Just 1% of CIOs have adopted blockchain

Despite widespread hype surrounding the transformative potential of blockchain technology, just 1% of CIOs worldwide have adopted the technology, according to a recent Gartner survey.

The research firm questioned CIOs across 98 countries, including 113 in Australia and New Zealand, about their progress with blockchain technology as part of its 2018 CIO Survey.

The survey found that just 8% of CIOs are in short-term planning or active experimentation with blockchain, and only 14% are in medium- or long-term planning.

One in three (34%) said their company has no interest in the technology at all, and 43% said while blockchain is on the radar, no current action is planned to investigate or adopt it.

“This year’s Gartner CIO Survey provides factual evidence about the massively hyped state of blockchain adoption and deployment,” Gartner VP and Fellow David Furlonger said. “It is critical to understand what blockchain is and what it is capable of today, compared to how it will transform companies, industries and society tomorrow.”

Among the organisations in short-term planning or having already invested in blockchain initiatives, 23% said blockchain requires the most new skills to implement of any technology area, and 18% reported that blockchain skills are the most difficult to find.

In addition, 14% said blockchain requires the greatest change in the culture of their IT department, with 13% believing that the structure of this department will have to change in order to successfully implement blockchain.

Unsurprisingly, the financial services and insurance industries are leading the way in terms of blockchain adoption, but the transportation, government and utilities sectors are warming to the technology due to the potential for improving process efficiency, supply chain and logistics opportunities.

The technology is also being explored by telecommunications companies, in part due to the growing popularity of telco-provided consumer payments services such as mobile payment.

According to Gartner’s Hype Cycle model for emerging technologies, blockchain is approaching the Peak of Inflated Expectations. This is followed by the Trough of Disillusionment as the hype bubble bursts.

“How quickly different industry players navigate the Trough of Disillusionment will be as much about the psychological acceptance of the innovations that blockchain brings as the technology itself,” Furlonger said.

“While many industries indicate an initial interest in blockchain initiatives, it remains to be seen whether they will accept decentralised, distributed, tokenised networks, or stall as they try to introduce blockchain into legacy value streams and systems.”

Image courtesy Gartner.

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