NEW YORK CITY—New York City Economic Development Corp. President and CEO James Patchett says the city is looking to tap into the growing blockchain industry by establishing a resource center and launching a competition to foster the creation of new applications.

Patchett, who was the keynote speaker at the CoinDesk annual Consensus Conference at the New York Hilton Midtown today, said the two initial efforts are geared to building a foundation around the blockchain technology and position New York City as an “accessible center for the technology center's innovations.”

NYCEDC will launch the NYC Blockchain Resource Center, which will serve as a physical hub for the industry, building public awareness for blockchain technology through education, and connect entrepreneurs to business support, mentorship, advisory services, and a community of peers to help them launch and scale new ventures.

The center will also convene industry stakeholders, government, consumer advocates, and investors to begin a conversation around how New York City can create a regulatory environment that will support consumer safety and innovation, the NYCDEC states.

A blockchain is a public ledger that verifies, secures and stores data across a decentralized network of computers. The technology enables users to exchange data in a transparent and secure manner without relying on a centralized authority or middleman. The new technology has led to innovative solutions that help with tracking products, verifying identities, sharing property titles and legal documents, and media attribution, among many others.

“There's no city in the world that's better positioned to lead the way in blockchain,” said Patchett. “We're a global leader in finance, real estate, media, and tech—all industries seeing incredible innovation from this new technology. The city is putting a big focus into blockchain to find out how we can grow the industry and make sure it's creating great opportunities for New Yorkers.”

Blockchain is a growing sector in New York City with the potential to create thousands of good jobs, city officials note. Blockchain job postings increased by more than 800% between 2015 and 2017, according to analytics software company Burning Glass Technologies. In 2017, venture capital investments in New York City-based blockchain businesses grew to more than $199 million.

In terms of the planned blockchain competition, the NYCEDC released a request for proposals today for an organization to operate a public competition aimed at developing blockchain applications that help improve public sector services and processes. The competition will include a series of workshops to educate those in government about blockchain and identify meaningful use cases to solve challenges like security, efficiency, and turn-around-times for government services. There will also be free educational workshops to teach the public about the technology and source ideas, NYCDEC states. The agency expects the blockchain competition to launch in late 2018.