Blockchain is a breakthrough technology and has set off a new wave of innovation and R&D in many industries.
Currently, most Fortune 500 companies—from retail, to finance, to auto manufacturing and aviation—are actively exploring blockchain technology, hoping to gain desirable benefits in business operations and security.
In today's article, we will explore the following questions together:
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What is the current state of blockchain R&D and adoption in the industry?
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Which companies are leading the way in R&D and investment in blockchain technology? What use cases are these businesses exploring?
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When considering and implementing blockchain technology, what challenges and decisions are enterprises facing worth paying attention to?
Blockchain in the current industry
In 2017, a wave of blockchain R&D was launched, including several high-profile proof-of-concept (PoC) and cross-industry pilot projects. A proof-of-concept is a class of early software implementations or prototypes designed to test the feasibility and practical potential of related technologies.
The accelerated pace of R&D investment and release further promotes the continuous expansion of the blockchain industry. Although from the perspective of projects in 2015 or earlier, the financial industry has long dominated the research and development and investment of blockchain technology, but since 2017, retail, shipping, telecommunications, aviation, automobiles and other industries have attracted attention is also rising rapidly.
Proofs of concept are still the dominant form of corporate R&D activities. British early-stage venture capital firm Oulier Ventures has strategized a corporate research tracker project involving some 285 companies' blockchain R&D activities. In addition to 140 companies including ABN Amro and Wells Fargo, the project lists about 15 companies that have applied for patents related to blockchain technology, including Amazon, Boeing, IBM and Western Union.
各企业也在战略投资与收购方面表现出对区块链技术的极大兴趣。2016 年到 2017 年之间，爱彼迎、戴姆勒、Rakuten 以及其它多家公司都曾经着手收购区块链相关初创企业。而捷豹路虎、JetBlue、Verizon 以及其它几家企业的投资部门则对区块链进行了战略性投资。
重要的是，这些企业还没有将区块链技术投入大规模生产及流程当中，用以实际支持重大商业活动。大多数区块链项目及去中心化应用（简称 DApp）都处于类似的早期开发阶段，虽然拥有大量研究、工作与投资支持，但却很少能够拿出在商业层面具备可行性的生产就绪型解决方案。此外，目前的底层技术尚不够成熟也成为妨碍其实施的一大难题。
金融服务行业在这个层面似乎最接近生产就绪阶段，其中包括澳大利亚证券交易所与先锋集团等已经开始推进相关实例，宣布有意在试点研究成功之后在今年年内正式实施区块链技术。
全球各地的企业都在思考，区块链技术是否能被用于实现其构想中的新功能。就潜力来看，区块链似乎能够帮助其降低成本并改进某些业务流程、提高产品与客户数据的追踪与安全性、改善产品安全水平并减少欺诈与仿冒可能性。
随着传感器与网络、人工智能以及工业基础设施的发展，区块链技术可能成为推动企业进入“工业 4.0”全面连接与机器互操作、信息透明度以及联网供应链等的实现范例。