Five key questions about Blockchain today
The Blockchain market has hatched. This is how Gartner collects it in its hype curve that already places this technology on the productivity plateau . In fact, it has gone from being the support that endorsed cryptocurrencies to being a star business line of large technology companies such as Microsoft, Amazon or IBM.
With a multitude of manufacturers and implanters, it is
estimated that this market stands at 3 billion dollars and it is expected that
this figure will multiply by more than 10 in the next 5 years. In a recent
webinar we have brought together four experts who from different perspectives
share five key questions about the current situation of Blockchain .
What is blockchain
and what is it for?
A blockchain is a reward system that makes it easy for
agreements to be honored. That is, it makes it possible to verify that the commitments
made by actors, which are in principle independent, are carried out. Therefore,
the main virtue, and the basis of the value it generates, is that it allows
verifying elements such as an identity, the execution of a process, the
conditions in which it has been carried out or the result obtained from a
process, from a transaction. or an event.
What differentiates a blockchain from other technologies?
The three key ingredients that define a blockchain are:
•Data : it is a technology based on the storage of
information.
•Independent actors : data can be read and written by
different completely independent and sometimes completely unknown actors.
•Lack of confidence : since the actors are completely
independent or unknown, there is no a priori reason to believe that they will
fulfill their commitments.
It is important to note that a blockchain is not just a
distributed database, the elements of lack of trust and verification capacity
become the differential keys of this technology.
How can we identify a use case?
By pulling the thread of verification, we can understand
that in all those processes and businesses in which an intermediary entity has
to participate , the potential for cost reduction and time savings due to its
automation is very great. The first experience was a currency, with the
cryptocurrency Bitcoin, replacing central banks and states as guarantors of the
value of a financial asset.
Another important area for the generation of value is in the
" coopetition " , when several competitors come together to develop a
common project, which benefits everyone, but which they have not developed
until now because it was very expensive to verify the effort that each one
contributed. and therefore the way to share future benefits. Along the same
lines, the Blockchain also opens the possibility of collaborating between
completely unknown companies since the Blockchain guarantees work standards and
the verification of compliance with the agreed conditions.
What are the benefits of incorporating a blockchain ?
The Blockchain is providing benefits in multiple fields:
• Cost
savings.
• Speed in
processes.
• Transparency.
• Traceability.
• Security.
These benefits imply an increase in trust between different
independent actors and thus allows new business opportunities to emerge in a
multitude of sectors , expanding the size of the markets.
What should we take into account when implementing a
blockchain?
The steps that we must consider when launching a project
that incorporates a blockchain are:
• Use case
and business case , differentiating if we want to improve a specific process or
open a new business model.
• Selection
of the most adapted option within the family of blockchain technologies .
• Prototyping
: adopt lean methodologies with a minimum viable product.
Blockchain technology can be one more element within the
automation and innovation projects of the company. They can be combined with
other elements of IOT, Artificial Intelligence or Big Data, in which the sum of
all of them will allow generating new business opportunities. In terms of
resources and efforts, the implementation of blockchain elements can vary
greatly depending on the complexity and quantity of processes and components
that are included in the business solution.
Blockchain is a technology that has matured to the point of
being successfully implemented in business processes, beyond mere pilots. The
existence of many occasions in which the lack of trust has limited the creation
of value leads to think that Blockchain, as a verification tool, will change
the way in which societies create value. Blockchain technology is increasing
the capacity for cooperation and emerging new business opportunities in an
increasingly connected world. If you want to know more details about the
current and future of blockchain, download the Digital Round Table - BlockchAIn
News .