Recently, a global wake-up call is powering the industry to address growing public concerns about data privacy and transparency. While we may still be in the throes of a tech hype cycle, I think blockchain has the potential to answer this call well and transform every aspect of society. The potential of blockchain is obviously much greater than that of cryptocurrencies. Blockchain may accelerate innovation in the next few years and become the next fundamental technology platform to drive global industries.
Distributed ledger technology will also have a greater impact on businesses. As the global blockchain market expands, it is currently expected to reach 20 billion in 2024. But first, blockchain will need to overcome trust, security and utility challenges to realize its massive enterprise potential. The biggest hurdle for global businesses will be adjusting the basic requirements of blockchain business models, a huge shift.
At its core, blockchain is designed to allow users to remove the role of intermediary from the exchange of information and put business in the middle of the transaction, rather than governments or institutions. It will be possible for ordinary people to create personal identities in the blockchain, linking all aspects of travel history, medical records, finances, and commerce, which will lead to massive changes in the world, not to mention the business world.
For businesses, blockchain technology can control the flow of critical and sensitive data to the people building the business. As Bridget van Kralingen, Senior Vice President, IBM Global Industry Platforms, pointed out, the value proposition of blockchain, the essential elements of openness, transparency and data access, will help bring the technology to practical use cases, and Make sure that different groups of people work together and benefit from it.
However, the business world increasingly needs to identify blockchain means for specific industries and provide real-world use cases with global relevance. Understanding the suitability of blockchain for specific industries and applications is a key challenge for organizations exploring the feasibility and impact of the technology. This is especially true for small and mid-sized companies looking to justify significant investments in blockchain technology, development and the talent needed to realize scalable ambitions.
Blockchain puts data owners in the middle of transactions and data transfers, which presents a potential use case for businesses of all sizes looking to connect their various business elements through an accessible central platform. It also promises to make management and back-end business operations (from accounting to HR to payroll) more efficient, allowing executives and personnel to focus on other core parts of the business. The administrative relief provided by blockchain and related technologies can be the difference between the success and failure of young companies that need to invest every penny in people and products to outperform the competition.
At the same time, global companies such as IBM, GE, AIG, Maersk, BNSF and others are working to bring blockchain into the mainstream, from insurance to logistics, to business operations, and from legal to B2B sales. In fact, IBM revealed that it has at least 400 blockchain clients, spanning international industries and including only well-known brands from Walmart to Visa. These large enterprises will need to continue to partner with smaller companies such as AgriLedger, with specific technical expertise and forward-looking public sectors around the world, to fully realize the technology's value proposition to the enterprise.
Understanding the utility of blockchain will transform the industry
For many businesses, blockchain remains a mystery. Therefore, the first step that every organization exploring blockchain should take is to understand what is within its scope of work and identify what specific problems can be solved for its company. To incorporate blockchain, businesses need to fundamentally reimagine their business models. For shipping giant Maersk, getting caught up in blockchain means partnering with IBM and Agility to deploy a working platform that seamlessly connects the complex elements of global supply chains. Unilever is looking to use blockchain to monitor and resolve discrepancies with global advertising partners. I think this tectonic shift in corporate philosophy is similar to Netflix launching a whole new model of bringing movies into people's homes.
Businesses approaching the procurement stage will need to consider which blockchains are right for them, public or private, and which permissions are required for specific operations. Regardless, the inherent ability of blockchain to encapsulate, distribute, and protect critical data will be evident. The technology's selling point could soon be in the spotlight for industry, especially as businesses operating in the EU struggle to navigate the GDPR and global businesses increasingly rely on data.
As technological and institutional changes increase, the gradual adoption of blockchain-powered platforms, applications and systems will create new foundations for business and social change. I see a future in the enterprise where legal contracts are embedded in digital code and stored in a transparent shared database, where these codes are distributed to all trusted parties involved in a transaction and protected against deletion, tampering and modification.
If blockchain takes off across the business world, data integrity and security will be supported, with traceable footprints that can be easily identified, verified, secured, stored and shared. Ultimately, while different companies and industries will adopt blockchain for their own purposes, its greatest contribution will be to bring the inevitable transparency and accountability into corporate transactions and institutionalize it that other platforms cannot do to this point.