Igor Barinov is an award-winning blockchain expert known for pioneering developments in blockchain enabled notary. Igor is currently a project manager of POA Network, a foundation that launched POA Network, which is open, permissioned and public blockchain network based on Ethereum protocol with Proof-of-Authority (PoA) consensus reached by independent, pre-selected validators. Igor devotes all his time to innovating around blockchain scalability and making open networks more affordable for businesses. Prior to POA Network, the developer and serial entrepreneur co-founded Block Notary, a notary for the digital age built on blockchain technology. Data records produced through Block Notary products can be used as self-authenticating evidence based on State of Vermont’s blockchain application law. He also developed the first Know Your Customer (KYC) application recognized by the state. Concurrently, he built several closed PoA-based networks for various businesses. Insights from these experiences laid a foundation for POA Network project. Igor holds more than 16 blockchain and computer programming accolades and won blockchain hackathons at the Consensus, Texas Bitcoin Conference, BitHack, and Distributed Trade. He also holds 12 professional certifications in programming and data science as well as deep learning in the design of memory networks, implementation of generative models, design and training segmentation systems and neural translation systems from the University of San Francisco. Igor graduated from Russian State Technological University with a degree in material science, studied computer science at Lomonosov Moscow State University and attended Blockchain University.