Blockchain is a word tossed around a lot these days and you may be wondering how to use blockchain to help your business. By covering a few examples of potential blockchain applications it may spark some ideas of how you can leverage blockchain for your business.
But let’s start by discussing the technology itself.
A blockchain is a digital ledger that is secured using cryptography. Data on a blockchain is divided into chunks called blocks. Each block on the chain includes a cryptographic chain to the previous block—meaning that each block is securely linked to the block before it.
You may be wondering how to use blockchain to help your business.
To edit a block requires changing every block after the target block to ensure that the blocks still are connected to each other correctly. Because of this, blockchains are very difficult to modify once blocks have been added. This resistance to modification is why blockchains are so powerful.
Transaction Histories
Since blockchain was first introduced as the foundation for cryptocurrency, you should not be a surprise that blockchains are useful for storing transaction histories.
If you are not familiar with Bitcoin, its blockchain is distributed and is maintained by a network. Blocks on this network communicate with one another to validate the blockchain’s accuracy. This structure allows Bitcoin to ensure accuracy without relying on a single party to store the transactions.
When it comes to your business, you probably would not need to utilize this decentralized structure. Instead, you could use blockchain to serve as a detailed record of transactions, etc. The benefit here would be the assurance that your data would not be tampered with. There are many potential applications for your business.
Recordkeeping
Beyond transaction histories, blockchain excels at all types of recordkeeping. Whether you are looking to store electronic correspondence, proposals, or any other document, they can be stored digitally via blockchain. This gives your business an accurate image of the details you choose to store. By leveraging blockchain technology, it helps to make sure that data does not get modified.
There are many large firms that are using blockchain for this purpose right now. Transportation companies were quick to see the advantages of blockchain technology and utilize it to store transparent, current records on the status of shipments.
Quality Control
Blockchain presents many opportunities when it comes to enhancing quality control programs. Businesses can carefully track the production of their various products and if they fail to meet quality standards, blockchain will make it easier to find the point of failure. All they would need to do, potentially, is search the production history of the product and carefully review data recorded for the various steps in production.
Beyond looking at one manufacturer, if a more complex product fails, that is made up of several components, companies will eventually be able to search all supplier information and determine which component is responsible. Blockchain is the future of quality management.
Coordination
The security and flexibility that Blockchain offers make it an ideal choice for businesses that coordinate with other businesses on a regular basis. A perfect example of this would be the travel industry.
Airlines and airports coordinate actively about flight schedules and other data. Without careful coordination between both partners, the results could be very pricey. With the individual airlines all maintaining their own flight databases and then sharing that data with the various airports, it is important that this coordination is in harmony.
Due to this, blockchain is the ideal solution for maintaining and sharing of this information. Blockchain has the potential to greatly reduce disorder and improve coordination across the industry. Businesses in other industries could take advantage of similar coordination by investing in a shared blockchain. This way, all of the involved parties could easily be on the same page.
Image: LaurenNCooper (Flikr) http://bit.ly/2vSttCa