It is not difficult to come across a blockchain incubator around a campus location or dense metropolitan area in Australia.

From Melbourne and Sydney to Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, there are innovators out there looking for ways to cash in and create a transactional data program that fundamentally changes how citizens engage with banking and securing information.

However, such is the scope of the challenge that lies ahead of these engineers and analysts that unsuccessful programs are far more common than the successful ones.

Here we will delve into the signs and features that constitute a quality environment where real gains are made.

Starting point: here to solve a problem

Analysts and experts in the industry who have studied many a blockchain incubator have walked away with one underlying principle and philosophy that has to hold true: the aim is to solve a problem in the market, not to bank on one technological tool. From artificial intelligence (AI) apparatus’s to cloud-based computing or an app for a smartphone device, hoping that a program can progress over years by sticking to one technological piece of equipment is too risky. So often a startup venture that kicks off in 2014 will have to stop, scrap the plan, repackage and repeat the process through another portal. Sponsors and affiliates will gravitate towards a concept that is geared around achieving business goals first and foremost.

Environment that balances high entry threshold without discriminatory tactics

It is a unique and delicate balancing act that a successful blockchain incubator will have to walk when it comes to their policy over entry into the initiative. Lower barriers makes for a more welcoming environment and a greater chance that an engineer could be the final piece of the puzzle. Yet that approach places the pilot at risk of a security breach or a lowering of standards. Entrants should be welcomed if they meet a strict form of criteria, both academically and an ability to work well in a team environment. On the same count, this should not discriminate based on age, gender, race, sexual orientation, financial means or other factors that can influence how a CEO, development officer or mentor selects the participants. Diversity can become an asset if utilised correctly.

A capacity to disprove myths and fallacies

It might sound like an odd comment to make that discovering failures and faults in a technology is one of the ways in which a blockchain incubator can become successful. The world of cryptocurrency is so fraught with case studies of close encounters and promising projects that collapsed, that the means of identifying issues and problems early in the piece can actually pave the way forward towards success. Pilot programs can be a prolonged and frustrating experience where the end result is drastically altered from the initial starting point, but for tangible progress to be made, the fallacies behind different elements will help to create a sharper and more foolproof end result.

A form of structure and targeted objectives

There is an important distinction to make between a blockchain incubator and an accelerator. The latter is designed under very strict guidelines where the program is more matured and targeted towards growth and investment before being put to market. Yet the former can learn a lot about how these accelerators can make tangible gains, as the most successful of these endeavours offer a timeline and list their objectives so all participants understand the terms of entry. Having an open door policy where ideas are allowed to float in and out can help the creative process, but the best ideas from blockchain incubators are well defined and delivered after following a coherent plan.