77% of CIOs Have ‘No Plans/Interest’ for Blockchain
Blockchain Technology will make its impact in many industries. Do not fear it. Understand it. Embrace it.
Some now-famous (or infamous) digital currency, named “Bitcoin” made national media headlines hitting new highs towards the end of 2017.
For some, it was the first time hearing about Bitcoin only to immediately cash in for the hopes of making a quick buck. For others who have been aware of its technology since its founding nearly a decade ago, it marked a turning point for what is to come.
Bitcoin has become the symbol for cryptocurrencies, however, what is more important is to understand its underlying technology, and its major impact moving forward.
The technology known as blockchain is a powerful force set to disrupt many industries with its integration and one that should be commonly understood.
Blockchain Breakdown
Blockchain technology is simply a digitized, public, secure list of transactions, providing a more transparent record organized in blocks that are linked together sequentially.
The technology can be broken down into two fundamental components:
1. Decentralized Network
The decentralized network presents unique opportunities and is moreover, secure and transparent. Parties can share data and execute transactions, without having to rely on any central authority acting as a clearinghouse in the way, for instance, typical banks do in daily transactions.
The blockchain itself replaces the third party allowing for direct transactions to take place.
2. Digital, Public Ledger
Ledger is a term used in the traditional accounting world and defined as a book or other collection of financial accounts/transactions of a particular type.
In blockchain technology, its ledger, or recording of those transactions is the key unique feature. It provides a digital record of each transaction and provides information about who owns what at any time.
Anyone on the network is able to see the record of those transactions. This distributed ledger is replicated on thousands of computers around the world and is publicly available. The special feature about the technology is for all its transparency, the data is trustworthy and secure. Once the data is entered into the blockchain, it can never be erased, allowing for much easier and transparent reconciliation.
What Makes Blockchain Technology Revolutionary?
The technology can work for almost every type of transaction involving value (i.e. Money, Goods, Property, etc.) and it is its decentralization and distributed network that makes the technology so special.
No third parties are able to serve as gatekeepers to the internet and able to interfere and control that data such as the banking or high technological firms a la Facebook and Google.
The distributed network also does not allow for the record of data and transactions to be stored in a single location, allowing everyone on the network to see the record of transactions. This allows for the potentiality to eliminate increasingly pressing issues in today’s digital/cyber world, such as fraud.
The technological foundation’s potential is nearly limitless, allowing for otherwise inconvenient transactions such as wiring funds to another country to be instant and quick without a middle-man such as a bank abusing the process. For instance, banks, especially in international transfers, hold funds for days and charge fees to either party.
The transaction would be direct.
Future Expectation of Blockchain?
There is a strong expectation that blockchain would become the mainstream. It is not a matter of if, but when. According to a 2015 report conducted by the World Economic Forum, data polled at the time held on blockchain, accounts for 0.025% of global GDP at the time with an expectation to rise to 10% of global GDP by 2027.
Although there is more of an awareness and coverage of the technology in 2018, future planning harnessing the technology is severely lacking.
In fact, a whopping 77% of CIOs surveyed by Gartner in its 2018 CIO Survey, stated that their respective organization has no interest in the technology and/or planning to take no action to either investigate or develop it.
As we move towards a more progressive, peer-sharing economy — major industries such as banking, healthcare, education, real estate, and the legal industries are ripe for disruption.
These industries have set themselves up for disruption especially more so since many have admitted that currently there is no action being taken to deal with it or integrate it.
Consumer economic and market behavior may end up forcing that change and many firms will end up being blindsided.
This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by 321,672+ people.
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