Issue 6 2019

16 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 6 2019 , Business Transformation Through Blockchain Words by Oleg Svet, the CTO of software development company Computools. Just a few years ago Blockchain entered the scene as a revolutionary and innovative technology that was changing the face of many businesses — and it is still doing it. Yet experts claim that blockchain’s potential is not even fully discovered. William Mougayar, a leading blockchain industry analyst, says: “A blockchain injects trust into the network, cutting off some intermediaries from serving that function and creatively disrupting how they operate. Metaphorically, blockchains are the ultimate non- stop computers. Once launched, they never go down, and offer an incredible amount of resiliency, making them dependable and attractive for running a new generation of decentralized services and software applications.” But how do the benefits of blockchain technology add up to a successful business transformation? The Potential Of Blockchain Technology The blockchain is basically a distributed database; it means direct, peer-to-peer interaction, it doesn’t require powerful intermediaries to authenticate or to settle transactions. The Blockchain uses state-of-the-art cryptography, so it can record any structured information. Not just the data about who paid whom, but also who got married to whom, or who owns what land, or what lighting system gets power from which power source. The blockchain is an immutable, unhackable distributed database of digital assets. Blockchain represents a fundamentally new opportunity for business. The highly decentralized and immutable blockchain concept uses mass collaboration and computer code to establish trust. This makes it possible for secure transactions to be verified and stored decentrally. In combination with “smart contracts,” the potential for blockchain becomes endless. According to the World Economic Forum, 10% of the global gross domestic product will be stored on blockchain technology by 2025. When discussing the potential for blockchain technology, the major talk focuses on the financial services industry. For the financial services industry, blockchain applications present a significant opportunity for creating new business models and streamlining internal processes. Combining such technologies as blockchain and smart contracts results in new decentralized business models. Another sphere of impact is the process automation, both within the companies and between them. With blockchain capabilities applied to the clearing process, for instance, companies can save time and money on transactions. New use cases of the blockchain technology are emerging almost daily. Supply chains are only one example. Companies can fight counterfeiting in their supply chains by implementing the private blockchain ledgers. They create unique digital signatures for each product or component and use them to easily trace providence, a chain of custody, and transfer of ownership, achieving end-to-end visibility. Similarly, supply chains can improve food safety and pinpoint the origins of tainted goods using a blockchain ledger. Health care is another industry that benefits from blockchain solutions. By maintaining health records in a private blockchain network, medical professionals can request permission to access a patient’s record to serve their specific purpose and record transactions on the decentralized ledger. This helps to prevent serious mistakes such as different physicians prescribing conflicting medications. Blockchain can also make data storing more secure. Recently some big companies suffered data breaches. This has clearly shown that personal information is highly vulnerable when stored in online databases. However, such information could be stored on a blockchain ledger, giving individuals more control over their personal data, as well as an opportunity to give businesses permission to access only the minimum amount of necessary information. Important is also the ability to know who has viewed the information. So the blockchain may indeed become a new way to deal with problems and threats, bringing improvement into large parts of any industry. Blockchain Use Cases In Business The best way to appreciate the blockchain’s potential and determine its value for a business is to look at real use cases. Forecasting With the invention of blockchain technology, forecasting has become an even more attractive area, offering even more opportunities. Apart from providing powerful peer-to-peer computing technology to financial companies, the blockchain has also provided a significant market-based forecasting solution for scientific applications. Insurance The blockchain automates insurance claims processing, and policy conditions can be written into smart contracts. Smart contracts are protocols that publicly and transparently verify compliance with a contract or enforce commitments. Holding a shared database and keeping records from being altered prevents fraud and provides customers with fair and timely payouts. Healthcare Blockchain is a convenient and innovative solution for medical and healthcare providers. It offers outstanding opportunities for storing an enormous amount of records, performing pre- authorization payments, and processing complex transactions. Real Estate Vulnerabilities related to real estate include an impressive