TLDR; Two4one App brings NEM to Africa, the first NEM Blockchain Hub in Australia launches soon, Malaysia gains traction in Sabah, He3Labs unveils Crow Tribe partnership, NEM joins FinTech Association of Hong Kong, and Netcetera and Unibright join the NEMsp Network trial.
“This week’s updates show how the expansion in different regions is starting to take shape. I’m pleased to see updates from across the globe. Some of these updates may seem trivial, but they demonstrate how our ecosystem is growing. We are continuously improving our approach to helping the ecosystem grow faster which ultimately will translate into an exponential increase in adoption of the technology.” - Kristof Van de Reck, Interim President
Ongoing Planning Efforts:
- Starting this week, this NEM Foundation blog will move to bi-weekly updates. Due to upcoming team travel, the next blog post will be August 20th.
Global Expansion, New Hires, Notable Events
Africa and Kenya
- NEM has partnered with Two4one App to help in blockchain implementation in Africa. The company is hoping to be the first African NEM Blockchain project to help businesses and organization to improve customer experience by enhancing loyalty, engagement, and user value. (Link)
Australia & New Zealand
- The first NEM Blockchain Hub in Australia will be launched in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane next Friday with a public launch event. You can register HERE.
- Julian Brown and Laura Perez have recently joined the team as the NEM Blockchain Hub representatives in Westport, New Zealand.
- Invox Finance is partnering with Multiversum to utilize the NEM blockchain for their platform. (Link)
- AUS Partner Highlight: Cerebral Fix Group launched Level 5 on their MatchNEM game with ten more levels, a Space theme and a new avatar added!
Brazil
- We just wrapped up the first meetup in São Paulo where it was announced we are working together with the Blockchain Academy of Brazil. The Meetup included developers, entrepreneurs and crypto enthusiasts in Brazil.
- NEM Brazil continues to negotiate with companies and exchanges of cryptocurrencies to expand its operations in the country.
China
- NEM China will be hosting a Meetup in Shenzhen on 8/4 where Regional Head, Steve Li, will give a presentation.
- Another Meetup is scheduled in Shanghai next week at 8/8 with CM Crypto (as the host.) Steve Li will also give a talk on the NEM Nanowallet. Flora Fang, Head of NEm Taiwan and NEM Vietnam, Kimble Ngo, will also present.
Chile
- NEM Chile recently had two Meetups. The first was on July 31st in Santiago with Pablo Romero and the second was in Concepción on August 2nd with Andrès Bello University. A discussion is currently underway with Andrès Bello University on future agreements with NEM.
Columbia
- We had a Meetup with PundiX, where 52 people attended, and the XPOS (based on the NEM blockchain) was announced. The goal is to have it implemented in the next two months.
Europe
- The NEM EU team announced the NEMsp Network has brought on new partner Netcetera, a leading Swiss software company, who support their customers worldwide with trend-setting products and custom software. (Link)
- The NEM EU team has also announced the NEMsp Network has brought on Unibright, a team of developers with 20+ years of experience in business integration. (Link)
Hong Kong
- We’re excited to let our community know that the NEM team has become a member of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK). It’s a big step toward our becoming an active member of and contributor to the Hong Kong innovation community, and to establish our presence here. (Link)
Japan
- Japan Partner Highlight: Japan Times introduced 19-year-old CEO “Kazuma Ito” who created an app named “PoliPoli” that aims to solve the issue of the gap between politicians and citizens. Ito intends to upgrade the app by introducing tokens as incentives to people who post comments with support from other participants, rate those of others and fill in questionnaires. (Link)
- “Quick NEM” has released the updated version of their service that users can implement NEM settlement by simply adding the link on their website.
LATAM
- We continue to advance in a solid and continuous manner and have significantly increased the number of meetings, university meetings and connecting with private companies interested in NEM.
- We are working with local Exchange alliances to make more use of our native token, XEM.
- In just three weeks of having launched our social networks, we already have more than 3000 followers on Facebook.
- Next week we will launch a regional website to share news in Spanish.
Malaysia
- The NEM Blockchain Centre in Malaysia hosted the Malaysian launch of Zendesk, a customer service software and the appointment of VLAN Technology as their distributor in Malaysia. During the launch attended by around 40 people, Lance Cheang, Project Director for NEM Southeast Asia was in attendance to give a brief intro about Blockchain.
- NEM held a technical training session with SabahNet, one of NEM Malaysia’s system integration (SI) partners, at their office in Kota Kinabalu. In attendance were lecturers from University Malaya Sabah, and developers from the Sabah startup scene including the likes of Property Hunter and eAulis.
- NEM also met with the Sabah State Computer Services Department together with SI Partner, SabahNet on 28 July to discuss the Sabah Government Blockchain Strategy, potential pilot projects for the state and the Sabah Blockchain Conference.
- NEM Malaysia also has made efforts to reach the grassroots levels in Sabah, meeting with Kinabalu Coders, a local NGO focusing on disruptive technology awareness and adoption programs for Sabahans. The meeting was to discuss potential collaborations between NEM and Kinabalu Coders in promoting blockchain on a grassroots level.
Nigeria
- The community continues to grow in Nigeria with Austin Martins preparing for the August 14th Meetup at BAYERO University Kano, the National Association of Computer Science Students.
North America
- Expansion remains underway for North America. This week has been spent preparing for the upcoming ChainXChange (Las Vegas) and IBC Congress (Chicago) conferences.
- NA Partner Highlight: He3Labs, a full-service blockchain consulting, architecting and development company, announced a partnership with the Crow Tribe and will demonstrate the power of NEM at the Crow Fair on August 18th in Montana.
- Alexandra Tinsman, Regional Head of North America, was interviewed this week on the Crypto Clothesline Podcast, last week on Wild West Cryptos and next Monday will be on the Future Tech Podcast and Crypto Cafe.
Singapore
- NEM joined the launching of Institute of Blockchain Singapore (IBS) - Singapore’s first Blockchain School last 29th of July. Wilma (Singapore) conducted a NEM Nano Wallet demonstration, William (Singapore) talked on bridging people into the blockchain and Lance (Malaysia) was on a panel that discussed how to re-skill/re-tool to remain competitive in the job marketplace.
Thailand
- NEM Thailand, along with NEM Taiwan, NEM Vietnam, and Jeff McDonald attended the Hybrid Summit in Bangkok on July 28th-29th. Jeff gave a keynote talk and Laura (Thailand) and Kimble (Vietnam) were on panel discussions. Flora (Taiwan) brought along local media partner BlockTempo that conducted an interview with Laura about the current regulatory status in Thailand.
- After the Hybrid Summit, the NEm Thailand team visited the NEM Blockchain Centre in KL for collaboration and training.
Ukraine
- Ukraine NEM ambassador, Yevhen Kliukin, gave an interview on cryptocurrency exchanges future. (Link)
- The NEM Ukraine team continues to educate and engage with the Ukrainian community through social media campaigns and contests.
Vietnam
- NEM 101 & HIT foundation meetups completed on July 5th & 7th.
- NEM 101 & NEM Taiwan support and sharing Jul 3rd.
- Unofficial visit & presentation at World Blockchain Singapore & HybridSummit Thailand (Presenting & sharing).
- NEM Vietnam supported Blockchain Angels, a Women in Blockchain Organization on July 28th.
- Local Crypto Sites Article