Blockchain- The Future Technology

Blockchain is an ingenious invention. It is the brain of a group of people or an individual known by Satosi Nakamoto, a pseudonym.  However, with time, it has evolved into something more meaningful. Blockchain is a chain of blocks, but in this context, it is about digital information which is the ‘‘block” that is stored in the database that is the ‘‘chain”. It is the vision of the developers who believed that the present banking has flaws.

Key Areas of Application

Blockchain technology has been in the limelight for quite some time now. No one can doubt its role when it comes to the global economic landscape. Some of the key features of blockchain technology have been given below.

• Decentralized Technology: This means that the network doesn’t have any governing authority or a person taking care of the framework. Instead, a group of nodes maintains the system, which makes it decentralized. Thus, you can access it from the web and store your assets. It enables you to store anything starting from digital assets to cryptocurrencies.

• Enhanced Security: Since there is no need for a central authority, you can easily change the network characteristic for your benefit. With encryption, you enjoy an additional layer of security. The security comes from Cryptography, the special disguise. This is a complicated mathematical algorithm which acts as a firewall for any attack.

• Non-Corruptible: Immutability is one of the primary features of blockchain technology. This means it is something which cannot be altered or changed. It helps in ascertaining that the technology is going to remain as it is, unalterable and permanent. Blockchain works differently than the usual banking system. Rather than relying on the centralized authorities, it ascertains features through node collection.

• Irreversible: It is complex enough to hash and thus, it is impossible to reverse or alter it. Moreover, a change in the input might give you a different ID. Therefore, small changes are not a luxury in the system. In case someone has to corrupt the network, they will have to change every data that is stored in the node network. There might be millions of people on the ledger, and hacking millions of them can be costly and next to impossible.

Key Uses of Blockchain

Blockchain has made real-time transactions possible by leaving banks out of the equation. This helps in reducing the transaction fees. However, blockchain has other uses, too. Let’sLet’s take a look at the prospective applications for blockchain technology. 

• Money Transfers and Payment Processing: One of the most common uses of this technology is to accelerate the transfer of funds from one party to the other.

• Digital IDs: Many people across the world are facing identity challenges. However, Microsoft wishes to change it and to develop digital IDs inside its Authenticator app. It is used by several people and gives users the power to control their digital identities. It enables people from improvised regions for starting their own business or get access to financial service.

• Monitor Supply Chains: The technology proves to be useful for monitoring supply chains. With the help of this, businesses can remove paper trails and work on their inefficiencies and speed up the supply chains. Blockchain enables consumers to check how products performed from the perspective of quality-control as it travelled from the origin point and ultimately to the retailer.

• Data Sharing: A beta version of Data Marketplace has been launched in Cryptocurrency IOTA. It shows that blockchain can be used to sell or share unused data as a marketplace. As a majority of the data goes unused, blockchain can take on the role of an intermediary for storing and moving data for improving a large number of industries.

• Food Safety: Another great use of blockchain technology is tracing food from the origin to the plate. As blockchain is immutable, you can locate the transportation of food products from the root to the supermarket. Again, if there is food co-borne illness, blockchain helps in detecting the source of contaminants quickly.

• Immutable Data Backup: The technology can also be useful in backing up data. Although the cloud-storage system has been designed to function as a go-to source for safekeeping data, it’s not immune to hackers and might also have some infrastructure problems. Using blockchain can resolve this issue.

Blockchain in Cryptocurrency

The blockchain serves as the backdrop for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Currencies such as the US dollar is verified and regulated by a centralized authority, generally the bank. Under this, the currency or the data is at the whim of the government or the ban. In case the bank of the user collapses, or they stay in a country that has an unstable government, the value of the currency can be at risk. It led to the creation of bitcoin.

Blockchain spread its operation throughout a network of computers. This allows cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to operate without the central authority. It reduces the transaction fee and the risk involved. Moreover, the countries that have unstable currency will have a more stable currency that has a better application, and a more extensive network of institutions and individuals can do business with it.

Blockchain Revolutionizes the Shipping Industry

Other than the use of the public ledger, the most significant revolution which blockchain can introduce in the shipping industry is the smart and effective contracts. It is a contract that is in the form of a computer program and also self-executed in the blockchain. It will automatically implement the terms and conditions of the agreement between parties. This is a standard part of the software and cannot be changed by parties. Before the introduction of blockchain, this was impossible because the parties of the agreement would have their separate databases. A shared database that has blockchain protocol, smart contracts will be auto-executed, and the parties will validate the result instantly without wasting any time on exchanges. Also, there is no need for third-party intermediaries.

Identity Management with Blockchain

A majority of the online transactions need you to disclose certain information which can be processed for accessing the service. Every time you are using this information, it is being stored in various databases. Thus, digital clones of the same person come into existence on multiple platforms. It can lead to security issues. Almost all systems that are in place depend on securing individual data without the knowledge of the owner. Thus, it is gaining access without the knowledge of the subject.

This technology is now used for developing secure blockchain, which can manage the problems of reconciliation and authentication that is faced by various industries. Moreover, it enables individuals to create encrypted digital identities which will get rid of multiple user IDs and passwords as it provides a comprehensive security feature that will help institutions and customers save enough time and resources.

Also, it is possible to create a self-sovereign identity using blockchain. This is an identity which is wholly controlled and maintained by an individual. Stealing such an identity can be complicated.

Blockchain isn’t something that people are going to forget after some time. With its applications and features, it can be assumed that it is here to stay. Blockchain is creating a whole new level of impact on the internet. 

Blockchain for Healthcare

Blockchain has the potential to change healthcare. It makes patients the centre of attraction of the healthcare ecosystem. It helps in increasing privacy, inoperability, and security of health data. The technology can offer a new model for HIE or health information exchanges by making digital medical records secure, disintermediated, and efficient.

With blockchain, the healthcare industry will have access to unique opportunities for reducing complexities, creating immutable and secure information, and enabling trustless collaboration. With the help of this technology, the power will be in the hands of the people. You will be able to handle your records and have complete control over the data.

Blockchain technology can improve the quality of patient care and maintains funds at a reasonable rate. The challenges and obstacles which arise with multiple level authentication can be dismissed using the technology. With an increase, the rate of adoption, blockchain has made its way to even the healthcare industry. Even in the starting phase, the technology is being accepted by people positively.

Use of Blockchain in Voting

Voting can also be done with the help of blockchain. Thus it will boost voter turnout and eliminate election fraud. Each vote will be tested and stored on the blockchain. Therefore, it becomes impossible to interfere with it. The protocol of blockchain also maintains transparency in the entire process of election. Thus, it reduces the number of people required for handling the election and give instant results. The procedure will be handled by this transparent, efficient, and secure technology

Blockchain isn’t something that people are going to forget after some time. With its applications and features, it can be assumed that it is here to stay. Blockchain is creating a whole new level of impact on the internet.