Most of the people across different verticals now know what blockchain and cryptocurrency is and how this technology is going to transform the future businesses. The year 2018 brought a wave of research and development in this space with several pilot projects across multiple industries. We have been seeing R&D in the financial industry from 2015 but since 2017 we noticed some initiatives in retail, defense, automobile and healthcare industries.
While many of us have heard the financial use cases of blockchain due to the significant interest of banks, VC’s and government, but as per the experts, this powerful technology has wide range of uses in the enterprise too. Blockchain could help them reduce costs, enhance customer data tracking and security, reduce fraud and counterfeiting and increase product safety.
For example, Gartner has said that in the “Long term, Blockchain will lead to a reformation of whole industries”. In a separate report, the firm said that blockchain technologies “should not be ignored. They offer the potential for substantial change in technology development and delivery as well as in how the economy, business and society operates.” Blockchain is blossoming beyond Bitcoin and a number of companies are currently testing out potential applications in consumer and enterprise applications.
Below are the Top 5 Enterprise Use Cases of blockchain that has the potential to change the end-to-end business processes:
Food & Beverage
Consumers have become more interested in where their food originates. Retailers are looking for ways they can make sure that the ingredients they are getting are exactly what they expect. In an increasingly unpredictable market, blockchain adds an extra level of security for the food industry. How? Let’s explain it here. When blockchain based software is combined with the tracking technology, it can easily trace the entire journey of the ingredients from the place they were produced to the final consumer point of purchase. Every step of the product between farm and cash register is documented on the blockchain. The record shows its origination, processing time, the transportation journey, at what temperature it was stored, the expiration details, and the store that bought it. The unalterable data is documented in blockchain, hence giving consumers the confidence on what they are consuming. This way, if anybody attempts to tamper with a food item in the supply chain process, it can be easily identified and prevented before the food reached the retailer.
Digital Content Management
Over 5-billion people are texting, tweeting and blogging in today’s hyperconnected world, which has created over 2.7-zettabytes of digital content. Internet makes it too easy for consumers to pirate content without paying the artists who created that content. Different countries have different legislation, which does not always pay great attention to copyright protection and does not always acknowledge blockchain-registered copyright as evidence. While blockchain’s potential for copyright protection in legislation is still quite vague, blockchain-based copyright protection platforms are definitely a great tool for tracking piracy on the web, which would prove beneficial for the authors of electronic content, such as e-books, music, photography, etc. Few start-ups are already working on blockchain-based platforms to help manage attribution, copyrights, and payment for digital media consumption. This secure transparent system makes it easier to prove authorship of content and track who has accessed content.
Healthcare
Healthcare is a pillar of any national economy. In America, it contributes to a fifth of the national economy, which amounts to roughly $3.8 trillion. Unfortunately, due to outdated infrastructure and legacy data management systems, it is difficult to modernize this industry. It is under immense pressure to provide ‘on-demand services to the patients. The patient today wishes to receive their medical reports online sitting at home, rather than visiting a hospital and here’s where blockchain, a technology behind Bitcoin is creeping into this space to simplify the process. Blockchain makes it possible to securely share medical records, protect sensitive data from cyberattacks, and give patients more control over their personal information. It also stores Electronic Health Records of patients received in his or her lifetime which is encrypted for protection and the patient would be able to grant providers access to the data as desired. Also, blockchain can be used to share data across health care organizations that will improve accuracy and streamline administrative activities.
Voting
According to a report by the Pew Research Center only 55.7% of the voting-age population cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election. That ranks us 28th out of 35 highly developed countries in terms of voter turnout — behind countries including South Korea and Australia. We all know that a secure online voting can improve these statistics but how? There’s only one cutting-edge solution and that’s blockchain. Using blockchain technology, we can make sure that those who are voting are who they say they are and are legally allowed to vote. Plus, by using fingerprint and face recognition technologies, we can easily ensure the identity of the person casting the vote. While digital voting is undeniably more secure than paper ballots, many people aren’t certain about the security of the electronic voting systems and the possibility of vote tampering. But, because we know that blockchain can store and secure the voting records, therefore there is no question of authenticity and reliability of electronic voting process. In fact, this voting methodology can be applied to government voting and election of corporate board members too.
Real Estate
Anyone who has purchased a home with a mortgage knows that the process is usually long and torturous. Borrowers must collect a bunch of documents, such as pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, receipts and many others, which bank staff then manually input into their systems. A blockchain based platform can completely transform the lending process for businesses. It gives consumers the option to store their financial data in a secure and distributed ledger which can later be shared with the lenders, if required. That could drastically speed up the mortgage approval process. With blockchain technology, it also becomes quick and easy to show who owns a property and whether any liens are outstanding. Besides property records, it is possible to tie ownership of physical assets to information stored on the blockchain. Users could digitally buy, sell or trade without a trusted third party. That could eliminate the need for expensive escrow services. Currently, it’s nearly impossible to transact real estate without those things.
Cannabis
Can Blockchain solve challenge of seed to sale tracking in cannabis industry? The answer is Yes! The cannabis industry is rapidly evolving from essentially manually run, mall businesses to automated enterprise. In cannabis industry there are many facets of plant legalization that requires verification at regulated level. A decentralized blockchain ledger would provide transparency and security for the product at seed level, like what seeds are used, how much was transported from farm to processing unit and if there was a use of chemical. The technology can also keep a track on distribution of the product to retail outlets and at the point of sale it can keep an accountability of how much a consumer can purchase in a given period of time. Hence, a blockchain authenticated ID can easily be created.
Like cryptocurrency, cannabis industry is very volatile and faces uncertainty and challenges. We can see the barriers in regulatory tracking requirements, inability to use centralized banks and taxation. Tech enthusiasts feel blockchain can help marijuana producers to track inventory and solve supply and demand issue. As we all know that records in blockchain are immutable, therefore this transparency will also enable financial companies looking to audit cannabis companies, as well as government institutions looking to tax marijuana businesses and regulate the industry.
The Road to Adoption
Blockchain is still in its infancy, and it could be at least a few years before widescale adoption could be seen. A recent survey by Deloitte found that 39 percent of senior executives have little or no knowledge about blockchain. “It is fair to say that industry is still confused to a degree about the potential for blockchain, about a third consider the technology overhyped,” says Deloitte Managing Director David Schatsky. Some large stakeholders and start-ups are already piloting blockchain platforms but the important aspect to watch here is how this technology is going to seamlessly and painlessly integrate with existing emerging technologies to give us a better industrial landscape.
