Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2020. Read them in this 12th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Brian
Platz, Co-CEO and Co-Chairman of Fluree
Blockchain Poised for Rapid Growth and Adoption
2019 was a big year for blockchain, and 2020 is poised to escalate
that rapid growth and adoption. Now that the world has been introduced to the
blockchain and is becoming more comfortable with the what, it's now time to
focus on the how. 2020 will be about implementation, real-world value and
blockchain-driven solutions. Game on.
1. Implementation over definition: The conversation around blockchain
technology will shift from its definition and potential utility to best
implementation practices. As the collective industry has experienced the
education and adoption phase necessary for defining key blockchain use
cases in their business models, more time will now be devoted to applying
the next implementation steps: taxonomies, data standards, application architectures,
and scalable deployment.
For
many that want to participate in trusted data sharing, BaaS (blockchain as a
service) will be the best option, as there is no need for every single company
to try and deploy their own cross-industry blockchain and compete with similar
offerings. While for others that are looking to bring the benefits of
traceability and integrity directly to internal data, building a specific
niche-based blockchain will also be a popular option.
2. Interoperability key challenge and opportunity As different blockchains
models begin to form, each with their own nuanced architectures and governance
models, interoperability will be both a key challenge and opportunity. The lack
of standard data elements and architectures will drive businesses to
increasingly focus on building pathways between blockchains for
interoperability. These pathways will ultimately strengthen interconnectivity
across business departments, applications, and industries.
3. Providing real world value over hype: We will focus less on
blockchain technology as a vague term for innovation and more on its ability to
cut costs, provide value, and solve real-world business problems in very
specific sectors of industry. We have already begun to see this trend of
stripping away hype: CB insights reported that
"Mentions of ‘Blockchain' in Corporate
Earnings Calls are Sharply Down in 2019." This departure from
buzzwordiness, juxtaposed against recent reports that
Blockchain's market will grow at an
aggressive 75% CAGR, is a telling sign that blockchain is evolving from a
corporate prop to a valuable tool. At Fluree, we generally don't focus on
starting the conversation with blockchain; we focus on how data integrity,
decentralization, and security can help reduce overhead and create
opportunities in very specific business processes.
4. Data-Centric Blockchains - Blockchain technology got its start on the global stage as the
technology backing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. These
blockchains, among many other projects that followed, were excellent examples
of transactional mechanisms. They represented a new paradigm of asset exchange
- bringing elements of trust, integrity, and decentralization to peer to peer
transactions.
However,
in addition to these transactional use cases, 2020 will see an increase in
applying the benefits of blockchain technology directly to data (business
information). Moving beyond tracking the movement of assets, blockchain can
bring trust and interoperability to most business processes simply by storing
data (and metadata) on a distributed ledger. Data integrity allows companies to
make better decisions, trace and trust their business processes, and directly
embed security IAM (identity and Access management) directly into information
systems. And as businesses begin to share data now more than ever, blockchain
technology is well-positioned to provide data with the shareability required to
participate in the coming data economy.
Healthcare,
insurance, and credentials are examples of industries where blockchain should
be applied to data rather than simple transactional assets.
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About the Author
Brian is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Fluree, PBC, a North Carolina-based Public Benefit Corporation focused on transforming data security, ownership, and access with a scalable blockchain database.
Platz was an entrepreneur and executive throughout the early internet days and SaaS boom, having founded the popular A-list apart web development community, along with a host of successful SaaS companies.
Previous to establishing Fluree, Brian co-founded SilkRoad Technology which grew to over 2,000 customers and 500 employees in 12 global offices.