Developer showcase series: Zilya Yagafarova, Soramitsu

Give a bit of background on what you’re working on, and let us know what was it that made you want to get into technology? How did you get involved in blockchain? In Hyperledger?

I am a project manager for Soramitsu and I work with a team of highly skilled developers writing code for different platforms and also QA and DevOps specialists.

I have been interested in IT since I was a child and, by the age of 14, had already decided to commit myself to studying computer technologies. After graduating from university, I worked as a technical support engineer, an engineer of information systems’ implementation, and a business and system analyst. Now, I am a project manager.

The thing about IT is that you have to constantly learn new skills and work on self-development. Technology is advancing constantly, so you should become a better version of yourself everyday.

A few years ago, blockchain technology appeared on the market–it was new and seemed promising. My friends had already worked on Hyperledger projects and inspired me to join them.

What project in Hyperledger are you working on? Any new developments to share? Can you sum up your experience with Hyperledger?

I am a project manager of Project Bakong, a payment system that is developed in collaboration with the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) using Hyperledger Iroha blockchain. We have finished with the implementation of the core system and will to launch a pilot with dozens of Cambodian banks, which is very exciting. Some of our technology is also being used in a decentralized autonomous economic system called Sora and in a decentralized digital asset custodian and settlement service called D3 Ledger. Collaborating with other projects is intellectually stimulating and enjoyable.

We decided to use Hyperledger Iroha because it is created for financial institutions to build highly performant systems that can scale to large numbers of concurrent users (in our case it is the population of a whole country!) and it proved itself capable of performing the task, in my experience.

What’s the one issue or problem you hope blockchain can solve?

The main target of the project I am working on is to help expand access to financial services for Cambodian people by providing instant payments through a mobile application and robust, modernized infrastructure.

Blockchain is a new and very promising technology, especially when it comes to finance – transactions in Hyperledger Iroha have settlement finality and the data are impossible to corrupt.

What is the best piece of developer advice you’ve ever received?

Design first–analyse the task from every angle and only then write the code that you fully comprehend; do not rely on random chance because it will not work.

What advice would you give for other women who want to build their careers in development? In blockchain?

Believe in yourself and in your capabilities. Then just work hard.

What technology could you not live without?

That must be maps and translation software. I travel a lot because our company is as decentralized as its products, and it would be impossible to discover the world as I do now without a way to communicate and navigate in it.

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