How Is Blockchain Technology Transforming Different Industries?

“Blockchain has the potential to leapfrog technology advancements in emerging markets, in both the public and private sectors. CIOs must plan and adopt blockchain wherever it has the potential to support business, economic and social objectives.”

-Gartner

As the world is being disrupted by the technological innovation, people are rapidly embracing the Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets in their day-to-day lives. However, data safety becomes the prime concern for everyone. In such cases ‘Blockchain Technology’ offers a convenient and virtual solution for connected devices.

The authors of Blockchain Revolution (2016) Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott said, “the blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

This emerging technology geared up soon after the Bitcoin and Ethereum raised their token value in the recent past. People are more fascinated and are more engaged in earning digital money, at the same time business leaders are occupied in using this technology to drive real value for their business. However, it’s going to be a huge challenge for an enterprise to lead business expectations for blockchain in this evolving marketplace.

“By 2020, new businesses and business models will emerge based on smart contracts and blockchain efficiencies.”

-Gartner

Enterprises have recognized the potential of the blockchain technology and how it can benefit their business in the future. Gartner has identified the benefits and cost of blockchain in the business.

-Gartner

How ‘Blockchain Technology’ secures your data?

It revises the conventional data distribution and storage methods. It generates multiple chained blocks of information and each block maintains cryptographically approved data which is impossible for an individual to break.

Each transaction is exclusive of the other. The database seals the file for editing but the multiple editing is not permitted. So, every time you write on a blockchain database it’s reviewed as a block. Seeing that all transactions are chained, all the transactions are unshakeable, which means any person can access the information, but they can’t change it.

It is not necessary to store your exact personal data into the network. It will automatically modify all the data, like your name, mobile number, email IDs and your other sensitive data into a numeric value of a set extent. Now the set of numeric value will uniquely identify the data, however, the user basically remains unnamed within the chain.

Let’s see how different industries are extracting benefits from the blockchain technology.

The technology has transformed the whole financial industry process, however, blockchain can be used in other companies in real time.

Retail

Though the technology will take some time to reshape the retail industry, retailers have already identified the power of blockchain and the impact it will have on this industry in the coming year.

Blockchain technology replaces the middleman requirement or any related fees and connects retailers and customers. Here the major concern of retailers is how to gain the trust of the audiences. A large amount of benefits can be acquired from this technology such as smart contract systems. These contract systems can help them earn trust and lower operational costs. It offers security of exchanges, and inbuilt relationship management systems. By integrating blockchain in their retail processes, retailers can deliver undeniable evidence of originality and excellence.

Real Estate

Real estate is also using blockchain as a tool to track the properties, verify ownership, ensure valid documents, and transferring property deeds. It has accelerated the deal process by minimizing the paperwork. Formerly, the real estate transactions used to take place in the presence of the buyer and the seller. Blockchain has modified the whole process by introducing smart contracts that enable real estate agencies to generate a  unique number that can be used as cryptocurrencies.

Cook County Recorder, County government office in Chicago, Illinois stated, “as soon as the counter received the data, it will be promptly scanned and transform into a digital report. The original documents are immediately sent back to the customer with a physical label placed on it indicating the time and date of receipt and its unique document number.”

Entertainment

The entertainment industry is also in the race to squeeze the maximum benefits from blockchain. The most engaging feature like smart contracts can be used to make content sharing fairer for creators, whereby the revenue on purchases of creative work can be automatically circulated according to pre-agreed licensing agreements.

Susan Wang of Goulston & Storrs explained Inside Counsel why blockchain in the entertainment industry needs our attention, she said, “most people probably first heard of blockchain as the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, a digital token payment system that in some ways is akin to cash. So, since every transaction is apparent on the blockchain and rules can be embedded for how the content is used or shared, the use of IP became trackable and controlled. As we experiment more with blockchain technology, we will gain a better understanding of its usefulness and limits.”

Healthcare

Healthcare industry has got the answer to interoperability and shield that can protect their confidential data. Blockchain technology secures the medical data, which can be accessed by only authorized professionals or the patient themselves. This has enhanced the data security system and offered accuracy and speed of diagnosis.

According to Forbes, “by 2020, an estimated 20-30 billion healthcare IoT connected devices will be used globally. Blockchain-enabled solutions have the potential to bridge the gaps of device data interoperability while ensuring security, privacy, and reliability around the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) use cases.

Stock Trading

Stock trading operations are not so easy to manage. It takes a lot of time, cost, and the process is risky too. Blockchain technology has the potential to streamline all these processes and can offer automated and most secure solutions for buying, selling, and trading stocks.

The technology has revolutionized the stock market by pacing the complex transaction processes while reducing the risk involved in the trading with absolute transparency and efficiency.

Winding Up

All these new technologies have left us to think about our future. What’s next? Will these emerging technologies such as AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, etc., continue to maintain the balance and add more value to this digital world in the coming year?