Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last year, no doubt you’ve heard about blockchain. You might not have any idea what it means (most do not) or you may have thought it was the latest tech fad (it is) and I thought both of those things. When I saw an article where it was mentioned, I skimmed over it not having a clue what they were talking about. When I heard it in a conversation, I nodded my head as if I understood. You may identify with either or both of these actions.
No more, at least not for me. It has my full attention. I’m no expert on it but I now probably know more than the average guy on the street. And to be fair, I’m kinda excited about it. Not like giddy-giggling excited (that’d be weird!) but more eyes-wide-open eager to see what happens next.
Why? Because I’m expecting it to revolutionize our world. It’s broad scope impact is impossible to measure at this stage but it’s safe to say it’ll likely integrate with, or replace altogether, a substantial number of existing tech workflows currently in the market. Way bigger than Bitcoin (the intro application that made it a buzzword), blockchain has huge potential in areas like purchasing, standardized contractual processes, digital identities, autonomous cars and more.
It’s definitely more efficient than many current systems that have human validations, theoretically more reliable than most databases with complex hierarchical server infrastructures, arguably more secure than typical systems with a single point of failure and certainly more trustworthy than all others due to it’s immutable design which allows for transparent consensus validation across the network.
To make it plain: it’s more reliable and you can trust it better than what we have now.
For me, I’m quite curious because I see enormous opportunity for it in many ways, not the least of which are the energy and maritime sectors in which there are numerous workflows wherein people are the final referee of the validity of a transaction, often unnecessarily. There are an untold number of scenarios where some substantial financial settlement is held up while sitting on someone’s desk who, eventually, will rubber stamp it when they get a chance. It could have been paid days, if not weeks ago! Imagine a system that enables funds to be released when proof of work is confirmed, triggered by an automatic verification in the workflow. Money could move instantly when the product is delivered, not 60-90 days later after the invoice has been dusted off – I surely ought to be getting an “Amen!” from somebody in accounts receivable!
I recently read an article about blockchain in the shipping industry which could reduce cargo theft, damaged goods losses and fraud throughout the supply-chain. I see all of those as being huge wins. Heck, after 22+ years in this industry, any single one of them would be a huge win!
I think blockchain is here to stay thus I, for one, am watching it very closely. Are you and if so, how? What impact do you potentially see in your daily ops and, for that matter, what skepticism do you have about it?
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