Los l\u00edderes de Tecnolog\u00eda de la Informaci\u00f3n pueden beneficiarse al aprender lo que significa blockchain para sus organizaciones y explicar los beneficios y desventajas.<\/p>\n
Some are calling blockchain the next Internet, saying that it holds the promise to disrupt (and hopefully improve) our lives in ways we can\u2019t even imagine. While there\u2019s a healthy dose of hype fueling that statement, there\u2019s also enough potential to merit giving blockchain a closer look.<\/p>\n
Blockchain is digital ledger technology developed in 2008 that underpins Bitcoin, although its uses go far beyond cryptocurrency. The name describes how this database of transactions works. Each cell is a timestamped \u201cblock\u201d that connects to the cell before it, creating a chain of blocks that can\u2019t be edited or deleted. A blockchain can be public or private and does not store any type of data. Instead it certifies the existence of a specific piece of information \u2013 a health record, a vote, a loan agreement, or a digital identity, for example. The technology is revolutionary because it allows, for the first time, a digital asset to be securely transferred from one party to another in near real time, without the need for a third-party intermediary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technology provides a way of recording transactions or any digital interaction in a way that is secure, transparent, highly resistant to outages, auditable, and efficient,\u201d said David Schatsky, Managing Director at Deloitte U.S., in a recent\u00a0article.<\/p>\n
In a race to bring blockchain to capital markets, financial services and technology firms around the globe invested more than $1 billion in the disruptive technology in\u00a02016. Such interest suggests that blockchain is not to be ignored or deferred. Now is the time for IT and business leaders to gain an understanding of blockchain so they can begin to determine if and how it can improve their business models and offer a competitive edge going forward. Let\u2019s look at some blockchain use cases that illustrate its usefulness in certain industries:<\/p>\n
Healthcare<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 According to Deloitte, this industry is pursuing blockchain more aggressively than others, largely due to its secure information-sharing capabilities. Because blocks cannot be modified or deleted, blockchain promises to increase the integrity of and control over healthcare information in general. As an example, via \u201csmart contracts\u201d a patient would have the power to authorize or deny a third-party access to her personal information. Blockchain could also provide the automation needed to deny or pay a healthcare claim without requiring human intervention. And for clinical trials, blockchain would be able to provide anonymity by creating data that researchers could access without fear of identities being revealed.<\/p>\n Real Estate<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Because any authorized user can access and add information to a blockchain, it cuts out much of the back-and-forth associated with real estate transactions and gives buyers, sellers, and agents\u00a0more control. Transactions are more secure, because they\u2019re encrypted and blocks can\u2019t be edited. Automation reduces the need for manual processing, and the transparency afforded by access would mean less waiting time and fewer errors.<\/p>\n Financial Services<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Cyberattacks, of course, are a top concern for this industry. Building new banking systems on blockchain technology would limit cyberthreats significantly, according to proponents, since these systems wouldn\u2019t have a single point of failure that can give hackers access to all the systems connected to the compromised one.\u00a0Blockchain could also speed up and streamline cross-border payments \u2013 while cutting out many of the middlemen — and provide greater trade accuracy and shorter settlement processes for capital markets. One example: Nasdaq last year announced\u00a0Nasdaq Linq, a payment-solution platform that is based on blockchain.<\/p>\n Media and Entertainment<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The security and transparency that blockchain offers could give this industry significant benefits. Royalty payments could be streamlined by a ledger of music assets and their rights holders, with smart contracts automating royalty payments whenever a creative work is consumed. For example, Sony Music Entertainment, YouTube, Netflix, and a number of other organizations announced the\u00a0Open Music Initiative\u00a0that\u2019s considering using blockchain for royalty payments. What\u2019s more, creative projects could be easily crowdfunded by a blockchain network, expensive intermediaries could be removed from digital advertising that\u2019s heavily used by this industry, and by making legal digital distribution easier blockchain can help reduce piracy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Transportation<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 For transportation companies, blockchain promises to make freight tracking more timely and efficient by acting as a real-time repository for location updates, instead of relying on slower, less secure methods such as telephones or fax machines. And thanks to data validation, these companies\u2019 customers could be confident in the authenticity of the location information. Carrier onboarding would be more efficient with blockchain, as validating information such as driver records and insurance coverage could be done by the blockchain network, instead of requiring dedicated employees.<\/p>\n “Blockchain technology has significant potential to revolutionize the way business is conducted online by enabling consensus and trust in a distributed way without having to rely on a trusted third-party entity,\u201d summed up Roberto Tamassia, executive director of the Brown University Executive Master in Cybersecurity, in a\u00a0podcast\u00a0last summer.<\/p>\n As with any disruptive technology, IT and business leaders can benefit from learning what blockchain means to their organizations and explaining the benefits, and drawbacks, such as scalability in this case, to their key stakeholders. There are dangers in becoming an early adopter as well as a laggard \u2013arm yourself with information, cut through the hype, and determine if and when adopting blockchain would give your organization an edge.<\/p>\n