Taking blockchain to the masses

The popularity of cryptocurrencies has catapulted blockchain into the spotlight. But like many so-called ‘disruptive’ technologies, there’s still a great deal of unfamiliarity around what it is, what it does, and — perhaps most importantly — its potential to transform everyday life. However, as projects based on blockchain establish momentum worldwide, we are beginning to see that its greatest use cases extend well beyond its initial crypto domain.

IDC defines blockchain as “a data store that is distributed across a network among participants that are able to come to consensus on the validity of transactions, without the need for a central authority to mediate or authenticate”. It isn’t a new technology; organisations have been leveraging its promise of immutability for a few years now, with much of its early adoption confined to the financial sector. With the technology on the rise, the IDC expects blockchain investment to reach US$2.1 billion by the end of 2018. Some of the projects I have seen recently are testament to this growth.

Take Dubai for example, which wanted to measure its citizens’ experiences with businesses and other entities in order to make decisions to further boost quality of everyday life. With this objective in mind, Avaya developed a proof-of-concept to showcase how blockchain could be used to measure these experiences — a Happiness Index. The concept would provide an incorruptible, secure data source where all commercial, retail and government entities could securely and anonymously add their data and also consume the aggregated insights from it.

A more typical example comes in the way of everyday customer engagement between retail brands and consumers. Think of the protocol when contacting a bank, telco or a utilities provider — the need for customers to identify themselves repeatedly when interacting with those organisations is tedious, offers a less-than-acceptable experience and only hinders ‘first time resolutions’. Additionally, the process is error prone, triggering either security breaches or causing organisations to reject legitimate communications.

Another example is the recent recall of Takata airbags. Some manufacturers claimed they did not know how to contact the owners of many affected vehicles as their records only show original buyers. In this context, data from insurers and government bodies, securely stored within a blockchain, could have been referenced to mitigate this dilemma.

So what will blockchain’s impact be on the technology industry? With the Notifiable Data Breach scheme now in place in Australia, and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation laws affecting companies across the globe, the need to secure identification data may result in significant outlay on identification management and fraud counter-measures.

With the introduction of blockchain for identification-as-a-service scenarios, perhaps on a pay-per-authentication model, and the continued shift of identification work into the cloud, the industry could work towards generating significant savings as the number of users increases. Furthermore, blockchain could boost a company’s adherence to compliance standards, and most importantly, improve the customer experience as it becomes easier for them to authenticate and manage their own identities.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/singkham

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