Blockchain Paving Way for Enterprise Digitalization
What is Blockchain & what does it offer?Technology is a dynamically growing field. Where the introduction of new things and concepts every passing day puts organizations on a race to keep up with the pace, it simultaneously provides them the opportunity to adopt them and expand their worth. From the plethora of these technological advancements, blockchain, a concept aired for the first time in 1991, has taken the 21st century with a storm. It is essentially a distributed and decentralized public ledger which is used to store data.
Although the first practical blockchain project implemented was Bitcoin in 2009, it was the introduction of Ethereum in 2015 which took blockchain to an entirely new level – a generation of blockchain 2.0. This paved the way for the people to explore this technology beyond its conventional use such as Smart Contracts, NFTs, DAOs, De-Fi, etc. The applications that blockchain provides are limitless with promising advantages. This is the reason why individuals and organizations, both, have started adopting it. For example, Figure 1 shows exponential growth in blockchain wallet users over the last ten years.
Figure 1: Global Number of Blockchain Wallets Users (Source: Zippia.com)
Why is Blockchain beneficial for Enterprises?
The most valuable asset that any company can showcase and prove to its customers is Trust, and that is what blockchain is known for. The decentralized structure of this technology guarantees that no data can be tampered with, and smart contracts ensure that something that has been agreed upon will execute, no matter what. Blockchain’s Security feature complements its candidacy for use in enterprises since all the transactions have a digital footprint and can hence be traced back to their origin. The transaction times are minimal which means customers would not have to worry about waiting for days to get their transactions through.
These aspects, when amalgamated, can potentially make blockchain the most sought-after technology for any organization around the globe. Given these reasons, it is highly recommended that companies start exploring this technology for its potential use cases native to their ecosystems. Figure 2 depicts a visualization of comparison between startups in different industries adopting blockchain.
Figure 2: Percentage of Startups in Different Industries Focusing on Blockchain (Source: appinventiv.com)
Companies that are using blockchain
There are companies like Toyota and Ford Motors which are considering blockchain, while many big sharks have already started adopting blockchain. Following are a few publicly traded companies that use blockchain:
Microsoft has worked with EY (accounting firm) & Maersk (a well-known logistics/shipping company) to create the first marine insurance platform which is based on blockchain. Moreover, to smoothen the procedure of paying royalties to game developers, the company has also used blockchain for its Xbox systems.
Kodak is an American company which creates photographic and film products and provides digital imaging services. Kodak uses blockchain to ensure the copyrights of the videos and images that it produces. Moreover, it also uses the technology to inhibit infringements and piracy and to verify originator identity.
Oracle is the world’s largest database management company. Oracle is aiding other companies to adopt blockchain solutions which are cloud-based. Moreover, it is also hosting startup program for companies developed on or working on blockchain and require assistance in their business’s development.
Intel, a technology company, and by revenue it is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer. Their enterprise-grade blockchain platform, Hyperledger Sawtooth, creates environments which are reliable and effective for the businesses to operate. This further ensures protection of data from unwanted entities through a ledger which is unhackable. Intel has not stopped here and is increasing its investments in more projects that involve blockchain.
This technology, without a doubt, can boost the value of businesses. Figure 3 depicts the forecast of business value for the current decade.
Figure 3: Blockchain Business Value Forecast (Source: Gartner.com)
Blockchain in supply chain
Amongst all the other applications of blockchain, one of the most intriguing uses is supply chain. The key features of blockchain that make it a suitable contender for incorporation in supply chain are its settlement through consensus algorithm, its ability to trace back blocks and their data to their respective origin, its immutability and hence, faith on the integrity of the data stored.
The following properties of blockchain solve the prevalent issues in the supply chain industry:
- Trust – replaces manual data entry with digital process
- Customer satisfaction – can show the trace to origin of every product
- Low transaction cost
- Lesser transaction time – Since lesser disputes/disagreements
- Integrity maintenance
Figure 3 depicts adoption of blockchain technology in supply chains in the previous decade.
Figure 4: No. of Blockchain Projects Each Year (Source: Vadgama & Tasca 2021, Frontiers in Blockchain)
Conclusion
Blockchain technology did take its fair share of time to get into the market properly, but ever since it came, it grew unstoppably. It is a concept which although seems very simple, yet its applications are rapidly growing with every passing day. This technology is gradually becoming a necessity and will hence soon be essential for the sustainability of any organization. It is an ideal time for enterprises to delve into this field, explore it, and if they are successfully able to execute their task, gaining an edge over their competitors will become inevitable.
About Truscova:
Truscova comes with 30+ years of academic research and hundreds of academic publications which pioneered the area of Formal Verification. The team combines academic leadership, industrial strength and Blockchain expertise. Truscova currently analyzes Solidity code combining Formal Verification techniques: abstract interpretation, constraint solving, theorem proving, and equivalence checking.