TBILISI, APRIL 27 2016,  (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian government and BitFury, a US company with a base in Tbilisi that develops technology used by the Bitcoin virtual currency, will jointly develop a land registry system which they hope will set new global standards.

The new model for the National Agency of Public Registry will reduce bureaucratic practices and costs for citizens, according to officials.

“By building a blockchain-based property registry, Georgia can show the world that we are a modern, transparent and corruption-free country that can lead the world in changing the way land titling is done,” Georgian media quoted Papuna Ugrekhelidze, the agency’s chairman, as saying.

Blockchain technology is a data- base system that Bitcoin has pioneered. It is considered the most efficient system to log data.

The Agency of Public Registry said the cost of a land registry transactions will drop to virtually zero.

Last September, BitFury said it would invest $100m in a new Technology Park in the Gldani district of Tbilisi. BitFury already operates a data centre in Gori, 70km west of Tbilisi.

TBILISI, APRIL 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia is attracting globally footloose tech start-ups because of its relatively low taxes, skilled workforce and low salaries.

One of these is Topishare, now headquartered in one of Tbilisi’s oldest districts.

The grapevines dangling above doorways, the narrow streets and 19th century architecture are all in stark contrast to Topishare’s eight- person tech team who spend their days working on building what they hope will be a cutting-edge social media network focused on giving users increased privacy and greater control over what they read.

Israelis Rotem and Hila Peled, daughter and mother, co-founded Topishare.

“We have worked from Costa Rica, to Panama and Bulgaria, but Georgia stood out to us,” Ms Peled said.

“It’s not perfect, but the relatively easy business registration, easy visas, and low developers’ salaries convinced us.”

And Topishare is just part of a trend of tech start-ups moving to the Georgian capital. The angel.co website, which monitors start-up activities, said 42 were now based in Tbilisi.

Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said that developing the country’s entrepreneurial base was key to helping Georgia through its current economic slump.

“This is a direct investment in the future of Georgia,” media quoted Mr Kvirikashvili as saying at the opening of the site.

Tech Park, which covers roughly the area of two football pitches, took one year to build and cost 5m lari ($2m).

The concept behind Tech Park Georgia is that well-worn idea of casual interaction where employees from different companies, back- grounds and disciplines can mingle easily in learning centres, company offices, shared spaces and recreational areas.

Mariam Lashkhi of the Georgian government’s Innovation and Technology Agency explained.

“We first had to build the community, so we held hackathons, to see who is out there and to bring people together. We were amazed with the projects the young people came up with. Several startups were created after the hackathons, which are now joining the Tech Park,” she said.

Boris Kiknadze has just moved his two companies, the charity crowd- funding platform WeHelp and the online advertising firm and Wifisher, to the Tech Park.

“I really like that it brings together a collective of people, programmers, developers, business managers,” he said.

“And it’s a really nice place to hang out, where you can create new things, and build a better future.”