Strong Backbone for Businesses: The finance industry is about to go through a big change because of new technology like AI and Blockchain. To put it simply, blockchain is a great tool that helps with building, keeping track, and measuring trust. Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta authored a paper in 1991 detailing the preservation and protection of past data through the use of cryptography. This can be called the foundation of the Blockchain.
What is Blockchain Technology? How one blockchain can have Infinite possibilities & opportunities in hand in this red ocean market world.
Some background
Blockchain remains a captivating enigma for many individuals today. Its foundation is rooted in a culmination of various technological disciplines, including cryptography, computing, and economics, which have undergone years of rigorous research and development. In the following section, we will delve into the historical aspects that underpin this revolutionary technology.
So are we moving from centralise model to decentralise model for all our business!!
We have heard a lot about its strong potential in the global supply chain. It became the backbone tracking architecture for an evolving and fully transparent grid. Moreover, blockchain presents a transformative avenue for converting traditional currency into a digital format that lends itself to seamless monitoring and oversight. By harnessing the potential of blockchain technology, financial transactions can be imbued with enhanced transparency, accountability, and security.
Investors can also look to diversify into this burgeoning new space via first-movers like oil and gas giant BP and tech companies like IBM. Now some companies are busy developing a blockchain-based system that will become the data security center in this era of Big Data.
So what is blockchain?
Blockchain operates as a protocol akin to other sophisticated systems, evoking the concept of swarm intelligence. Its architectural design offers a heightened level of data protection and security, resulting in a more robust means of safeguarding information. This enhanced security aspect not only mitigates the risk of fraudulent activities but also facilitates expedited transaction processing and reduces associated fees within the financial domain.
- To send information
- Track information
- Transmit information
- Remittances or cross border money transfer
- Secure information, mainly in the financial world
In the realm of finance, blockchain finds diverse applications, exemplified by the following illustrative instances:
- Cross-border payments – Blockchain makes it easier and faster to send money to other countries without needing middlemen, which also makes it cheaper.
- Smart contracts– Smart contracts are computer programs that automatically carry out agreements between people. They help businesses work more easily and safely. With smart contracts, people can trust each other more easily and get things done faster. This is made possible by blockchain technology.
- Supply chain management – Blockchain helps improve transparency and tracking in the process of getting products from factories to customers. This makes it easier to check if products are genuine and prevents people from making fake copies.
- Identity verification – Using blockchain technology to verify your identity is safe and reliable. Your personal information is stored securely and can’t be changed or tampered with.
These examples exemplify how blockchain’s application in the financial domain brings about transformative benefits, empowering organizations to enhance operational efficiency, strengthen security measures, and unlock new possibilities for innovation and collaboration.
Blockchain – Not Bitcoin
Bitcoin is digital money. A virtual currency that was the first successful blockchain product. The blockchain is the technology that enables cryptocurrency and provides a solid and secured foundation for coins like bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, etc.
Let’s stop here and put one thing in our minds: “Blockchain and BitCoin are not synonyms”. Blockchains can be compared to traditional big data or distributed databases like MongoDB as well.
This paradigm shift empowers individuals and organizations to leverage technology in optimizing their financial management practices and exploring novel applications of digital currency. As we navigate the possibilities unlocked by blockchain, we embark on a journey towards a more efficient and innovative financial landscape.
Smart contracts terms of programmable autonomous contracts are ensured by this exemplary technology. Some examples of for use cases outside the financial domain areas below.
- Online voting to address voter fraud.
- Can be used as a secure identity
- Data security; as data is the costliest a-fair of today’s time
- It yields strong potential in global supply chain
- Retail industry system based on blockchain that can become the data backbone
Blockchain allows businesses to transact more smoothly and efficiently. Transform your business and digitise your transaction workflows.
To illustrate, it has many examples like those above; at the same time, it has many other use cases where transparency and security are lacking.
Backbone for Businesses
Blockchain can serve as a strong backbone for businesses. This can even be called the immune system of any good business today. It is a kind of distributed digital ledger technology that is becoming a powerful tool at a rapid pace. It’s like featuring a product that contains small blocks of the brain in the form of dust.
The blockchain is probably the most revolutionary innovation of the last decade. We are living in Contracts, aka the third generation.
- Smart Contracts: The term was first coined in 1993. Smart contracts became a buzzword in 2013 when the Ethereum project about “decentralized Platforms'” kicked in. Where it was all about the applications that ran exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud, or third-party interference.
- Cloud storage is another application that businesses can take advantage of. The offering is all about secure cloud storage while decreasing dependency.
- Hyper-ledger: This is an umbrella project of open source blockchains and related tools started in December 2015 by the Linux Foundation to support the collaborative development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers. All over the global market, there are ledgers that organizations and individuals alike must trust.
Smart contracts became heroes thereafter in modern businesses across the industry. The ethereal-enabled internet-of-things platform uses this application to allow a customer to rent bicycles where they can unlock a smart lock after both parties agree on the terms of the contract. This is an example from one of the companies (Slock) projects.
An angel for your Blue Ocean Shift Strategy
Blockchain can give you a market that is your own with competition in front. If you understand your business and where to use Blockchain in it, then the whole Blue Ocean is certainly yours. Now let’s take all the action frameworks one by one.
- The first action – Eliminate:Â Which of the factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated? For this blockchain, 100%, as there are many of them, We can take security issues into account; It is considered the most secure technology of today. If you have it right, you are set.
- The second action –Â Reduce:Â Â Which factors should be reduced well below the industry standard? An easy one to guess: cost is your answer. It involves value innovation, which gives organizations the ability to combine differentiation and low cost at the same time.
- Blockchain allows for simulation:In this setup, transactions are recorded and visible to everyone, so it is not purely anonymous. But it does provide pseudonymity. For example, digital wallets are identified via the wallet’s public address or public key. The public key may or may not be connected to personal information such as a name or address. This allows anyone to transact privately and reputably, with data remaining secure.
The blue ocean shift strategy provides businesses with the opportunity to navigate uncharted waters, enabling them to grow and expand their operations seamlessly while overcoming traditional challenges. By embracing this strategy, organizations can explore untapped market spaces, unlocking new avenues for innovation, differentiation, and sustained success.
With a focus on creating uncontested market spaces, the blue ocean shift strategy empowers businesses to chart their own course, unencumbered by fierce competition, and capitalize on unique opportunities. This approach fosters a climate of growth and adaptability, allowing businesses to navigate smoothly and cultivate a competitive advantage in the ever-evolving marketplace.
Why Blockchain
Blockchain technology is a special way of keeping track of important information like deals, trades, and promises that cannot be changed or tampered with easily. It lets everyone in a group have the same copy of something important. By using blockchain, companies can make transactions easier and faster. This improves how they work and makes it easier to do business.
To fully comprehend the power and capabilities of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies in a business context, further exploration and insights will be shared in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned to discover the immense potential and practical applications that await in the realm of business blockchains.
Points to Note:
All credits, if any, remain with the original contributor. We have covered all the basics around data analytics for digital businesses with blockchain. In the next few chapters, we will talk about implementation, usage, and practice experience for markets. So if you think you’ve got the right answer, take a bow and collect your credits! And don’t worry if you don’t get it right we all learn at different speed.
Books + Other readings Referred
- Open Internet research, news portals and white papers reading
- Lab and hands-on experience of @AILabPage (Self-taught learners group) members.
- Self-Learning through Live Webinars, Conferences, Lectures, and Seminars, and AI Talkshows
Feedback & Further Question
Do you need more details or have any questions on topics such as technology (including conventional architecture, machine learning, and deep learning), advanced data analysis (such as data science or big data), blockchain, theoretical physics, or photography? Please feel free to ask your question either by leaving a comment or by sending us an  via email. I will do my utmost to offer a response that meets your needs and expectations.
Conclusion– Blockchain technology offers businesses the transformative ability to digitize transaction workflows and revolutionize their operations. Its significance in the contemporary landscape has reached a point where businesses cannot afford to overlook its potential, as it has firmly established itself as a long-term, growth-oriented solution. Often hailed as the next revolutionary breakthrough, blockchain is still in its early stages of development but holds immense promise.
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Hi Vinod, thank you for the insightful article. I’ve got two questions,
1. Do you foresee any large enterprises in the fintech business, particularly those in Zimbabwe, moving forward with the adoption of blockchain as the backbone of their financial systems? I’ve read elsewhere that MoneyGram and Western Union are trialing Ripple’s blockchain offering.
2. Are peer-to-peer mobile money exchanges, more so those in Zimbabwe, in any threat from the rise of border-less peer-to-peer crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin?
Your thoughts and opinions are most welcome.
Thank you for the question. I will not respond on questions-2 for various reasons as its not technical in nature. Also my response are border less as per disclaimer in my blog. On question-1 there are many large organisation have started adopting it like IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, Western Union and Money Gram …… Blockchain is considered as safest technology of today where no hack has been reported so far.
I also think that a business will definitely help a lot of business to grow. This article is very helpful for me. Thanks for sharing this very helpful site. I will definitely return to this site.
Great article. This will surely helo me to have more ideas that I can use for my startup business. This is a very helpful article. I will surely return to this article.
I totally agree with what you said. I also think that blockchain can work as a strong backbone for businesses so I think that we definitely need to have more knowledge about it. Thanks for sharing this article.
Thanks for sharing this article. I think that this will definitely help me to understand it well. This article is very comprehensive and useful.
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