NFL Has Zoom Privacy Concerns, and will COVID-19 bring blockchain mainstream? –Debrief’s Data News Round Up

How the Pandemic Is Pushing Blockchain Forward

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance and value of blockchain is truly coming to light. This article from the Harvard Business Review outlines the numerous societal issues that have come to light since the pandemic, and how blockchain technology aims to address these issues:

The virus has revealed the weaknesses in our supply chains, our inability to deploy resources where they are most needed to address the pandemic, and difficulties in capturing and sharing the data needed to make rapid decisions in managing it. Blockchain solutions that have been under development for years have been repurposed and unleashed to address these challenges.

The article goes forward to name the following blockchain start-ups that are using blockchain with healthcare organizations to help track COVID-19:

• Rapid Medical Parts
• MiPasa
• Tymlex
• Civitas

Read the original article here.

Thoughtful blockchain implementation is key to improving supply chains in a post-COVID world

The World Economic Forum came out with the “Blockchain Deployment Toolkit” regarding the improvement the global supply chain. The WEO recognizes the efficiency, speed, and clarity that blockchain technology can bring to the chain, and has worked with over 100 organizations testing blockchain best practices:

“The toolkit’s 14 different modules represent key success and risk factors for the deployment of a blockchain solution within the supply chain context. Organizations can use the toolkit to support more responsible blockchain deployments, de-risk early adoption, and ensure careful consideration of unintended consequences”

Read more about the toolkit here.

Report: NFL Exec Says Possibility of Zoom Hacks in Remote Draft Are ‘Unnerving’

In more Zoom and data privacy news, The NFL is the latest global organization to be skeptical about Zoom. The world of sporting events has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with all games paused for the foreseeable future. This raises the question — how can teams practice virtually together, or hold confidential meetings in a safe and secure way? The Bleacher Report states:

A club executive told Peter King of NBC Sports “it’s unnerving to think there’s even a small possibility” that one team could hack another’s Zoom sessions during the draft and gather information and scouting reports on prospects.

Los Angeles Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff talked about that worry as well:

“The security aspect, which is probably the most important for teams. How do you make sure your conversations are protected? Someone could hack into this Zoom, and you’re probably not going to learn a lot. Hacking into a team’s draft room on Zoom is probably a lot different. That would be my biggest concern just from an encryption standpoint of how do you have these conversations confidentially.”

Read the full report here.

Blockchain being recognized by reputable institutions such as Harvard and the World Economic Forum is a step in the right direction! The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on what global systems need improvement as we enter a “new normal”. Having organizations and applications secured with blockchain technology certainly help organizations track and store data safely and securely.

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Until next week!

The Debrief Team.