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Blockchain and the Fourth Industrial Revolution
It is this consensus that protects invalid alterations. Niels is a serial entrepreneur that has more than 15 years of experience in various CTO roles. He is also one of the five guides for the Factom blockchain project, making sure the governance is in order and responsible to get the project to full decentralization.
Maarten worked as an international marketing manager for an international software company, Orbit Software, Inc. Maarten started, ran and sold several companies. Maarten is an experienced speaker at events and conferences.
He loves to explain new technologies in simple terms and their benefits for users and organizations. Sebastian is a young entrepreneur and responsible for the commercial and operational side of the startup Sphereon.
He is of a new generation that is used to working within the digital world and sharing knowledge with each other. He believes in co-creation with other companies to create the right solution for the right client. His aim is to bring new and disrupting technologies to organizations, for these organizations to better their processes and learn from the new emerging technologies such as Blockchain.
As its going to change how we as society are working, organizations need to start adopting the inevitable is his believe. The Blockchain Innovation Foundation believes in the Factom protocol, which is a platform for building precise, verifiable and immutable record systems.
The network creates a censorship resistant blockchain, where no one party can control the network. It provides a platform where diverse parties can collaboratively publish and interact without relying on a middleman. Entries into the Factom Network are governed by federated and audit nodes and additionally protected against change using the Bitcoin hashpower. Applications can write an unlimited number of entries into the system on their own distinct Factom chains. This allows applications to read only their own chains of data, while ignoring unrelated data, thus giving developers a scalable framework.
The entries are organized into hierarchical sets of blocks. These blocks are then used to compute for a single hash every 10 minutes. It takes these hashes and anchors them into other blockchains for added security. This design allows applications to write transactions faster, at a much lower cost, and with greater scalability than other blockchains.
It also has a mechanism that allows business users to forgo dealing in tradable tokens. Unido Authenticator. The sold out event had 5 guest panellists from different industries, including education, legal, blockchain development, technical security services, and cyber compliance, were invited to express their own insights, thoughts and perspectives towards Blockchain.
Barbara Vrettos, the Legal Forecast and Adelaide Blockchain enthusiast, said that legal complexities for Blockchain still exist, however, legislation is constantly being introduced and reviewed.
She also stated that Blockchain engagement should not just be technology, but an integrated ecosystem consisting of social, economic, governance, and other factors that continue to grow the technology collaboratively. Chris Weddle, the founder and director of PAC Blockchain and Digital Advisory, a successful entrepreneur, has been building digital capital for over 19 years. The authenticity and integrity of transactions themselves are ensured by standard public-private key cryptography.
With constant updates and validation made to the blockchain, as well as inspection of the complete history of transactions open at least potentially to everyone, unauthorised changes or tampering are almost impossible JRC, All these features make the ledger unique and immutable, ensuring trust among participants to operate their transactions.
Blockchain is currently a technology in an early phase of development, with many start-ups exploring potential applications. Obviously, cryptocurrencies remain the most mature and well-known application, offering the potential for transformative change in the international financial system.
The mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies could lead for instance to the emergence of a true global virtual currency, not controlled by any nation, or to several virtual currencies used by different communities on the basis on their shared values. For the time being, cryptocurrencies provide fertile spaces for experimentation in social innovation and new business models EPRS, The reduction of transaction costs, be they financial or administrative, can be particularly decisive for small businesses and start-ups, which often lack substantial financial capital and need to move fast.
In addition, the use of smart contracts allows the automation of many processes e. The application of blockchain technology in public administration can benefit users by allowing them to create records e. Such a blockchain-based system has been tested in Estonia, where people have been allowed to use their ID cards to access a large variety of digital services EPRS, The shift of control from a centralised authority to users within decentralised networks can foster potentially more participatory, transparent and decentralised governance systems and perhaps revive democracy as a result EPRS, For example, the use of blockchain in electoral systems could transfer logging and verification tasks away from a central authority and distribute them among voters, who would hold a copy of the open voting record.
Blockchain-enabled e-voting has already been used in internal elections within a political party in Denmark and shareholder votes in Estonia EPRS, Other applications of blockchain are being developed for situations where it is necessary to know ownership histories. For example, blockchain can be used for digital content management by storing and authenticating ownership rights and licensing terms, enabling authors to know when and who is using their work and to be directly and immediately rewarded via smart contracts JRC, This could help to protect copyright at a time when the internet has made piracy especially of audiovisual material common practice thanks to torrent applications and streaming.
However, blockchain technology also raises several security, privacy, data protection and accessibility concerns. First, the anonymity of users, the use of cryptocurrencies and the possibility for blockchain-enabled networks to operate across borders increase opportunities for illegal transactions and criminal activities, including money laundering and tax evasion EP, a. Institutional accountability and legal responsibility become increasingly diffuse, while identifying cryptography-literate perpetrators becomes more difficult.
This makes it harder for national authorities to control these activities and enforce the law EPRS, Security breaches and malicious attacks can also occur, which can make users less keen to distribute sensitive information within the network. Privacy and data protection concerns relate to the possibility of identifying individual users. The more personal data are stored on the blockchain, the easier it is to discover to whom they belong EPRS, Recent research indicates that third-party web trackers can deanonymise users of cryptocurrencies by using the information provided by consumers on most shopping websites Goldfeder et al.
Last, but not least, is the issue of accessibility and equity, as there is a risk that blockchain could increase the digital divide, either because of lack of access to blockchain-based services or lack of practical knowledge about how to use them EPRS, ; ENISA, The most well-known implication of blockchain technology for the environment relates to its energy consumption and, therefore, its possible negative impact on climate.
Wider use of blockchain technology could counteract climate change mitigation efforts, as electricity remains largely generated from fossil fuels worldwide. In , generation from combustible fuels still accounted for The Bitcoin application is particularly illustrative. These estimates must be interpreted with caution, due to methodological issues, limited data availability and highly variable conditions across the industry Koomey, Nevertheless, Bitcoin is only one cryptocurrency, which is only one application of blockchain.
Finding a way to reduce the energy consumed for transaction verification will be essential. Swapping the orginal consensus mechanism, i. Some cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications already rely on these alternatives. However, a thorough assessment of each mechanism and its energy impact and energy efficiency is still required EP, b.
Switching to greener sources of energy and developing less energy-demanding computation are other options to be further explored Jones, It would also be possible to reduce the energy consumption of Bitcoin by restructuring the way blockchain maintenance is incentivised de Vries, Like other emerging ICT-based technologies, blockchain also raises concerns about electronic waste e-waste. Competing miners require more and more efficient mining hardware, leading to quick obsolescence, roughly every 1.
Since its creation, Bitcoin-mining hardware has already shifted from the use of central processing units to graphic processing units, field programmable gate arrays and application-specific integrated circuits. Notwithstanding the energy consumption and e-waste issues, blockchain technology can also support environmental protection.
In particular, it can offer opportunities to make existing consumption and production processes more transparent, which could enhance their sustainability.
A promising application relates to supply chain management in industries such as forestry, energy, food or mining. There are already standards and certification schemes to ensure sustainable and responsible supply chains, but existing processes remain costly and unreliable in many regions EPRS, Blockchain can make information about the origin of a product, processes and the parties involved in related transactions and logistics visible, traceable and verifiable by all those in the supply chain Kouhizadeh and Sarkis, As the information is secured and time-stamped, it cannot be altered or modified, which reduces the risks of fraud and errors EPRS, This can support the application of sustainability criteria for the selection of suppliers, vendors, materials and products, as well as the design of more sustainable logistics networks and internal operations Kouhizadeh and Sarkis, Eventually, this would help consumers to make choices that do not undermine environmental protection — or human rights and working conditions — in countries across the supply chain EC, b.
Experimentation is under way.
Toggle navigation Skip forum content. Towards the end of last year, the Start Network announced a project to trial how blockchain technology innovation speed up the distribution of aid funding and trace how it is spent. He development a life learner and welcomes new challenges. He develops new technology infusion, data science and digital innovation prototypes, using best practices affecting over 60, scientists, researchers, and Blockchain partners. This may be and especially useful solution for companies 2017 to reconcile multiple internal databases.
2018 Blockchain Forum
The technology behind bitcoin, blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that and transactions safely, permanently, and very efficiently. Development have many speakers and advisors who share our goals. With constant updates and validation made to the blockchain, as well as inspection of the complete history of transactions open at least innovation to everyone, unauthorised changes or tampering are almost impossible JRC, 2017 blockchain innovation and development forum, Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 2017 for this event forum closed. However, this process is hindered by a lack of harmonisation and interoperability that constitute obstacles to cross border and cross sector blockchain. How should executives think about blockchain for their own organizations?
4 ways blockchain is being used in international development
Presented with this challenge, we decided to run the above processes on a blockchain platform to offer a scalable ecosystem for all stakeholders. Not only that a blockchain platform would offer trust and security, the processes would also run seamlessly and with real-time replication of the transactions across nodes of all stakeholders.
We also realized that a blockchain-based distributed ledger would be low maintenance, highly secure and immutable. To achieve all of this and more, we decided to go for a Hyperledger -based blockchain solution to run and manage all the Social Credits processes.
Let's assume that the UK and South Africa agree on a clear policy to use Social Credits as a tool to harness private investments. Each of the countries and the investors know in advance the applicable terms, the quantity and the tax-adjustable value of Social Credits to be issued.
Both countries will have planned and budgeted for the quantity of Social Credits to be issued and the financial impact of their anticipated redemption. After meeting the applicable terms and conditions, the investor is able to offsets its liability in both South Africa and the UK. Appropriate oversight processes are in place to avoid any unanticipated effect on the public finance of any country, and to protect the process from any abuse.
We expect that a large volume of Social Credits in circulation will provide basis for them to serve as an alternative currency in a closed network, a true digital currency for sustainable development. The platform demonstrates tremendous functional flexibility and a user-friendly interface. We hope that the existing momentum to use financial innovation and technology for sustainable development should accelerate further. A robust use of newer tools and technology will not only potentially make climate-related, infrastructure and other sustainable development projects more attractive for private investments, it will also help to make sure the 4IR is truly impact-driven for sustainable development.
Mohit Joshi , President, Infosys Ltd. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. Sign In. I accept. Global Agenda Environment and Natural Resource Security How fintech can lead to sustainable development - via blockchain. Mohit Joshi President, Infosys Ltd. Take action on UpLink. Most Popular. Why hourly workers should have the same benefits as salaried ones Dan Schawbel 08 Feb More on the agenda.
Forum in focus. The one essential element needed to accelerate action on climate change. Read more about this project. Explore context. Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis. How it could work - an example. In this role, he developed, coordinated, and harmonized financial regulatory reform and policy development in several areas including new and emerging technologies, FinTech, RegTech, financial services and payments, blockchain and DLT, tokenization, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, identity, compliance and risk management, privacy, and big data.
Combiz is a recognized authority in the policies, laws, and regulations of FinTech, RegTech, cryptocurrency, blockchain and DLT, robotics, data-driven innovation and analytics.
He co-authored papers on how blockchain can enable innovation in government and public services, on how emerging technologies can improve transparency and accountability, and has held leadership roles on government interagency working groups for technology and innovation, policy, governance, and IT modernization. Combiz has served extensively throughout government, working on global technology and innovation, policy and thoughtful regulation, economic, legislative, and legal matters.
He has also served in the U. Senate, The White House, and the U. Department of State, receiving commendations from Republican and Democratic leadership. He aspires to follow in the footsteps of an American hero and his mentor, Ambassador Col.
Charles W. Hostler, USAF ret. Ambassador to the MENA region. In his role as President and Founder of IACCM, Tim works with leading corporations, public and academic bodies, supporting executive awareness and understanding of the role that procurement, contracting and relationship management increasingly play in 21st century business performance and public policy.
His earlier career involved the banking, automotive and aerospace industries, initially in Corporate Finance and later in commercial and business development. Tim's writing is extensively published and he has acted in an advisory capacity to government bodies in countries that include the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Japan, as well as regular briefings to senior managers at many of the world's largest companies.
Fisk has over twenty-five years of experience in executive consulting, release management, project management, software development, and technical leadership roles. In combination with Blockchain capabilities, Mr. Fisk is leveraging Design Thinking, Cognitive Process Design, Personalization, and technologies such as IoT and Analytics in order to re-imagine how Public Services organizations will work in the future to support the full lifecycle of business network interactions — especially those involving the constituents of government CitizenCentricGov.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission. LabCFTC is dedicated to facilitating market-enhancing financial technology FinTech innovation, fair market competition, and proactive regulatory excellence and understanding of emerging technologies. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake in the District of Maryland. A graduate of Brown University A. He provides leadership in strategy, innovation, quality, marketing and practice development.
His nearly 30 years of federal work includes financial and analytics systems, contact center applications, agile application development, application governance, and DevOps.
Jemio has spoken on the importance of data and performance to government and global industry groups, and has been an invited expert on enterprise data management and community data exchange at a variety of data governance groups. Caitlin Long is former chairman and president of Symbiont, and enterprise blockchain company.
She has been active in bitcoin since and blockchain since Caitlin previously spent 22 years on Wall Street in senior roles, working for Morgan Stanley , Credit Suisse and Salomon Brothers During her Wall Street career she started and ran three new businesses. MarketsMedia awarded Caitlin its Women in Finance Award for Excellence in Blockchain, and Institutional Investor named Caitlin to its list of the most influential people in pensions during her final 3 years on Wall Street. Brent Maravilla , Acquisition Strategist , U.
Digital Service. Brent is at the U. Digital Service within the Office of Management of Budget, where he works on initiatives and experiments with strategies and tactics that make buying digital services faster, more transparent, less confusing, and result in building products that improve citizens lives.
He has been working in procurement for a total of 10 years across multiple agencies, including the U. Postal Service, U. Army, and EPA before joining the U. Jim leads strategy and implementation of emerging technologies, including Blockchain and machine learning, to improve patient outcome and transform life sciences. Jim has more than twenty years of experience in the technology industry, with over a decade as an entrepreneur profitably growing Armedia from inception to over employees, and a 5-time Inc.
Jim has co-authored several technology books and spoken at numerous industry events and conferences, including over many in recent times on Blockchain. Jim is on the editorial board for the peer reviewed Blockchain in Healthcare Today scholarly journal, a mentor for the machine learning accelerator Cyberlaunch, and on advisory for a number of blockchain startups. He has over 15 years of digital transformation experience in both the public and private sectors.
He formed United Solutions over 10 years ago with the vision of helping people do extraordinary things with technology. He is a life learner and welcomes new challenges. Before this role, Mr. An active technology voice in the industry, Mr. Palatnick has been a featured guest speaker at key conferences worldwide and is often quoted in the press.
He develops new technology infusion, data science and digital innovation prototypes, using best practices affecting over 60, scientists, researchers, and University partners. Valerie A. As a Blockchain champion at the World Economic Forum she advocated to include it in the Top 10 Emerging Technologies, developed in collaboration with Scientific American. Mihaela also coaches young people to success, including Garrett Camp, co-founder of StumbleUpon and Uber, whom she guided for his MSc degree — and more recently is advising young entrepreneurs how to build a successful Blockchain endeavor.
The Truth About Blockchain
Postal Service, U. Army, and EPA before joining the U. Jim leads strategy and implementation of emerging technologies, including Blockchain and machine learning, to improve patient outcome and transform life sciences. Jim has more than twenty years of experience in the technology industry, with over a decade as an entrepreneur profitably growing Armedia from inception to over employees, and a 5-time Inc. Jim has co-authored several technology books and spoken at numerous industry events and conferences, including over many in recent times on Blockchain.
Jim is on the editorial board for the peer reviewed Blockchain in Healthcare Today scholarly journal, a mentor for the machine learning accelerator Cyberlaunch, and on advisory for a number of blockchain startups. He has over 15 years of digital transformation experience in both the public and private sectors. He formed United Solutions over 10 years ago with the vision of helping people do extraordinary things with technology.
He is a life learner and welcomes new challenges. Before this role, Mr. An active technology voice in the industry, Mr. Palatnick has been a featured guest speaker at key conferences worldwide and is often quoted in the press.
He develops new technology infusion, data science and digital innovation prototypes, using best practices affecting over 60, scientists, researchers, and University partners.
Valerie A. As a Blockchain champion at the World Economic Forum she advocated to include it in the Top 10 Emerging Technologies, developed in collaboration with Scientific American. Mihaela also coaches young people to success, including Garrett Camp, co-founder of StumbleUpon and Uber, whom she guided for his MSc degree — and more recently is advising young entrepreneurs how to build a successful Blockchain endeavor.
She began her career as a Wall Street attorney before turning to philanthropy and nonprofit tech over a decade ago. Sheila previously designed and launched NGOsource, a groundbreaking service focused on international grantmaking, and created a blockchain-backed registry of non-profit organizations around the world.
Mark White currently serves as Chief Technologist in Deloitte Consulting Innovation, leading disruptive technology sensing and insight development. He brings that to the Federal government market, advancing capabilities and adoption for advanced and cognitive analytics and Blockchain distributed consensus ledger solutions.
His professional focus areas are technology trends and innovation, and architecting, developing, and delivering critical mission solutions for our clients. His engagement focus areas include emerging technologies, innovation, advanced analytics, CIO strategy, services architectures, IT service management, operations engineering, and data center design and consolidation.
Mark is a frequent speaker at US and global conferences and is regularly quoted in the media discussing the impact of technology on business and government. White earned a B. Williams has 37 plus years of public and private sector experience. As a Strategy Lead, Aleksandar focuses on creating long-lasting solutions at the intersection of technology, innovation, and business. His approach to leadership generates results by focusing on end-customer value, rapid prototyping, and organizational learning.
He is currently implementing Blockchain for a major federal client. Sponsorship Opportunities are Available Create brand awareness within the government and with potential industry partners that share an interest and expertise in your "space.
Search form Search. Venue Address:. See map: Google Maps. Title I Sponsor. Title II Sponsor. After meeting the applicable terms and conditions, the investor is able to offsets its liability in both South Africa and the UK.
Appropriate oversight processes are in place to avoid any unanticipated effect on the public finance of any country, and to protect the process from any abuse. We expect that a large volume of Social Credits in circulation will provide basis for them to serve as an alternative currency in a closed network, a true digital currency for sustainable development.
The platform demonstrates tremendous functional flexibility and a user-friendly interface. We hope that the existing momentum to use financial innovation and technology for sustainable development should accelerate further. A robust use of newer tools and technology will not only potentially make climate-related, infrastructure and other sustainable development projects more attractive for private investments, it will also help to make sure the 4IR is truly impact-driven for sustainable development.
Mohit Joshi , President, Infosys Ltd. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. Sign In. I accept. Global Agenda Environment and Natural Resource Security How fintech can lead to sustainable development - via blockchain. Mohit Joshi President, Infosys Ltd. Take action on UpLink. Most Popular. Why hourly workers should have the same benefits as salaried ones Dan Schawbel 08 Feb More on the agenda.
Forum in focus. The one essential element needed to accelerate action on climate change. Read more about this project. Blockchain can make information about the origin of a product, processes and the parties involved in related transactions and logistics visible, traceable and verifiable by all those in the supply chain Kouhizadeh and Sarkis, As the information is secured and time-stamped, it cannot be altered or modified, which reduces the risks of fraud and errors EPRS, This can support the application of sustainability criteria for the selection of suppliers, vendors, materials and products, as well as the design of more sustainable logistics networks and internal operations Kouhizadeh and Sarkis, Eventually, this would help consumers to make choices that do not undermine environmental protection — or human rights and working conditions — in countries across the supply chain EC, b.
Experimentation is under way. For example, researchers have recently simulated the application of blockchain technology to electronically trace timber through its life cycle, combining an open source radio frequency identification system and a blockchain ledger to retain records in a secure and decentralised way Figorilli et al. More generally, some internet and blockchain pioneers argue that blockchain-enabled initiatives, such as decentralised autonomous organisations DAOs , could bring about new forms of governance arrangements that would challenge existing economic and power dynamics EPRS, A DAO is an organisation that can run on its own, without the need for any central management, as the governance rules agreed by its members are programmed in smart contracts that are automatically enforced and executed through blockchains EPRS, Other blockchain applications potentally beneficial to renewable energy diffusion, energy efficiency and the reduction of energy consumption are being explored.
IBM and Energy-Blockchain Labs are experimenting with a blockchain-based green asset management platform for trading carbon assets in China in a more efficient way IBM, Some envisage a blockchain-based peer-to-peer energy transaction platform that would enable efficient electrical energy transactions between prosumers and lead to economic and environmental benefits Park et al.
EnergiMine has developed a blockchain-based rewards system that uses digital tokens to incentivise consumers to save energy Forbes, Blockchain technologies have attracted the interest of European public institutions.
The European Commission has recently co-initiated several initiatives to support the development, monitoring and standardisation of blockchain technologies, such as the European Blockchain Partnership EC, b and the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum EC, , as well as extending funding and awards through the Horizon programme.
At present, however, the environmental and sustainability implications of blockchain remain insufficiently analysed. This is particularly true for energy consumption. More reliable data are needed on current and future blockchain energy consumption, which also requires more rigorous methodologies and alternative scenarios. Careful monitoring and sustainability assessments are required at global, European and local levels. Brosens, T. EP, b, European Parliament resolution of 3 October on distributed ledger technologies and blockchains: building trust with disintermediation www.
Figorilli S. Goldfeder, S. Jones, B. Koomey, J. Kouhizadeh, M. Nakamoto, S. Park, L. Sedgwick, K. Shawn, M. Software updated on 01 February from version Code for developers. Systems Status. Legal notice. Creative commons license. CMS login. Toggle navigation Skip to content. Advanced search A-Z Glossary. Error Cookies are not enabled. You must enable cookies before you can log in. Login Name. Forgot your password? You are here: Topics and subtopics Sustainability transitions Drivers of change Blockchain and the environment.
Briefing Blockchain and the environment PDF. This website has limited functionality with javascript off. Please make sure javascript is enabled in your browser. Topics: Sustainability transitions. An energy-intensive technology undermining climate change mitigation or a game changer for the governance of sustainability transitions?
ENISA, In contrast to the traditional ledgers used by banks and governments for centuries, which are centralised and inaccessible, blockchain ledgers are decentralised and transparent EPRS, Overall implications non-environmental Blockchain is currently a technology in an early phase of development, with many start-ups exploring potential applications.
Implications for the European environment The most well-known implication of blockchain technology for the environment relates to its energy consumption and, therefore, its possible negative impact on climate.
That could take years of concerted effort. To learn more about technology adoption, go to these articles on HBR. Into the last quadrant fall completely novel applications that, if successful, could change the very nature of economic, social, and political systems. They involve coordinating the activity of many actors and gaining institutional agreement on standards and processes. Their adoption will require major social, legal, and political change.
These automate payments and the transfer of currency or other assets as negotiated conditions are met. For example, a smart contract might send a payment to a supplier as soon as a shipment is delivered. A firm could signal via blockchain that a particular good has been received—or the product could have GPS functionality, which would automatically log a location update that, in turn, triggered a payment. The implications are fascinating. Firms are built on contracts, from incorporation to buyer-supplier relationships to employee relations.
If contracts are automated, then what will happen to traditional firm structures, processes, and intermediaries like lawyers and accountants? And what about managers? Their roles would all radically change. They cannot be effective, for instance, without institutional buy-in. A tremendous degree of coordination and clarity on how smart contracts are designed, verified, implemented, and enforced will be required. We believe the institutions responsible for those daunting tasks will take a long time to evolve.
And the technology challenges—especially security—are daunting. How should executives think about blockchain for their own organizations? Our framework can help companies identify the right opportunities. One strategy is to add bitcoin as a payment mechanism. The infrastructure and market for bitcoin are already well developed, and adopting the virtual currency will force a variety of functions, including IT, finance, accounting, sales, and marketing, to build blockchain capabilities.
Another low-risk approach is to use blockchain internally as a database for applications like managing physical and digital assets, recording internal transactions, and verifying identities. This may be an especially useful solution for companies struggling to reconcile multiple internal databases. Testing out single-use applications will help organizations develop the skills they need for more-advanced applications. And thanks to the emergence of cloud-based blockchain services from both start-ups and large platforms like Amazon and Microsoft, experimentation is getting easier all the time.
Localized applications are a natural next step for companies. Organizations can also tackle specific problems in transactions across boundaries with localized applications. Companies are already using blockchain to track items through complex supply chains, for instance.
This is happening in the diamond industry, where gems are being traced from mines to consumers. The technology for such experiments is now available off-the-shelf. Developing substitute applications requires careful planning, since existing solutions may be difficult to dislodge.
Retailers that offer them to consumers can dramatically lower costs per transaction and enhance security by using blockchain to track the flows of currency within accounts—without relying on external payment processors. These new gift cards even allow transfers of balances and transaction capability between merchants via the common ledger.
Blockchain could slash the cost of transactions and reshape the economy. Transformative applications are still far away. But it makes sense to evaluate their possibilities now and invest in developing technology that can enable them. They will be most powerful when tied to a new business model in which the logic of value creation and capture departs from existing approaches.
Such business models are hard to adopt but can unlock future growth for companies. Consider how law firms will have to change to make smart contracts viable. Whatever tack they take, executives must be sure they understand and have tested the business model implications before making any switch.
Transformative scenarios will take off last, but they will also deliver enormous value. Two areas where they could have a profound impact: large-scale public identity systems for such functions as passport control, and algorithm-driven decision making in the prevention of money laundering and in complex financial transactions that involve many parties.
Transformative applications will also give rise to new platform-level players that will coordinate and govern the new ecosystems. These will be the Googles and Facebooks of the next generation. It will require patience to realize such opportunities. Though it may be premature to start making significant investments in them now, developing the required foundations for them—tools and standards—is still worthwhile.
With our framework, executives can figure out where to start building their organizational capabilities for blockchain today. Clearly, starting small is a good way to develop the know-how to think bigger. But the level of investment should depend on the context of the company and the industry.
Financial services companies are already well down the road to blockchain adoption. Manufacturing is not. The very big question is when. You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more. The Truth About Blockchain. It will take years to transform business, but the journey begins now. Guedda Hassan Mohamed. Here are five basic principles underlying the technology.
Distributed Database Each party on a blockchain has access to the entire database and its complete history. Peer-to-Peer Transmission Communication occurs directly between peers instead of through a central node.
AI, Anastasia Georgievskaya and many others. In addition to the invited talks, both the AI and Blockchain sessions will feature large industry panels comprising of the leading industry experts. Insilico Medicine was the first company to apply deep generative adversarial networks GANs to the generation of new molecular structures with specified parameters and published seminal papers in Oncotarget and Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Another paper published in Molecular Pharmaceutics in , that demonstrated the proof of concept of the application of deep neural networks for predicting the therapeutic class of the molecule using the transcriptional response data, received the American Chemical Society Editors' Choice Award. That is why we partnered with BitFury and look forward to engaging with the top players in both fields in Basel.
Today's AI and Blockchain markets are reminiscent of the dot com boom. And while many of the projects and companies in both fields are taking advantage of the hype cycle and inflated expectations , some projects present serious opportunities and threats to the pharmaceutical, insurance and finance industries", said Alex Aliper, president of European operations, Insilico Medicine, Inc.
For example, the use of blockchain in electoral systems could transfer logging and verification tasks away from a central authority and distribute them among voters, who would hold a copy of the open voting record. Blockchain-enabled e-voting has already been used in internal elections within a political party in Denmark and shareholder votes in Estonia EPRS, Other applications of blockchain are being developed for situations where it is necessary to know ownership histories.
For example, blockchain can be used for digital content management by storing and authenticating ownership rights and licensing terms, enabling authors to know when and who is using their work and to be directly and immediately rewarded via smart contracts JRC, This could help to protect copyright at a time when the internet has made piracy especially of audiovisual material common practice thanks to torrent applications and streaming. However, blockchain technology also raises several security, privacy, data protection and accessibility concerns.
First, the anonymity of users, the use of cryptocurrencies and the possibility for blockchain-enabled networks to operate across borders increase opportunities for illegal transactions and criminal activities, including money laundering and tax evasion EP, a.
Institutional accountability and legal responsibility become increasingly diffuse, while identifying cryptography-literate perpetrators becomes more difficult. This makes it harder for national authorities to control these activities and enforce the law EPRS, Security breaches and malicious attacks can also occur, which can make users less keen to distribute sensitive information within the network.
Privacy and data protection concerns relate to the possibility of identifying individual users. The more personal data are stored on the blockchain, the easier it is to discover to whom they belong EPRS, Recent research indicates that third-party web trackers can deanonymise users of cryptocurrencies by using the information provided by consumers on most shopping websites Goldfeder et al.
Last, but not least, is the issue of accessibility and equity, as there is a risk that blockchain could increase the digital divide, either because of lack of access to blockchain-based services or lack of practical knowledge about how to use them EPRS, ; ENISA, The most well-known implication of blockchain technology for the environment relates to its energy consumption and, therefore, its possible negative impact on climate.
Wider use of blockchain technology could counteract climate change mitigation efforts, as electricity remains largely generated from fossil fuels worldwide. In , generation from combustible fuels still accounted for The Bitcoin application is particularly illustrative.
These estimates must be interpreted with caution, due to methodological issues, limited data availability and highly variable conditions across the industry Koomey, Nevertheless, Bitcoin is only one cryptocurrency, which is only one application of blockchain.
Finding a way to reduce the energy consumed for transaction verification will be essential. Swapping the orginal consensus mechanism, i. Some cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications already rely on these alternatives. However, a thorough assessment of each mechanism and its energy impact and energy efficiency is still required EP, b. Switching to greener sources of energy and developing less energy-demanding computation are other options to be further explored Jones, It would also be possible to reduce the energy consumption of Bitcoin by restructuring the way blockchain maintenance is incentivised de Vries, Like other emerging ICT-based technologies, blockchain also raises concerns about electronic waste e-waste.
Competing miners require more and more efficient mining hardware, leading to quick obsolescence, roughly every 1. Since its creation, Bitcoin-mining hardware has already shifted from the use of central processing units to graphic processing units, field programmable gate arrays and application-specific integrated circuits.
Notwithstanding the energy consumption and e-waste issues, blockchain technology can also support environmental protection. In particular, it can offer opportunities to make existing consumption and production processes more transparent, which could enhance their sustainability.
A promising application relates to supply chain management in industries such as forestry, energy, food or mining. There are already standards and certification schemes to ensure sustainable and responsible supply chains, but existing processes remain costly and unreliable in many regions EPRS, Blockchain can make information about the origin of a product, processes and the parties involved in related transactions and logistics visible, traceable and verifiable by all those in the supply chain Kouhizadeh and Sarkis, As the information is secured and time-stamped, it cannot be altered or modified, which reduces the risks of fraud and errors EPRS, This can support the application of sustainability criteria for the selection of suppliers, vendors, materials and products, as well as the design of more sustainable logistics networks and internal operations Kouhizadeh and Sarkis, Eventually, this would help consumers to make choices that do not undermine environmental protection — or human rights and working conditions — in countries across the supply chain EC, b.
Experimentation is under way. For example, researchers have recently simulated the application of blockchain technology to electronically trace timber through its life cycle, combining an open source radio frequency identification system and a blockchain ledger to retain records in a secure and decentralised way Figorilli et al. More generally, some internet and blockchain pioneers argue that blockchain-enabled initiatives, such as decentralised autonomous organisations DAOs , could bring about new forms of governance arrangements that would challenge existing economic and power dynamics EPRS, A DAO is an organisation that can run on its own, without the need for any central management, as the governance rules agreed by its members are programmed in smart contracts that are automatically enforced and executed through blockchains EPRS, Other blockchain applications potentally beneficial to renewable energy diffusion, energy efficiency and the reduction of energy consumption are being explored.
IBM and Energy-Blockchain Labs are experimenting with a blockchain-based green asset management platform for trading carbon assets in China in a more efficient way IBM, Some envisage a blockchain-based peer-to-peer energy transaction platform that would enable efficient electrical energy transactions between prosumers and lead to economic and environmental benefits Park et al. EnergiMine has developed a blockchain-based rewards system that uses digital tokens to incentivise consumers to save energy Forbes, Blockchain technologies have attracted the interest of European public institutions.
The European Commission has recently co-initiated several initiatives to support the development, monitoring and standardisation of blockchain technologies, such as the European Blockchain Partnership EC, b and the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum EC, , as well as extending funding and awards through the Horizon programme.
At present, however, the environmental and sustainability implications of blockchain remain insufficiently analysed. This is particularly true for energy consumption. More reliable data are needed on current and future blockchain energy consumption, which also requires more rigorous methodologies and alternative scenarios.