[Interview] Empowering Filipinos: OpenGuild’s Push for Polkadot Adoption

The big initiative: Patricia Arro, Lead Contributor at OpenGuild, discussed their efforts to introduce the Polkadot blockchain to more Filipinos.

What’s the significance: OpenGuild aims to expand Polkadot’s presence in Southeast Asia by providing support and opportunities for local developers.

“We want to give a space or a stage for the Southeast Asian market in the Polkadot ecosystem because there are a lot of builders in Southeast Asia, but it’s not being highlighted.”

Patricia Arro, Lead Contributor, OpenGuild

What is OpenGuild?

Patricia Arro introduced OpenGuild as an open, community-driven group of web3 builders focused on elevating Polkadot in Southeast Asia. She explained that OpenGuild is taking responsibility for all initiatives of Polkadot in Southeast Asia.

• Her current role at OpenGuild primarily involves community management.
• She also serves as the community lead for Polkadot in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on Southeast Asia.

What does OpenGuild do?

OpenGuild aims to assist developers of all levels, providing mentorship and resources for building on Polkadot, Arro said.

• The community organizes monthly hackathons, including opportunities for Filipinos to participate, offering a gateway to Polkadot development.
• Through partnerships, developers can explore building on Polkadot and access existing projects within the ecosystem.

How to Connect with OpenGuild?

To get in touch with OpenGuild, individuals can visit their website or reach out directly to Arro. OpenGuild also has a Discord server and a Facebook group dedicated to the Filipino community, providing platforms for discussions and support.

“Those are very exclusive for (the) Filipino community. So, if they have questions they can join there and I will personally answer and manage the community there.”

Patricia Arro, Lead Contributor, OpenGuild

Thank you @XodeNet! Lovely to meet your team last week and proudly present to all the workshop attendees what we do in @openguildwtf for @Polkadot. As well as share what's in store for you if you build on #Polkadot. 😉

I only stayed less than 24 hours in Cebu. What a shame. Next… https://t.co/W8OBL4o6uC pic.twitter.com/x599tlpOnL

— PolkaPAT (@polka_pat) June 4, 2024

Why choose Polkadot?

Arro highlighted several advantages of using Polkadot for the Filipino web3 community. Polkadot offers built-in, advanced security features, eliminating the need for developers to manage security independently.

“For me personally, it’s easy to build on Polkadot, it easier said than done, but in its relay chain, it has its security feature that when you build in Polkadot, you automatically share the security feature of that relay chain or of that blockchain. So, you don’t have to think about it.”

Patricia Arro, Lead Contributor, OpenGuild

She noted that it also provides interoperability, allowing blockchains built on Polkadot to share data and assets seamlessly within the ecosystem. Additionally, Polkadot supports automatic upgrades, which streamline the process and avoid the need for manual forking, making it more efficient than other blockchains.

XODE Parachain

• Launch: XODE launched its Mainnet in February, enabling data and token transactions, and smart contract usage. “Xode [is] one of the parachains of Polkadot. [] They’re the only parachain based in the Philippines,” Arro highlighted.
• Regional Impact: “It’s actually a big deal for me and my team in Southeast Asia since normally parachains are based in the U.S., in Europe, or in China, but not really in Southeast Asia,” she added.

Primer on Parachain: Individual blockchains that run in parallel on the Polkadot network, enabling higher throughput and efficiency.

• They share security provided by Polkadot’s central relay chain and can communicate and exchange data seamlessly with other parachains.

Arro also expressed that, being based in the Philippines, they aim to help promote XODE and include them in all the initiatives of OpenGuild across Southeast Asia.

Awesome work from the Xode team ✨ – the first Philippine blockchain using the Polkadot SDK to bring @Polkadot even brighter to the Filipino web3 community.

OpenGuild is thrilled to be part of this event and find Pinoy builders to become future Polkadot agents.

Explore more👉… pic.twitter.com/tVQfkESa8e

— OpenGuild (@openguildwtf) April 12, 2024

Zoom out: A number of Polkadot initiatives have been previously published on BitPinas:

• Enthusiasts gathered at Polkadot Connect PH 2024 organized by Bitskwela.
• Filipinos were able to witness Polkadot Decoded 2023 through an exclusive watch party in BGC, Philippines, organized by Ivax Asuelo and members of the local Polkadot community at that time.

This article is published on BitPinas: [Interview] Empowering Filipinos: OpenGuild’s Push for Polkadot Adoption

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