Blockchain Beyond Finance.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved record cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks (Wikipedia). In more comprehensive terms, blockchain is a chain of timestamped blocks that contain a record of data which cannot easily be manipulated and are managed by a network of computers.
Key Properties of Blockchain:
- Immutability: this means no one can modify the blockchain ‘distributed ledger’ of all committed blocks.
- Digital: Every transaction or information on the blockchain is put into digital form, therefore, expelling the need for manual documentation.
- Distributed Database: the blockchain is not maintained by one central party it is maintained by a network of parties that uphold the ledger. Each party on a blockchain has access to the entire database and it’s complete history and can verify the records of its partners directly.
- Transparency: this property of blockchain introduces trust as every transaction is visible to anyone with access to the system.
- Consensus-based: a transaction cannot be completed unless all the parties in the network agree and approve the transaction.
How does Blockchain Work?
Imagine it this way, Mike wants to transfer some money to Tim, this transaction is represented online as a block, this block is broadcast to a network of computers (nodes) which verify and validate the transaction. This block is then added to an existing chain and Tim gets the money.
Use cases of Blockchain beyond the Financial Industry.
Blockchain technology is said to be one of the most important and most disruptive technologies in the world and it is developing at a rapid pace. Its disruptive nature has been applied in the financial sector more than others for some time majorly in the form of cryptocurrencies and some others like payment, share trading, insurance, etc. Although, the Blockchain technology is being used more to solve finance related problems it is not limited to that. This article would address a few non-finance related use cases of Blockchain technology.
Non-finance related Use cases of Blockchain Technology:
- Voting:
This use case is one which most people can relate to. The way elections are done most especially in developing countries it is easy to say one way or another that data has been or has the potential to be tampered with, this can also apply to shareholders voting. Using Blockchain can provide a solution to this since data is immutable- no one can change the results.
- Digital Identity, Identification, and Authentication:
The issue of identity theft is widespread because almost on every platform you are required to log in before the use of a service. In this use, case blockchain can be used to store personal information and all kinds of data securely. Using blockchain for digital identification gives a person control over who has access to his/her personal information. The user can also create encoded digital identities doing away with multiple usernames and passwords
- Real Estate:
Real Estate involves a lot of documentation which may include personal details, lease information, rent, terms and conditions for using a property, etc. Managing these documents can be cumbersome which is where Blockchain comes in. Using blockchain can help arrange the documents in an orderly and traceable manner. It can also help with payments and contract signing.
- Healthcare:
The healthcare industry is a very sensitive industry and many mistakes have cost many their lives. Blockchain has the potential to completely disrupt healthcare by increasing personalization, client security, and privacy. It can help create records of patients which give the Doctors access to all treatment records, patient allergies, drug prescriptions, health history, etc. that could help them treat patients better.
The use cases described above are some ideas on how Blockchain is shaping different sectors but are not limited to these. Blockchain though at infancy is full of potential and is growing at a phenomenal rate.
We at Advent-Tech are confident and based on insights from extensive research that we would see mind-blowing solutions that would both disrupt and revolutionize how we live and how we do business in this digital age.
Author: Similoluwa Adelore | Editor: Yewande Odumosu
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