Here’s Why Your Business Needs Blockchain To Grow In The Future

The new technology gives you the ticket to the new age of business with enhanced data security and tracing. Business stakeholders are awash with choices for software tools that make operations a breeze.

The tools cover every possible aspect of operations like HR, CRM, ERP, etc., and support professionals at every level. Some of these are even replacing humans altogether with the advancement in AI/ML. It is increasingly cementing its place as a must-have in the business world-blockchain. Businesses that embrace blockchain development on a priority basis will get full advantage going into the future.

The technology is already making waves for its security, versatility, ubiquity, and many other features. These features help overcome the obstacles that businesses face. The elimination of those obstacles adds to a profit margin while improving operational efficiency and resiliency. The increased trust in your systems translates to output by employees and improvement of customer relationships with the brand.

The development of the technology is increasing its use cases. What started as a means to manage cryptocurrency has now expanded to include records of all varieties. Blockchain development is applicable to multiple domains, further entrenching its status as the inevitable technology of the future. Proof of this is the annual investment that companies are putting into the technology, which stood at US$6.6 Billion in 2021 and is projected to increase to US$39.7 Billion by 2025.

The driving force for its adoption is a unique feature that no other technology offers-decentralization. It ensures that enterprise data isn’t confined to a single source but distributed across the network. So, there is always a server with your records that can deliver them effectively.

Blockchain development is therefore becoming an inevitability for businesses everywhere. If you find that you’re still in two minds about the technology and its benefits, then this blog contains what you need to recognize its possibilities.

What Is Blockchain Technology?

To cut the clutter out from everything blockchain, there’s a need to get to the root of the technology itself. The world was introduced to it by the hitherto unknown person Satoshi Nakamoto, who created the now-famous Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Its 2017 price gain made it a household name among the masses, but what caught the attention of the business world was the blockchain development that made Bitcoin possible.

The cryptocurrency, and others like it, rely on Digital Ledger Maintenance. In this type of technology, transactional records are maintained in sets of data “Blocks” spread across multiple databases, referred to as the “Chain”. Hence the name Blockchain. The servers exist as nodes across a peer-peer network. Hence falling under the category of Digital Ledger Technology (DLT).

Decentralization

The norm is to have a central database for all enterprise data, with one or two others for backup. While this makes operations and maintenance easy, it introduces a weak point for cybersecurity threats to exploit. Once a cyberattack affects that server, it becomes vulnerable to further exploits, compromising data security severely. Blockchain development overcomes this problem with the decentralization of the data.

As mentioned, the records get distributed across peer-peer nodes in a network. All data transmissions in the network follow a well-established protocol and are encrypted with the latest and most secure algorithms. Only recognized nods can decrypt them, thus protecting data integrity. There are no intermediaries here, and no central authority commands the network or the management of information packages.

The ledgers are made further secure with owner authentication at the point of origin. The network also prevents data loss by making it impossible for anyone other than the owner to erase the records. No node operator can tamper with the data; they only verify and maintain it using its metadata.

Hence, blockchain development gives you the ability to access your records across multiple nodes around the world without them falling prey to attacks and data issues. Decentralization also introduces redundancies by default, eliminating the need for having a separate server for backups. This combination of advantages over traditional data maintenance and transfer makes blockchain an appealing proposition to businesses.

Where Blockchain Technology Is Being Used Today

Being a versatile technology, blockchain can be found aiding businesses across the board. As awareness and accessibility spread, more businesses are incorporating it into their daily operations. It serves multiple functions across domains presently like:

Finance and Banking

Blockchain development found its place in the world through cryptocurrencies, so it’s no surprise that the finance and banking world is its early adopter. The technology today serves many functions in the sector beyond cryptocurrency management, extending to the international transfer of fiat currency, transaction and data storage security enhancement, etc.

Spain’s Banco Santander was the first major financial institution to adopt the technology for its international money transfer in 2018. And more banks are continuing to do so as conventional transfer mechanisms are susceptible to network faults and cyberattacks, despite efforts to the contrary.

An increase in the number, frequency, and variety of cyberattacks is providing the tailwinds for blockchain development to be introduced here as a solution. The other subdomains of the industry where the technology is finding its place are Capital Markets, Trade Finance, Regulatory Compliance, Insurance, Anti-Money Laundering Measures, Financial Auditing, and Peer-peer Direct Transactions.

Payment is the primary reason for blockchain use in the sector, followed closely by securities settlement. Fraud detection and trade finance come behind those as the other major use cases.

Logistics

Blockchain technology has many parallels with the logistics sector that make the two a symbiotic pair. They both involve the movement of packages across a network securely so that they reach the intended destination without issues. Thus, blockchain development is today the buzzword in this sector.

What adds to its appeal is its ability to provide reliable and safe goods tracking information across the supply chain internationally at every point of the operation and in real-time. Besides cargo, tracking can also be enabled for the vehicles used in the operation, from large ships and planes to last-mile delivery vans and bicycles.

With all this data securely packaged into ledgers and distributed everywhere, stakeholders can gain exceptional situational awareness of every link in the supply chain. The cherry on top of it is the ability to append other data to the files. Blockchain development can be used to associate auxiliary data like goods and delivery vehicle insurance to the respective item/vehicle’s file. Its international presence means regulatory compliance across borders becomes easy with cross-border network security remaining intact.

Real Estate

Property ownership is a matter of handling secure transactions of large sums of money as well as managing plenty of paperwork with lots of information. Thus, there is a need for reliable and secure documentation and money transfer technology in the real estate sector, which is successfully fulfilled by blockchain.

All involved parties in the sector can benefit immensely from its use. Blockchain development makes it very easy for government agencies to track and manage land records by combining on-ground, aerial survey data of the land with that of the personal profile of the property owner, user, etc. The property’s documents become easily accessible to owners, renters/lessors, realty agents, etc.

The information in them won’t ever be lost, increasing reliability and trust among its users. Deals can be completed without hassles as the documents can be shared globally in a secure and verified manner.

Energy

The grid is one of humanity’s greatest triumphs due to its scale and complexity. And those factors make it a challenge to manage it, due to the vast quantities of data involved. Blockchain development can enable constant communication between energy producers and distributors to balance the grid and provide a blemish-free, uninterrupted power supply. It also secures communication against the increasing cyberthreats that target the generators’ and distributors’ systems.

The three major transformations affecting this sector can also be easily managed using blockchain. The first is the increased introduction of renewable energy. The added intermittency means real-time about its source and output must be accounted for and distributed across all concerned parties securely. The second one is the introduction of AI/ML to manage the systems. They work best with a well-established and secure network as the one blockchain development provides.

The third is the emergence of local grids and vehicle-to-grid technology. The local grids are likely to be interconnected to form a large one, requiring large data management capabilities and secure transfer across each local grid and the central authority. Vehicle-to-grid can also be a challenge with each EV functioning as both a consumer and generator of power, requiring proper pricing and energy quantity calculation. All of this data can be easily stored as blocks, distributed, and stored using blockchain.

Legacy energy sources like oil and nuclear can benefit a lot too with blockchain development. Oil logistics and financial transactions are made easier and secure by it. Nuclear fuel and spent waste can both be managed securely with blockchain as well, including its logistics from mine to final storage.

Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Devices

Technology can now turn many ordinary objects like furniture into Smart devices that can intuitively operate to give their users optimal results. These devices are interconnected to offer a seamless experience for users, allowing for their remote management with ease. This networking requires a secure and robust data packet exchange network that blockchain can satisfy.

Blockchain development is not just for office IoT applications-industrial IoT is a major subcategory that has gained prominence. It helps monitor and manage the numerous components of a factory, including the building. Administrators can access real-time data about those components from anywhere in the world. With blockchain, that process becomes very secure and easy, enhancing productivity and the adoption of automation.

Some of the vital data include resources used for production and building maintenance. Using that, the administration can gauge the resource management strategy and implement corrections to cut down on any wastage. Security of buildings, like vaults, can also be enhanced with secure content data storage and sharing.

Healthcare

The healthcare industry is ripe for blockchain development. It generates mountains of various data types due to the myriad of sources involved. Besides EMR/EHRs of scores of patients, establishments like hospitals, clinics, etc, must keep records of medications, staff, vendors/suppliers, and such. Adding to all of these data-generating sources is the emergence of telemedicine. Remotely operated robotic surgery arms and the like should not be prone to hacks if they are to function properly.

Blockchain can keep all of this data nicely packaged in respective files and encrypted to prevent breaches of security and privacy. It can also tackle another major concern: speed. Distributed nodes storing data make for swift retrieval and usage, helping deliver time-critical services. Blockchain development can add data from personal medical devices like wearables readily thanks to the ability to append it to present files.

Data sets separated from multiple devices worn by a person can be combined into a single set by interlinking them based on common criteria. These sets then form the necessary blocks of the network. The other subcategories using blockchain are pharmacological management, medical research, medical logistics, component usage monitoring, and management, etc.

Media

Modern age media is less about large entities broadcasting a limited amount of content and more about content creators doing it using social media. This requires social media companies to safely maintain user data against all types of threats. Blockchain development is, thus, employed to accomplish it while maintaining privacy according to regulations.

Both social media companies and their users can access users’ profile data with simple yet robust authentication measures throughout nodes. The technology can also be used to protect Intellectual Property like music. Smart contracts and direct peer-peer transactions via micropayments (using cryptos or legacy currency) will keep payments flowing to artists securely for every stream of their work.

Blockchain can attach verifiable ledgers to content metadata that are time-stamped for authenticity. It can identify IP infringements more easily and help correct courses quickly. Blockchain development makes the process disintermediary-it helps get rid of intermediaries that can cut the share of royalties artists receive. The blockchain network can act as an alternative to video streaming sites as well.

Government Agencies

Local, state, and national governments have many functions that handle innumerable bundles of data daily. And all of that data management must occur with the utmost security and privacy. Multiple government agencies and multi-national governments need to constantly communicate with one another without disruptions, information errors, and other issues. Transparency must exist from the government’s end to let the citizen know about its operations.

Blockchain development plays a pivotal role in providing solutions to the above problems. It lets governments have accurate ledger creation, dissemination, and maintenance capabilities. This helps increase efficiency while offering many other benefits.

Here’s a look at the many applications of the technology in a government setting:

Office Records Upkeep

Documentation is one of the government’s most prominent functions, maintaining files about its citizens’ vital information. These could include birth certificates, property records, tax filings, etc. Even local governments are chock-full of a variety of papers. And some still keep them in the paper format.

This puts citizens and officials in a difficult spot whenever these documents need to be accessed. They must visit the location of storage, and must protect them against fire, water, insects, etc. that can damage or destroy them.

Blockchain development can prevent these problems from occurring and simplify the entire process. It makes accessibility, security, and privacy easy while reducing the costs of storage and maintenance.

Biometric Information Management

Modern-day personal IDs have beyond mere names, photos, blood type, etc. information. They now include facial recognition data, fingerprint data, iris data, etc. These biometric data sets must be added to the correct person’s ID file while keeping their security and privacy intact.

Blockchain is the answer to this challenge due to its excellent security provisions. Biometric data present in blocks can’t be tampered with or deleted, protecting the person’s vital information against cyberattacks. Blockchain development also adds security during transfers with encryption. With a combination of high-level security and multiple redundancies, the biometric data will be stored and transferred without hassle. All the user needs to view the information is a single security key, such as a social security number.

Tax Management

Taxation is a cumbersome and complicated process as it requires utmost data accuracy and security. Tremendous amounts of taxation data are constantly being input into the respective agencies’ databases, which if not managed properly, can overwhelm the entire system quickly. Blockchain development can be used to handle those data management requirements.

Every person’s tax details can be attached to their files securely and distributed over the blockchain network. It can also be applied to commercial cases, stopping businesses from getting away with tax avoidance and money laundering. There’s a lack of human error in the storage and transfer stages, building resiliency into the process and increasing efficiency.

Compliance Management

Government regulations for businesses can be a minefield to navigate, with the umpteen categories and applicable rules. Every mistake can cost dearly though. Blockchain development will help your business thrive as it makes the recording of compliance measures a breeze.

It stops the accidental deletion of valuable records during transfer between various departments or elsewhere. The presence of a standard means of communication between the applicable government agency and the business. The regulatory oversight process, thus, becomes a smooth affair instead of a torrid one.

Places, where compliance is not up to the mark, can be identified easily and mended quickly. Updating records to match new developments from your end or the government becomes easy and safe. Your confidential information will remain intact with excellent security measures.

Territory/Land Management

Land management is one of the government’s most important duties, identifying not just the country’s boundaries but also those of individual properties. And blockchain development boosts the process with accuracy and reliability.

Government agencies can package land survey information from multiple sources like on-ground and satellite to give exact plot dimensions for your business’s land properties. Any new purchase or sale of a present property can be instantaneously appended to the existing data blocks in the network. You can also easily resolve disputes regarding land boundaries with neighbouring properties.

The best part: these use cases are just the start of what the technology has to offer. For example, PPP contract management using blockchain will ease the planning and implementation of government projects. However, unlike the internet, blockchain development will work behind the scenes to make it happen. Public services for both the general populace and business owners will be enhanced with greater efficiency and reduced costs.

The Benefits Blockchain Development Has To Offer

A business can avail many benefits by implementing blockchain technology into its operations, like:

Cost Cutting

No cost overruns due to bad data management practices anymore. Blockchain’s security and ubiquity make sure that enterprise data is always sealed tight against attacks. You don’t have to lose money paying for extra security measures, recovery after cyberattacks, or associated legal settlements.

If you adopt cryptocurrency, then you save more costs as it’s easier to maintain than a regular bank account. You don’t have to pay usage and transfer fees that can add to your budget easily, nor include a middleman at any point. Blockchain development also saves you costs by reducing associated paperwork as the standard is fixed across the network.

Data Security Improvement

The data security and privacy enhancements offered by the technology can’t be stressed enough. It’s a whole new paradigm in digital security, thanks to decentralization, and the latest, and best encryption methods. Not to forget the tamper-proofing and inability to delete information by third parties.

Swift Transactions and Transfers

From money to confidential documents, blockchain technology can transfer it all securely and quickly. With crypto, the parties involved will get the required information from the nearest node, bypassing the delays that come with multi-server hop. Blockchain development, when used for document transfers, removes compatibility issues with the use of network-wide standards. This enhances transfer speed too.

Improved Customer Relationship

Your CRM gets armored against malfunction when you opt for blockchain technology. It will receive accurate information without the possibility of data leaks and corruption. The ease of data accessibility makes marketing strategies easy to create and implement, bringing in more conversions and building more brand trust.

Competitive Edge Gains

Your business will get ahead of the competitors that don’t use blockchain due to the many beneficial features at your disposal. Customers will also want to use your services/products as you will be perceived as trustworthy and innovative. Blockchain development will add to your operational efficiency, cutting costs and saving your resources for better use cases.

Improved Asset Management

Blockchain for IoT in industrial and commercial settings boosts ERP management. Mobile and stationary assets can be monitored in real-time data collected to improve their function. Timely maintenance cuts down on costs from damage limitation measures. Data about intangible assets too can be managed easily and securely, such as financial records.

In Conclusion

Your business needs to be performing at its peak always to grab more market share and beat the competition. Accurate data storage and transfer are vital to it, something blockchain development brings to the table. You get to enter the exciting world of cryptocurrency and other emerging technologies that can propel your business towards achieving its goals with reduced costs and enhanced efficiency. As always, the sooner you adopt it, the farther ahead you get of your competition.

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Source: WittySparks