Why blockchain deserves attention: Non-financial uses of blockchain technology

Artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, biology, genetic engineering, self-driving cars, graphene, virtual reality and blockchain technology are the most interesting inventions at the moment, and at the same time, blockchain is also the most difficult technology to implement. Why do I say that? Because blockchain technology will lay the economic foundation for the next century, not only in the economic field, but also throughout the entire society.

You may have heard that blockchain technology will disrupt the financial order. It is undeniable that this is true. Banks are currently investing a lot of money in experiments to cut costs and increase efficiency. And blockchain can disrupt more than just the financial field.

Blockchain technology is essentially a database, but that belies its revolutionary nature. It's like saying that computers are just 1s and 0s - it's what you do with them that matters. Databases are everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, Uber, they are all databases, and so are our health records, police records, and bank accounts. If you understand how this works, you'll understand why. What you need to understand is this:

Blockchain is an interesting database with new features

• First, they are autonomous. They operate on their own, without being controlled by any person or company.

• Second, they are permanent. They are like all the computers in the world that are functioning properly. Because the contents of the database are copied from thousands of computers, if 99% of the computer network is down, the blockchain will still function normally, and the network will repair itself.

• Third, they are secure. The blockchain’s encryption technology is the same industry standard as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the open source code has never been compromised. Their ledger is “as strict as a password”, which means you can understand that their entries cannot be forged.

• Fourth, they are open, allowing anyone to develop products and services on them and edit the code.

With these four properties, blockchain allows us to do many things that we could not do in the past.

Internet of Things

People are talking about the Internet of Things, but unless you're a tech geek, you may not fully understand what it is. The Internet of Things is about giving physical objects an online identity. Just as your computer and phone are already connected to the Internet, in the near future, cars, houses, bridges, and just about anything you can think of will be connected to the Internet. This will allow objects to be remotely controlled and communicate with each other. For example, when the power is tight, appliances will automatically switch on, cars will automatically overtake according to road conditions, or bridges will notify cars to slow down when snow falls. This is not a pipe dream. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 20.8 billion "physical objects" will be connected to the Internet.

How does this relate to blockchain technology?

IBM and Samsung pointed out in a recent report that blockchain technology solves a series of problems that hinder the development of the Internet of Things. They can be summarized as: cost, integrity and future protection. For IoT companies, the cost of developing smart devices is huge. Blockchain technology replaces centralized clouds and large server farms, which enables the Internet of Things to outsource infrastructure supply to the lowest cost place in the world. Because blockchain is a shared system, these costs are shared by all its users, which also reduces redundancy and improves efficiency.

On the issue of trust, the authors of the Samsung and IBM report wrote:

"In the Snowden era, there is no doubt that there is no trust in the Internet... The current closed-loop security model is outdated and must be replaced by something new - a transparent security model. Hence the shift to open source."

Blockchain is open source and seemingly “trustless,” meaning you don’t have to rely on anyone but the consistency of the internet.

Transparent supply chain/notary services

At the beginning of the article, I said that blockchain is open and permanent. This is very important for businesses based on transparency and trust. An immutable, open ledger provides a neutral method for companies to prove where products and objects are in the supply chain at a specific time, and consumers can also trace the source of their purchases.

There are many startups in this field:

Everledger, which is currently participating in Barclays' incubator program, has unlimited potential. By creating a digital DNA that includes cut, clarity, color, carat weight and 14 other references, the company is able to create a transparent ledger of diamonds, regardless of their origin, ownership history and the journey they have undergone.

Provenance is another company working on this, ensuring that transactions can share the story behind the product. The company's white paper authors wrote: Despite many efforts, the chain of custody that can verify the effectiveness of products remains difficult to prove. Of course, blockchain can change this.

Stampery and Blockverify are two other companies using the bitcoin blockchain to verify items, from emails and documents to medicines.

Secure digital identity

One of the biggest obstacles to implementing online identity right now is data management. Due to this issue, a lot of data from many companies has been stolen by hackers. The key to online identity is that the user can verify their identity while they are in control of their data. Blockchain uses public key cryptography (whose inventors received the Turing Award), which allows us to solve this problem from another perspective.

ShoCard is a company that uses blockchain technology to implement this approach. The ShoCard system allows users to control their own data and only share relevant data. At the same time, it also removes the need to continuously enter usernames and passwords to log in. Onename is another company of this type. In the field of digital ID, blockchain emergency ID is a huge step forward. Inspired by the confiscation of passports of migrant workers, the emergency ID creates a trust network that allows family members to verify each other's addresses.

Regulation and government

Blockchain technology offers many possibilities for governments. In a report this year, Mark Walport, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, pointed out that blockchain technology can be used in a range of areas, including:

• Transparency and tracking of how aid funds are spent

• Protecting critical infrastructure

• Registering assets such as intellectual property, wills, NHS health data and pensions

• Reducing relief fraud

In addition, the Estonian government, one of the most technologically advanced governments in the world, is working with Bitnation to allow e-residents to notarize their marriages and births on the Horizon blockchain. In response, a report said: "If a couple gets married on the blockchain, it does not mean that they are regulated by the Estonian government or any other government. Instead, they are regulated by the blockchain. Blockchain technology ensures that your contractual agreements are legally binding around the world.

The most exciting thing is that we don’t know how much progress blockchain technology will bring to other fields. This is the real starting point of the Internet.

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Original article: http://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/why-you-should-care-about-blockchains-non-financial-uses-blockchain-technology
By Oscar Townsley
Translator: Wang Er
BTC address: 16enj2bapYdzPfa2DWSVaT1g95MCXg2hHt
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/d-2‎)