Blockchain is perhaps one of the most unconventional new age Technologies out there. The sooner it is brought out of the shadow of Bitcoin and its potentialities explored, the faster the enterprises will benefit from the multiple applications of the distributed ledger technology.
By Pooja Jain pooja@accentinfomedia.com
Bitcoin marks the introduction of Blockchain in the mainstream technology applications. A decade ago, when Satoshi Nakamoto released the whitepaper, ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’, that was the first time the world heard of Blockchain. Today Blockchain is well on its way to being recognized in its right, and not just as the Technology powering cryptocurrency.
According to a report by Statista, the worldwide spending on blockchain solutions is expected to grow from 1.5 billion in 2018 to an estimated 11.7 billion by 2022. And this includes all industries, from Finance to Agriculture and Logistics to Healthcare.
With the 5G becoming mainstream, Blockchain will play a critical role in managing the immense growth of digital partnerships for securing the transactions and billing information.”
Rohit Maheshwari, Head of Products and Strategy, Subex
Blockchain Real Time Use Cases
To paint a clearer picture, the applications of Blockchain are not just a theoretical piece to be implemented in far future. A lot of organizations and governments all over the world are enthusiastically turning to Blockchain based systems.
Walmart, for instance, has been working with IBM to implement Blockchain for Supply Chain Management. The digital ledger technology is being used to keep a track of shipments from the suppliers, so that all information related to the products can be accessed immediately when required, and by doing so reduce the risk of food spoilage or contamination.
Microsoft, in partnership with Accenture and Avanade, has been working on developing a Blockchain based database for Decentralized Identify Documentation. This is believed to help 1.1 billion people around the world to manage their personal data and ensure privacy and safety across the digital space, while simultaneously offering a solution to those without any legal forms of ID.
While this is happening internationally, India is doing its bit to be a part of the ongoing Blockchain Revolution.
In what is believed to be the world’s largest use case of Blockchain solution in the Telecom Space, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are deploying the Blockchain Technology to offer respite to the mobile phone users from unsolicited commercial communication, pesky calls and messages. Analysts believe that over a billion subscribers will be impacted by the TRAI regulation.
While Vodafone Idea is partnering with Tanla Solutions, Reliance Jio is seeking the expertise of Tech Mahindra to facilitate the transition. Bharti Airtel, on the other hand, has tied up with IBM.
Only when banks, insurers, supply chain, and energy companies begin to bring together these different initiatives across industries will we start to see the full power and potential of blockchain network creation at work.”
Faisal Husain, Co-founder and CEO, Synechron
Government’s Role in The Widescale Adoption of Blockchain
The fact that a lot of governments across the world are adopting the Blockchain Technology is strengthening the enterprise’s trust in the technology. The South Korean Government is exploring the potential of Blockchain to enhance the reliability of the online voting system. This will not just serve to prevent the falsification of votes but will also make the data more visibly accessible to the public and the candidates alike.
The Australian National Transport Insurance (NTI) is deploying Blockchain to track the movement of livestock as it moves to the consumers. This will allow them to improve the integrity of the Supply Chain of food in the country and ensure the safety of the food.
To leverage the Blockchain revolution, the government of Telangana is developing a conducive ecosystem for Blockchain in the state. With the aim to making Hyderabad one of the top 10 Blockchain cities in the world, the government is creating a physical area within the city, called ‘Blockchain District’ for the Blockchain Technology companies to research and innovate with industry collaboration.
The Telangana Blockchain Policy Draft released earlier this year, states that, “The Blockchain District will house all major blockchain technology companies, will have a huge incubator and a world-class facility for promoting research, innovation and industry collaboration. This one of its kind initiatives will aim to put all blockchain companies based out of Hyderabad at a strategically advantageous position globally.”
The perks of being in the Blockchain District for the start-ups and other organizations, not just constitute of an exposure to the Blockchain centric innovation in the market. In addition to that, they will also be offered financial aid, by means of grants and subsidies, as they explore the potentialities of the technology.
Excluding IT, Blockchain applications areas can be used in IoT, RPO and Strategic HR, Real Estate and Construction sector, Accounting, Voting, Energy supply, Peer-to-peer global payments, defence and even Quality Assurance mechanisms.”
Kalyan Bodetti, CTO and Cloud Solutions Architect, Amstar Technologies.
What Problems is Blockchain Solving?
The Blockchain is a peer-to-peer network of data stored in a decentralized manner. There is no regulatory body that oversees the information stored on the Blockchain, hence there is no requirement for verification from a third party. The authentication comes from the users of the particular chain in question that unanimously upload the new information and add it to their individual records.
The entire network gets a copy of the same transaction to add on to their network, which means that there can be no tampering of the information possible once a block has been added to the chain. Neither the time stamp or the details of the transaction can be edited or deleted, thereby making the records authentic and secure.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about blockchain is its seeming lack of cybersecurity. It is presumed that the decentralized nature of blockchain makes transactions vulnerable to breaches. However, the transaction data is stored as hashes on blockchain and converts it into a string of numbers. This one-way cryptography allows the data to remain
This not just enhances the transparency of the records, but also increases the reliability. The absence of a central regulatory body additionally contributes to the elimination of the middlemen, which results in faster operations and lower costs.
“Firms can also leverage Blockchain to empower customers and drive digital transformations by providing an exceptional experience to their end customers. This also fulfils the unaddressed needs which can be addresses via a combination of platforms, system Integration and professional services consulting,” says Kalyan Bodetti, CTO and Cloud Solutions Architect, Amstar Technologies.
Why Should CIOs Pay Attention to Blockchain?
The World Economic Forum has predicted that Blockchain could account for as much as 10% of global GDP by 2025. This will be a result of large-scale participation from the enterprises. Hence, it falls upon the CIOs to befriend Blockchain and implement it in the organization to the best of its advantage.
“A CIO from our expertise always looks for solutions which provide Rapid Deployment, Low Total Cost of Ownership and should come with instant scalability with no hurdles and should have the Best in class security. These may sound insignificant, but these are the major challenges that prove to be an obstacle to the CIO at work,” says Kalyan Bodetti, CTO and Cloud Solutions Architect, Amstar Technologies.
As a Distributed Ledger Technology, Blockchain offers a solution to the questions of Security, Transparency and Costs. It helps with middlemen intervention, data breaches, corruption, and tampering of financial ledgers.
“Enterprises are now adopting business models based on decentralized structures, and the CIO is expected to see the future and ensure the right technology is deployed in the business. A CIO is required to navigate through the ever-evolving technology landscape and become a technology evangelist that understands how to apply technology to solve business problems. He or she must be a storyteller as well as able to communicate how a new technology like blockchain will help solve shared network challenges such as data reconciliation and security, automation in areas such as payment transfers, traceability of transactions and auditability by removing the middleman,” says Faisal Husain, Co-founder and CEO, Synechron.
This makes it apparent that Blockchain as a technology is rapidly penetrating all verticals and hugely benefitting the organizations who adopt it. Presumably, it is only the Bitcoin aspect of Blockchain that the governments are apprehensive about. While the US, EU
Blockchain and Bitcoin in India
The Indian Government is apprehensive about Cryptocurrency. While cryptocurrency exchanges are (as of now) recognized as legal by the government of India, the currency, does not enjoy the status of the legal tender. But the Indian banks have reportedly been barred by the Reserve Bank of India from serving cryptocurrency firms and exchanges.
According to the draft entitled, ‘Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019’, anybody in India dealing in cryptocurrencies will be sent to jail for 10 years. This attempt to systematically prohibit the use to cryptocurrency in the country, comes as a huge setback to the multiple cryptocurrency trading platforms in India. There are also suggestions of introducing an official digital currency of India, the Digital Rupee. And eliminating the private cryptocurrency exchanges will not only regulate a national standard but also serve to eliminate the competition.
The next couple of years are crucial as they will mark which way the government sways when it comes to the state of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.
A Long Way to Go
Though Blockchain has
“It will take some more time for blockchain to really started addressing the CIO challenges, still there are bottlenecks that
Following in the footsteps of the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain is the just another new age technology set to revolutionize the way business is done.
