You’re on board with blockchain, but your company is not. Here’s a quick guide on how to talk to your colleagues about blockchain.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is an innovative technology that was invented to facilitate secure transfer of digital currency, such as Bitcoin, that has since found application in almost every other industry that involves transfer of value or information between entities. It works by creating a ledger where every subsequent data block contains information about the previous one, creating an immutable chain that cannot be altered – hence the name, block-chain. This ledger is either public or permissioned, meaning either all or certain permissioned members are granted access to it, but because the transactions are transparent to the members, the blockchain infrastructure enables parties to operate more efficiently and in a decentralized manner now that no single party has the key to all the information. This infrastructure can enable a digital sharing economy by introducing tokens into the system, as well as the rules according to which they are distributed among the members of the blockchain ecosystem.
What are the benefits of blockchain?
Because blockchain technology was built for secure digital currency transfers and for ensuring the evidence of those transfers was permanent, blockchain introduces several key advantages when integrated into the business workflow, namely, the greater transparency and traceability of operation, increased efficiency and reduced transaction costs (as there’s no central party taking the responsibility and the commission), decentralization, which contributes to security as even if certain parts of the network are compromised, the integrity of the system as a whole is well preserved, and finally, empowered users, who are incontrol of their identity, their data and their transactions. Due to these features, blockchain technology enables the creation of new business models and token economies that have the potential to revolutionize entire industry sectors such as logistics, real estate, medical and insurance, legal and many others.
How can we get companies interested in blockchain?
The only way to evangelize a technology to internal stakeholders in an enterprise is to find how it solves their problems in a way that outweighs various challenges associated with its implementation. Saying “it’s the future” is simply not enough. Piloting blockchain is still considered cutting-edge in many organizations and that can be done in parallel to the traditional processes that took place until such implementation. Should the blockchain-powered processes proof to be more efficient at a low-enough cost, they can replace, in time, more traditional processes. For external stakeholders it would be beneficial to use blockchain to interact, receive data and other types of transaction from the organization, as well as benefit from the positive externality of adoption a new technology – the knowledge leadership that comes with it.
Interesting examples of blockchain in action:
In logistics, Olam Foundation, which partnered with Kuehne-Nagel and Swissport, reduces the amount of paperwork in the shipping process. Olam is creating a network to be used across the supply chain to provide complete information about the product or process at any time throughout the shipping process and to enable stakeholders avoid costly mistakes, gain control of the shipping process, increase efficiency and reduce overall costs.
Ripe.io provides a transparent food supply chain system to improve sustainability, reduce spoilage, and increase safety, nutrition, and quality.
iOlite provides mainstream businesses with easy access to blockchain technology. The iOlite platform enables any business to integrate blockchain into their workflow in order to write smart contracts and design blockchain applications using natural language.
ABOUT TOP OF BLOCKCHAIN
We’re blockchain and ICO consultancy, focused on storytelling that’s critical to the development of your brand and your community. We help express your company and product’s value in a way that is easily understood, reducing the complexity associated with the world of blockchain and crypto.