Welcome to our Community Spotlight series, which highlights the work of those taking on leadership roles in our special interest and working groups. Meet Bobbi Muscara, chair of the Learning Materials Development Working Group and founder of Ledger Academy.
Tell us about yourself. Describe your current role, your current business and background.
My name is Barbara (Bobbi) Muscara. I have spent most of my professional career in technology education. I started my career at Healthcast, as the Director of Education. I designed the educational documentation to support software that enabled medical records to be viewed over the internet. I then went back to school to receive my master’s in Business Education. Since then, I have been training enterprises and individuals how to utilize new software packages. In 2016, I opened Ledger Academy, a Blockchain training company in Princeton, New Jersey, that hosts the local Hyperledger Blockchain meetup group. I currently also chair the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Learning Materials Development Working Group where we are currently working with other Hyperledger community groups to create standards for Hyperledger documentation. I recently edited the Hyperledger For Business EDx course that went live July 17th and is expected to have over 100,000 students. I also serve as a community volunteer on the Board of Trustees as chairperson of a local addiction recovery organization that provides support for individuals in recovery.
Discuss your involvement in the Hyperledger Learning Materials Development Working Group (LMDWG).
As chairperson of the working group, my duties are to set and post the agenda and to moderate, record and post notes for the bi-weekly calls. As a group member, I have the responsibility of maintaining the group’s wiki page, where we are working to develop standard templates to assist the community in the development of learning materials. Additionally, I designed a program for Hyperledger meetup organizations to model. The program directs groups to create a Social Impact Summer Blockchain project that has a positive benefit on the local community. To see an example, please visit www.BCPrinceton.com. The Learning Material Development Working Group is also currently developing a community library for all documentation created by projects, working groups and special interest groups.
Where do you hope to see Hyperledger and/or blockchain in five years?
After working with the special interest groups within the Hyperledger community, it is apparent that every sector and industry is devoting more time and energy into blockchain and is beginning to truly understand the unrealized benefit that the technology holds. From the big banks involved in trade finance solutions to the social impact projects are working on to aid the less fortunate, I believe blockchain will be part of every enterprises’ structure in the near future.
What do you see as the biggest barrier to widespread blockchain adoption?
As with all new technology, the education barrier is the most formidable roadblock. People fear what they do not understand, and few people have a solid grasp of the intricacies of this innovation. Blockchain is a complicated technology that offers simple solutions once realized. As this “preliminary” technology grows, I believe so will acceptance and understanding of its potential benefits.
What are the biggest opportunities ahead for blockchain developers?
I think that, as understanding of the technology grows, smaller projects will begin to arise, which will require qualified developers. The need for coders, architects and developer, as well as the opportunity for training programs, will increase.
What is the LMDWG working on currently? Any new developments to share?
The LMDWG is currently working on a survey for project maintainers, working groups and special interest groups so that we may better understand the learning material needs in the community. The survey will also help us collect the vast amount of work these groups have completed and create a documentation library complete with a reusable glossary.
What’s the most important milestone for the LMDWG to reach by the end of 2019?
The LMDWG just completed the edits on the new EdX course Hyperledger Blockchain for Business, which is a business overview of the technologies. The next course that is coming is the technical guide for each of the projects. We will be developing this course with EdX. A new course for Identity is in development that will cover Indy, Aries and Ursa.
Why should someone participate in the group? Why is it important for Hyperledger to encourage collaboration around adopting blockchain technologies in this industry?
The LMDWG is dedicated to educating the community. The templates we build and the standards we recommend for documentation will shape how the Hyperledger community learns from its members.
What are a few ways people can participate in and contribute to the LMDWG?
The best way to connect us is through the chat channel or to join our bi-weekly call. We have a very active wiki page that holds the resource library (a local place for community created documentation). We need support in developing templates and standards for documentation.
How can people get involved in the LMDWG?
We strongly encourage all community members to get involved in developing documentation for this new technology.
All information about joining our group can be found here.
If you need to learn how to get involved, check out our New Member page for instructions on how to become an active member.
