The Blockchain Dimension

To all but the worlds most senior scientists and thinkers the dimensions of the latest crop of disruptive technologies have breached the dam at which the layperson could reasonably be expected to understand:

• what they are
• how they work
• what he / she ought to do for best advantage to leverage the technology by positioning well for projected outcomes

Foremost amongst these tech saplings is blockchain.

To deal with these bullets as they relate to blockchain is therefore illustrative. Here is the best description I have been able to find that ties in with what those few I know and respect as experts have shared with me:

WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN?

A blockchain is a ledger of facts, replicated across several computers assembled in a peer-to-peer network. Facts can be anything from monetary transactions to content signature. Members of the network are anonymous individuals called nodes. All communication inside the network takes advantage of cryptography to securely identify the sender and the receiver. When a node wants to add a fact to the ledger, a consensus forms in the network to determine where this fact should appear in the ledger; this consensus is called a block.

Tests ones focus unless you are perhaps someone who enjoys simulated 3 dimensional chess whilst juggling 4 chain saws. So let's try another perspective in terms of what it allows us to do:

A blockchain allows you to securely share and/or process data between multiple parties over a network of non-trusted peers. Data can be anything, but most interesting uses concern information that currently require a trusted third-party to exchange. Examples include money (requires a bank), a proof or property (requires a lawyer), a loan certificate, etc. In essence, the blockchain removes the need for a trusted third party.

OK. It was worth a try but let's move swiftly on to bullet 2 and hope that this helps the medicine go down.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Transaction data is written into a block (in computing terms, that’s a small chunk of space on a disc in a computer somewhere…just like all the other data in the world). What distinguishes the block from everything else you create and save are the tamper resistant timestamps and unique identifiers: A transaction includes a hashed record of recent valid transactions, summary transaction info, address of the creator (also usually cryptographically hashed), block timestamp, and hash of the block preceding it (hence the chain). Hashes, very simply are alphanumeric strings generated by applying an algorithm to block contents 

Try again please:

From a technical point of view, the blockchain is an innovation relying on three concepts: peer-to-peer networks, public-key cryptography, and distributed consensus based on the resolution of a random mathematical challenge. None of these concepts are new. It’s their combination that allows a breakthrough in computing. See the blockchain as a database replicated as many times as there are nodes and (loosely) synchronized, or as a supercomputer formed by the combination of the CPUs/GPUs of all its nodes. You can use this supercomputer to store and process data, just like you would with a remote API. Except you don’t need to own the backend, and you can be sure the data is safe and processed properly by the network

Ouch! I give in.

Well you probably faired better than me. Regardless of how you actually managed with those first two bullets you should have gleaned enough from the early phase emergers such as crypto currency Bitcoin to recognise that blockchain is as disruptive, if not more so, as the internet was back in the 1990's.

So please accept that whilst we don't need (cannot begin to grasp) a deep understanding of what it is nor how it works, we absolutely do need to tackle bullet 3.

HOW DO I MOVE FOR BEST ADVANTAGE?

Of the 334,000 people working in insurance in the UK today some 219,700 are employed in administrative services such as broking and 3rd pary services. Source: ABI 2016.

These 219,700 roles are all under threat as blockchain matures.

'A new generation of insurance products will emerge connected to the programmable world through embedded sensors that identify, monitor and detect changes to the physical world of the insured' Nick Ayton Smartledger.io

So whatever you do MOVE!

Indeed you don't need to know in detail what it is or what it does to make a smart move here.

The smart move is to look ahead to how what you are doing today might very well be catered for by a blockchain solution and be part of helping that revolution to happen - there will be no stopping it.

If you are good enough at helping your sector evolve you will emerge with the neccessary insight, combined with change agent credential to help lead the same revolution in other sectors over the next 5, 10, 15 years. Later adopters will buy your consulting expertise likely for multiples of your current salary.

For further career thinking try my book...NAIL THAT INTERVIEW