8a3b4

欢迎Penta社区的成员对Hacklab 2019进行更多了解，可以访问Hacklab的网站并阅读Hacklab 2019官方报告：www.hacklab.org。也希望大家继续关注与支持Penta，一起实现这个公链生态的繁荣。

【英文原文】

Penta Sponsors West Africa's Largest Hackathon and Sees Tremendous Potential in Regional Blockchain Applications

What do you get when you ask over 600 of West Africa’s brightest students and youngsters to come up with innovative solutions to business and social problems? You get dozens of creative projects that demonstrate how blockchain can and will transform our every day lives. If we have grown accustomed to gazing directly at Silicon Valley for innovative tech to solve all of humankind’s problems and make life more efficient and convenient, perhaps it is time to cast our gaze far afield to where new talentis approaching unique local challenges with next generation thinking.

Penta was a proud sponsor and official partner of West Africa’s largest hackathon, Hacklab 2019. The theme of this year’s Ghana based Hacklab was presented in the form of a question: Can BlockchainsTransform the Service Sector in Ghana? Hacklab invited more than 132 teams of developers to think of innovative solutions to problems in the service sector. This year’s Hacklab enjoyed tremendous support from academic institutions and the public sector, with Vodafone, IBM, and Stanbic Bank joining. Penta and Penta Enterprise Community partner, Emerge, as official sponsors.

Here is a list of just some of the exciting projects that came out of Hacklab 2019:

GXT: blockchain based KYC/identity verification system;

Procure:blockchain based procurement system to manage bids from procurement vendors in an open and transparent platform;

Brainstorm:blockchain based e-ticketing platform for transportation, fleet management, and customer support;

Blockcare:permissioned chain blockchain application for verifying the authenticity of pharaceutical producs;

iCode:blockchain based health information and emergency management system;

Server Jockey:blockchain mobile application to manage farmers’ value chain and to connect producers with buyers;

RagnoX:blockchain based record-keeping system for academic institutions.

Block Momo: a cryptocurrency project which facilitates digital payments in Ghana.

The projects mentioned above are just a sampling of the outstanding projects that emerged from Hacklab 2019. Winning projects included Block Momo for Overall Winner/Best Finance Solution; GXT for Vodafone Special Award; Server Jockey for Best Agriculture Solution; and more.For a complete list of winners and more information on attention grabbing projects, please download the full Haklab 2019 Report - it is a worthwhile read!

Penta’s involvement in Hacklab 2019 is part of an ongoing effort to expand the reach of Penta’s public chain ecosystem. As is clear from the diversity and ingenuity of the projects above, blockchain based applications are addressing problems both locally and globally, and project innovators are coming from all over the world. Moreover, these innovators and their applications require robust, scalable, and secure infrastructure that can help them carry their products to market. 

That is where Penta’s relationship with Hacklab comes in. Penta has formed a strategic partnership with Hacklab to reach out to blockchain application developers throughout the West Africa region, in hopes of becoming one of their preferred blockchain platforms.

Hacklab’s visionary founder, Foster Akugri,believes that equal access to technology is a core initiative. He and the Hacklab group have set out to inspire young Ghanain and West Africans to prepare themselves for the opportunities offered by new technologies, like blockchain, by learning the skills required to be successful in these emerging industries. 

“Human capital deficit in Ghana is estimated around 48% according to the Human Capital Index 2018, but we hope to correct this through ourprograms,” Akurgi said as he delivered Hacklab 2019’s opening remarks. “But we can only do that if you are willing to skill yourselves to stay relevant in the next decade and beyond.”

The notion of equal access and equal opportunity to technology is also at the core of Penta’s mission. Penta achieves this through a network architecture that prioritizes inclusive access and equal opportunity to share in the rewards of the Penta platform. This is most apparent in Penta’s unique consensus algorithm, Dynamic Stake Consensus(for more on DSC see: https://medium.com/@penta2018/dynamic-stake-consensus-dsc-the-penta-concensus-algorithm-for-optimized-decentralization-687604b8a3b4). 

The Penta Team invites Penta community members to learn more about Hacklab 2019 by visiting their website and reading the official Hacklab 2019 Report: www.hacklab.org.