Blockchain is not just about cryptocurrency. In today’s world, every player in each sector wants to get ahead of its competition. Providing better services and reducing the cost of the service are the two main elements of sustainable growth in the business world. With the help of blockchain, many industries are on the verge of a major breakthrough to revolutionize the industry.
Overview of blockchain technology
In simple terms, the blockchain is an impenetrable digital ledger, which aids in the transaction, sharing of data, and recording information. It allows information to be shared transparently, but it does not allow alteration without permission. This strength of data security and transaction has made blockchain, the next revolutionary technology in almost all the industries.
#1. Banking
Banking is one of the major industries, which has started its experiments with blockchain technologies. The Barclays and Swiss banks have implemented blockchain in their services and facilities. According to a report, with the blockchain, the banking sector can reduce its operating cost by 20 billion dollars. In May of 2019, Barclays started using blockchain in the payment process and automatic digital invoice generation. Today, blockchain stands as a base technology in numerous banking giants for the cross-border transaction, which amounts to over 27% of total global transactions, according to a report by McKinsey. With blockchain techniques, many financial institutes have provided a platform for individuals to use mobile phone-based payment system, without using a bank account.
#2. Energy sector
The gas and oil companies have started using blockchain to reduce concerns regarding optimization, transparency, efficiency, and others. Starting from power grid automation billing to real-time payment facilities, many areas in this sector uses blockchain. Blockchain network also allows them to share data with pre-approved entities with uttermost privacy. This security and immutability are also great features when it comes to commodity trading in this industry.
#3. Election system
The election system requires authentication of the voters’ details and keeping a record of those votes. With blockchain techniques, voter fraud will drop down to zero. No vote can be removed or altered or added illegitimately. With the end-to-end voting system, this technology has been proved to avoid any fraud or misconduct during the process. The 2018 Sierra Leone election is the best example of this technology.
#4. Data security
The current architecture of the internet is prone to attacks and hacks. Thus, major companies have started to use blockchain ledgers for sharing data in their network. With this ledger, the communication is secure and transparent. Building on this application, there is a potential use of this ledger in this genre. The ledger could favor mass authentication and verification of large data transfer. Many cybersecurity companies have started prototypes of such a system.
#5. Transportation industry
In the transportation industry, car sharing has become a major form of commutation, thanks to mobile-based apps like Uber and others. Today, these companies are using blockchain to log interactions between the driver and the rider. This technology helps to build an interactive customer database, which will allow the service provider to provide additional value-added services. This blockchain technique forms a base for arranging a decentralized rate system. Under this system, the drivers can assign their rates and pay a percentage to the company, automatically.
#6. Digital advertisement
Digital advertisement is not something new to the world. With blockchain-based browser, the viewers can filter out ads and get ads that suit their preferences alone, without any malware. This technology also allows advertisers to get profitable pay per click or pay per action.
#7. Academics and educational industry
Using blockchain, the educational institutes can verify the academic credentials of the students automatically without the lengthy manual process, candidate by candidate. IBM has deployed blockchain to create a platform for institutes to share the records of the students securely.
#8. Legal industry
The legal industry is one of the industries with very slow modernization. With the use of blockchain technologies, the legal sector can be made more transparent, allowing zero space for misinterpretation. Streamlining documents and managing data are made much easier with blockchain technologies. According to a legal trend report of 2018, more than 48% of a lawyer’s career time focuses on mundane administrative tasks. With blockchain, one can reduce time in transaction-related work, administrative paperwork, billing, and so on. This technology can, in turn, reduce the overall legal cost for a proceeding.
#9. Global trade
With the rapid globalization fever, the global finance industry is struggling to create a secure platform to withhold all the regulations. With the help of blockchain technology, many institutes have managed data security and reduced fraud incidence. With blockchain technology, the transactions can be made transparent, allowing to increase trust among operators and the general public.
#10. Healthcare and life science
On the one hand, the transparency and data security provided by the blockchain technology allows the industry players to share data securely and faster. The transparency reduces fraudulent activities and easy maintenance of resources in this ecosystem. With blockchain, the manufacturers of pharmaceutical products can create a concrete record of products, and thereby, illegal production of counterfeit drugs drops tremendously. The risk of data fraud during any research can be reduced and thus increasing the reliability of new scientific studies. With accurate results of research, the collaboration of different industries will be much easier. Trustworthy results lead to avoiding re-testing, which would save a considerable amount of money, time, and other resources.
#11. Entertainment and media industry
With digital piracy at its peak, the entertainment industry has turned towards blockchain to avoid the distribution of illegal copies. With authentic digital sign and tracking, every copy of the digital content gets tracked and authorized. Thus, illegal copies cannot be made or distributed.
Conclusion
The ability of blockchain to decentralize data and at the same time, making it incorruptible, allows this technology to be useful in a transaction, security, and storage in many fields. EU plans to spend 180 million Euro in blockchain technology development in 2020 and potentially will add 300 million Euro to the same cause in 2021. If you wish to stay with the competition, it is time to shift to blockchain technology before you lose your customer base.
