With more and more investment pouring into blockchain startups, the demand for talents in blockchain technology has also risen. Blockchain courses are becoming popular in Hong Kong and China.
What are the trends in blockchain courses?
Blockchain Courses in China: Blockchain courses are expensive, but not all are equal
As the interest and demand in blockchain technology grow, blockchain courses are also increasingly popular. A blockchain course can cost as high as US$10,000, but the quality of some of the course providers is in doubt.
All kinds of courses related to blockchain are popping up in China. While online courses provided by major internet platforms like Tencent and NetEase cost around ¥1,000 (around US$160), some vertical training providers can charge students from a few thousand to tens of thousands of yens.
Comparing to online courses, offline courses are more expensive, as they promise richer content and faster results. One blockchain training platform provides two training courses in April, a 1-week blockchain development bootcamp in Beijing for ¥20,000 (around US$3,150), and a 5-day Silicon Valley advanced study tour for US$10,000. Technical courses are even more expensive and often cost more than ¥20,000.
“It is quite easy to sell blockchain courses this year. The market is low right now, so people want to focus on technical development instead. Also, as there are more market providers now, there will be more and more students interested in learning blockchain technology. It will be a good year for blockchain training,” said Shi Ching-Wei.
However, it is worthy to note that the quality of these blockchain courses is unequal. It has been reported that a blockchain course boasted to train 80 teachers in 3 days, and the main speaker of the course had no professional background in blockchain or computer science.
Blockchain Courses in Hong Kong: There is something for everyone, but can it help with the talent shortage?
For beginners who are interested in learning about blockchain or investing in cryptocurrencies, it is not difficult to find a free or affordable workshop in Hong Kong. Many blockchain organizations and companies host introductory workshops to raise awareness of blockchain technology.
Hong Kong Blockchain Society is one of the organizations that actively promote blockchain technology and provides blockchain training. It organizes a series of events targeting people with different levels of interest. There is Blockchain 101 talk for beginners and the general public. There is also blockchain training tour in China and DappCamp Certification Curriculum (DC3) for students and professionals.
More and more offline blockchain courses are available in Hong Kong. Many are created by technology education centers to train their students into tech professionals, such as Accelerate and Systematic. These offline courses cost around US$300 – $500 for a total of 10 – 12 hours of training. One of the blockchain courses promises that students will be able to “develop and deploy your private blockchain in on web where you can visually see your chains.”
There are not as many online blockchain courses in Hong Kong. One of the most prominent online courses is the MOOC created by University of Hong Kong, Blockchain and FinTech: Basics, Applications and Limitations, as part of the university’s Fintech Professional Certificate Program. The program is priced at US$357.30 and is available on edX.
Although there are organizations advocating blockchain education, it is still unclear whether there is adequate public interest and talents to support the development of blockchain industry in Hong Kong.
Shortage of technology talent has been a great challenge in technology development in Hong Kong. Recent report has shown that 92% of Hong Kong CIOs find it challenging to source qualified IT professionals.
