Without any sign of slowing down, technology is reshaping several industries on the constant basis. The blockchain is the new block in town that has taken everyone by storm. I will start, as I always do, with a brief explanation of how blockchain works so we’re all on the same page.
The blockchain is a virtual, public ledger that records everything in a secure and transparent manner. Unlike banks that facilitate transactions with traditional currencies, the technology allows free transfer of cryptocurreny through a decentralized environment. The entire set of data is held in an interlinked network of computers, owned and run by none other than the users themselves. Many of you believe that the blockchain technology is a lot more promising than cryptocurrency. Of course, the Bitcoin bubble may eventually pop– however unlikely that may be as it is backed by nothing but sentiment. The blockchain technology more than big enough to sustain its relevance for generations to come offers an array of benefits that have been proven useful to several businesses in different industries.
• Supply chain management– For supply chain management, the technology offers benefits of traceability and cost-effectiveness. In simple words, a blockchain can be used to track the movement of goods, their origin, quantity and so forth. Right from simplifying processes such as ownership transfer to production process assurance, and payments, it brings a new level of transparency to B2B ecosystems.
• Quality Assurance– In case, if any irregularity is detected somewhere along the supply chain, a blockchain system can easily lead to the point of its origin. As a result, it becomes easier for businesses to carry out investigations and execute the necessary actions.
A tried & tested case for this is in the food sector, where tracking the origination, batch information and other important details are crucial for quality assurance and safety.
• Accounting– Do you think that by recording transactions through blockchain can virtually eliminate human errors and protect data from possible tampering? Yes, definitely! All you need to keep in mind is that records must be verified each and every single time they are passed on from one blockchain node to the next one.
• Smart contacts– Many times I have seen that time-consuming contractual transactions can bottleneck the growth of a business, especially the ones that process a torrent of communications on a consistent basis. With the emergence of smart contacts, agreements can be automatically validated, signed and enforced through a blockchain construct. Which means there is no need for mediators and therefore saves the company time and money.
• Energy supply– There are mainly two types of businesses- one which shrugs off monthly utility bills and others who scratch their heads, wondering where their energy expenditures are coming from. It may quite interest you to know that in certain parts of the globe, commercial establishments and households have started taking advantage of blockchain-enabled “transactive grids” for sustainable energy solutions that accurately track usage.
Blockchain Advancements to take into consideration
#1 Ed Tech
As higher education becomes more and more crucial across the globe, advanced training programs are highly being pursued by professionals, and perhaps many of them have started to leverage the flexibility of e-learning. Pursuing education online provides more tailored programs, which can be accessed anytime anywhere.
As e-learning requires a digital exchange of goods- a credit card payment in return for an instructional video download. Such companies have the technological infrastructure to support exchanges and provide educational content while taking a cut of revenue. Blockchain enables reliable direct provider-to-consumer transactions where no third party is required to process or verify a transaction between e-learning provider and a remote learner.
#2 MedTech
Virtually everyone in the modern society doesn’t have just one healthcare provider over his or her lifetime. For example, you may prefer seeing a pediatrician as a child before transitioning to an adult-focused primary care doctor. It is very important for the providers to stay on the same page, with access to medical flies from birth to present.
Electronic medical records keep the same information as their paper counterparts and in theory, can easily transfer between offices. Blockchain as a technology can provide a universally accessible and shareable format for storing medical records. So one does not need to struggle to open or interpret files from another provider.