WHY BLOCKCHAIN IS THE SOLUTION TO THE SERVICE INDUSTRY

Join Sheikh Mohammed Irfan, GIG9’s Blockchain Advisor as he discusses the revolution of blockchain technology in depth

I would like to introduce a revolutionary platform that was founded by 8 Oxford Alumni with a vision to disrupt the global gig economy. GIG9 is a peer-to-peer decentralized self-regulated international ecosystem, directly connecting local service providers and users, powered by blockchain-based smart contracts.

WHY GIG9 WAS BORN

1.4 billion workers will find themselves in vulnerable jobs this year. To simply enter into the job market is considered a feat, so this added statistic is one that needs to be noted. This is what makes the gig economy shine brightly: various factors such as gender, nationality, age and even disabilities play no roles in GIG9; all that’s needed is your willingness to get the job done.

So, any predetermined stigma that is present in the modern-day workforce, such as women entrepreneurship, workers with disabilities, young business leaders and older skilled workers, is eliminated and these groups have just as much potential as everyone else. Additionally, GIG9 will actively campaign for these groups in the hopes of eradicating any preconceived notions.

INTRODUCING GIG9

GIG9 is an incredible app that connects people who need services (users) to local providers of services (providers) simply by a single tap of your smartphone whilst empowering you with honest reviews, flexible payments, and the ability to watch your provider heading towards your door on the map using GPS mapping technology. It gives users that personal touch because it brings offline service to the online market. Additionally, GIG9 will provide an escrow service powered by smart contracts to ensure that all parties are protected in a transaction.

GIG9 is an end-to-end solution providing discovery, engagement, job tracking, payment, receipt issuance and review capture. Our users can also avail amazing features such as chatbox messaging, free voice calling, free invoicing and free quotation service.

With GIG9, we can break every boundary and truly change the face of the global gig economy.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Additionally, you may visit www.gig9.io for more information.

LET’S TALK ABOUT ONLINE SERVICE PLATFORMS

GIG9 is the world’s first decentralized platform for the service industry which connects service users with service providers using real-time, applicable tool kits.

GIG9, as a platform, addresses three critical factors in the service industry: ease of access and usage, scientific methodologies to gauge “brick & mortar” common practices, and shrinking traditional costs and risks associated with trade between parties.

Case Study

Subject: Online service provider platforms

Introduction: Over the course of time, we have witnessed the service industry being disrupted through the internet medium. They have provided a wider access to resources to both customers and service providers to accomplish a task. It was a massive opportunity as both customers and providers were no more confined to a limited access of resources to accomplish a task. However, customers and service providers still “preferred” using traditional resources to do so. This is because when resources were available through their own network, it provided transparency, legitimacy, efficiency and reliability compared to the online medium. Therefore, the online medium remained as an optional process for both customers and service providers along with the traditional medium of sourcing and executing work. Let us take a further look at some of the pressing points within the online medium for it to become the primary or the only method of conducting operations in the service industry.

Problems: Some of the most common problems faced in the online medium for sourcing and executing work are as follows:

1. Lack of “Real Identity”: This is a common problem faced in the online medium where there is no way to truly know your “customer” or “service provider”. This matters because a lot of the tasks associated in the online medium are provided by a “third party” who super quotes on the existing cost, and this creates an added layer between “real” customers and “real” service providers. On the other hand, service providers are not always “freelancers” or “independent” contractors but rather represent an agency that provides work. So, the “person” the customer is engaging with may not necessarily have the skill sets or be quoting the actual pricing of the tasks. Furthermore, as their “identity” remains mushy, it is difficult to hold the party accountable. Again, some platforms have introduced identity verification or verified agents; but this does not solve the problem of truly knowing your service provider. Lastly, as we are talking about a global pool of resources and customers, there are variable laws of accountability for either parties across various jurisdictions. Therefore, accountability and transparency of work remained a major issue in this medium.
2. Lack of “Real” Performance Metrics: This is another problem which is associated with both customers and service providers. Most of the platforms in these mediums resort to review mechanism for either the customers or service providers. This review system is continuously circumvented, especially from the service provider’s end. It is a common practice among the service providers in these platforms to open a client account to requisition new work orders to service providers. They follow it up with exemplary reviews to the service provider thus providing “real” customers with false metrics. On the customer end, there is absolutely no mechanism to identify if a customer is a credible buyer apart from the number of jobs they have commissioned on a platform or the price they are willing to pay for a particular service. Furthermore, as tasks are different from one another along with the opinion of individuals, it is difficult to gauge how such customers would behave with the service provider for the current task. However, it must be noted that Skype/Instant Messaging options have been added in some of these platforms which is a repetition of the face-to-face screening process in the traditional “brick and mortar” method used between parties (there is no innovation but a new toolkit). On another note, skill sets of service providers are non-measurable as one cannot either assess if the skill sets are relevant for the task in need or assures the capability of delivering the given task (we are all aware of the disconnect between certificates and actual work capabilities). However, as mentioned, some platforms have introduced actual verification of skills or their own methods of assessing a service provider for a set of tasks. The underlying problem remains, which is each task is unique in nature and thus none of the previous or future capabilities matter except for the current task(s). This is an elaborate process to answer the simple disconnect of whether the service provider is fit or not.
3. Lack of “User Knowledge”: This is a major problem on both the customer and service provider’s part. A customer is required to garner a certain amount of knowledge in order to extract the most from the service provider: an example would be when commissioning a website development on such platforms. The customer must have a background on how the entire website development process is done before even contacting a service provider. If they do not, they are only reliant on the suggestions of the service provider to create the website (which is in itself a conflict of interest). Hence, a lot of customers assign a relevant knowledgeable party to extract and execute this kind of work from the service providers. The service provider, on the other hand, faces complexity in understanding user needs based on the experience of the user itself. In addition to that, if the service provider is providing a niche service, he looks for details from the customer (which is not possible from the customer side mostly). Additionally, since we are talking about global resources, language acts as a major hurdle in completion of any given tasks.
4. Lack of “Efficiency” and “Trade Simplicity”: This is probably the most important problem faced by both customers and service providers. The entire process in most platforms is a “trial & error” process. It is an achievement to accomplish a task in the first try from such platforms. This is highly inefficient and defeats the purpose of creating an efficient method to execute a task. Furthermore, “efficiency” is leveraged on multiple assumptions such as customers knowing what they want in detail, service providers understanding customers’ needs or tasks being simplified. These are all signs of ineffective operational processes as one must remember that customers may not be knowledgeable about everything required for the task, service providers may not fully understand customers without given standard protocols or that tasks can either be complex or simple. One can conclude that the current design is not suited to address the problem in the service industry.

TRADE BETWEEN CUSTOMERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE CURRENT INDUSTRY

Now, consider trade between service providers and customers. First of all, it is a complex process as we are talking about how global resources, monetary restrictions and exchange rates play a big role in the payment process. It is an underlying assumption within these platforms that either the service provider or customer should have some form of bank account in order to receive or send payment. Furthermore, one must remember that a lot of these countries do not allow both the customers and service providers to send money the other way. This limits the number of people able to avail such services and a two-way flow of money (as this matters when it comes to the return policy of service providers). To top it all off, these platforms charge a hefty fee for either escrowing the fund or transfering the fees. This, in return, is reflected on the customer’s end when a service provider requests the customer to provide the fees incurred by them from the service providers. So, all in all, these platforms or mediums do not provide any credible or applicable services to both the customers and service providers apart from a meeting point with faulty rule sets, yet they reap the benefits relinquished by both these parties in real trade.

GIG9 IS THE SOLUTION

Firstly, GIG9 understands these and other ancillary problems associated with the industry. They plan to resolve these issues by providing the following:

1. Identity verification through the utilization of blockchain technology and a decentralized network to establish trust and transparency between parties.
2. Providing an intelligent system leveraging both blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to assess performance. Furthermore, GIG9 will provide affordable enterprise tools to measure, track and accomplish tasks.
3. Providing an easy-to-use leveraged knowledge bank from the system which simplifies the user experiences on a given task.
4. Deploying both a stable cryptocurrency to ease and simplify trade and “smart contracts” as payment terminations.

At the end of day, GIG9 is a dynamic organization/platform which is constantly evolving to address bottle necks in the service industry. We do not claim to “know it all” or “solve it all” but we are definitely proactively addressing each problem at a time rather than placing a bandaid were a fix is necessary. The beauty of blockchain is its empowerment to the users through processes like consensus mechanism and proof of stake, among other things, thus ensuring an organization is “democratic” in the truest sense.

Sheikh Mohammed Irfan, GIG9’s Blockchain Advisor

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