{"id":15112,"date":"2018-01-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/identifi-global.eu.applyflow.com\/blockchain-technology-crypto-craze-or-foundation-for-the-future\/"},"modified":"2022-12-09T06:15:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:15:32","slug":"blockchain-technology-crypto-craze-or-foundation-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/blockchain-technology-crypto-craze-or-foundation-for-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Blockchain technology: crypto craze or foundation for the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tUnless you\u2019ve been living under a rock for the past five years, you can\u2019t help but have heard about blockchain technology.<\/p>\n

\n\tFortunes have been made and lost with Bitcoin \u2013 the first currency built using the technology. Hospitals have shown interest in the technology for storing patient records. Even Warren Buffet has made his bet on the technology.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs IT professionals, staying abreast of industry shifts and engaging with oncoming technologies is essential. Should you be learning about blockchain as part of your professional development, or is the rise of the technology about to lose momentum?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe case for blockchain technology<\/h2>\n
\n\tPitched by early adopters as the \u2018second layer\u2019 of the internet, sitting as it does \u2018above\u2019 the web, blockchain technology is not short of passionate advocates. That\u2019s because the two major issues that the technology engages with \u2013 records of transactions and contracts \u2013 have been foundational to our politics, society and economics.<\/div>\n
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\n\t\u201cBlockchain is an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. The ledger itself can also be programmed to trigger transactions automatically.\u201d In short, this means records of transactions are viewable by any party, but not able to be forged or changed by them. Transactions across blockchain technology are cheaper and \u2013 in many cases – faster. For many advocates of the technology, the end goal is that intermediaries who record and make transactions \u2013 including banks, lawyers and merchants \u2013 will no longer be necessary for parts of the successful operation of government, society and the economy.<\/div>\n
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\n\tThe technology is already making waves in diverse sectors. In politics, blockchain can prevent electoral fraud. In healthcare, blockchain can track individual vaccination records in societies without efficient medical services. In trade, blockchain can guarantee the origin of fish, wine, or any other stock. For IT professionals, blockchain\u2019s implications for data security \u2013 where tracking changes made to datasets \u2013 is essential, and could prevent attacks of the type JP Morgan experienced in 2014.<\/div>\n
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\n\tMost visible is the boom in cryptocurrency \u2013 which has seen more than 1500 ICO (Initial Coin Offerings) since 2009, with companies seeking to join the blockchain bandwagon by offering financial instruments using distributed ledgers. <\/div>\n
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\n\tFor IT professionals, opportunities for making fast money from blockchain development are widespread \u2013 but there remain fundamental problems with the technology and its applications.<\/div>\n
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\n\tThe case against blockchain technology<\/h2>\n
\n\tAt best, blockchain technology could stimulate a slow but complete revolution in computing. At worst, implementation of the technology could grind to a halt. <\/div>\n
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\n\tThat\u2019s because the obstacles to adoption are profound.<\/div>\n
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\n\tIn the first case, blockchain technology must be adopted by the institutions blockchain advocates want it to overthrow. Powerful industries that serve to process and record transactions are threatened by it, including lawyers and insurance companies. <\/div>\n
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\n\tFinancial services providers (like banks and credit companies that transfer and store wealth between individuals and businesses and across borders) are under more direct threat. Currently, these organisations\u2019 business model depends on charging customers to move and store assets, which blockchain providers can do freely or at minimal cost. <\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tUnderstandably, the financial services community is resistant to a technological idea that could force them to change how they do business. These same institutions are slow-moving, risk-averse and heavily invested and dependent on existing ledger technology \u2013 all of which makes the odds of their adopting the technology tomorrow even lower. <\/div>\n
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\n\t“The blockchain is not a disruptive technology. Instead, it\u2019s a foundational one.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tThe blockchain is not a disruptive technology. Instead, it\u2019s a foundational one. It cannot be easily adapted by individual or joint organisations into their existing processes because the distributed ledger system is built on a different premise to their current character. Blockchain systems must exist on their own or be integrated slowly and carefully, which costs time, money and risks for organisations.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tToday the blockchain community lacks maturity to answer these fundamental questions about integration with existing political and financial systems. Commentators including Joseph Stiglitz and Howard Marks have written the technology off as a tool for financial speculation. Others, including research firm Opimas, have accused the technology of being an over-complicated \u2018solution in search of a problem\u2019.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\t\u201cWhile the impact [of the technology] will be enormous, it will take decades for blockchain to seep into our economic and social infrastructure,\u201d says the Harvard Business Review. \u201cThe process of adoption will be gradual and steady, not sudden, as waves of technological and institutional change gain momentum.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
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\n\tBlockchain is set to grow in significance \u2013 but will not cause the same immediate, profound disruption generated by the advent of the smartphone, or wireless networks.<\/div>\n
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\n\tShould you learn blockchain development?<\/h2>\n
\n\tUnless your organisation is committed to answering difficult questions about how blockchain technology can shape our politics and economy, our answer is a qualified \u2018no\u2019. <\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tToday, applications of the technology are at an experimental stage \u2013 taking place in innovation departments of corporates like IBM, or in small startups. There is no shortage of blockchain developers, because there has been no significant demand for the technology to date given its complexity and novelty.<\/div>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n
\n\tInstead of investing significant time developing with it, IT professionals could better spend their time informing themselves about what blockchain technology is and can do, and considering its potential applications for the future. Spend an hour building a simple blockchain with Ethereum. Be inspired by startups building their business on the technology. In interviews, be prepared to talk about how the \u2018second layer\u2019 of the internet could impact the industry you\u2019re looking to join in the future.<\/div>\n
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\n\tAbove all, however, be clear on the challenges the blockchain faces in being integrated into your sector in 2018. In doing so, you\u2019ll help find the answers that will help take advantage of the technology\u2019s potential in years to come.<\/div>\n
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Unless you\u2019ve been living under a rock for the past five years, you can\u2019t help but have heard about blockchain technology. Fortunes have been made and lost with Bitcoin \u2013 the first currency built using the technology. Hospitals have shown interest in the technology for storing patient records. Even Warren Buffet has made his bet… Read More »Blockchain technology: crypto craze or foundation for the future?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}