Blockchains will change the world

What do you know about the term "blockchain"? Many people not part of the technical Internet sphere go between "What's that?" to "Yeah, it's that thing with Bitcoin, right?". Recently, I attended a company event with a speaker that introduced me to this technology, and I got very interested in what this is. I decided to look deeper into this new technology - and what's so great about it. Suffice to say, I believe this is a technology that will slowly and silently revolutionalize the world, and I want to share it with you.

So what are blockchains?

First and foremost, blockchains are simply ledgers - more accurately, a type of distributed ledger in a network, used to store records and transactional data. Blockchains record data or transactions in "blocks", which are then linked to the most current block (which is also linked to blocks preceding it), forming what you might have already guessed as a "blockchain". This entire process is shared and distributed across all members in the group or network, which gives blockchains its characteristic immutability and decentralization characteristics - it would be impossible or extremely difficult for any one member of the group to retroactively modify a transaction that was already recorded as every member has a copy of the original records.

What problems do Blockchains solve?

Technical details aside, the immutability from modification and inherent transparency of blockchains solve many record-keeping issues such as duplication, tampering and speed of transaction settlements. A rogue administrator or bookkeeper would not be able to modify transactions on his own, and with this knowledge - blockchain members and users can also be confident that transactions were not (and cannot be) tampered with, speeding up approval times immensely.

What are the potential applications of blockchains?

Blockchains can be applied in any area that requires a record of transactions across a network, the most obvious of which is accounting and bookkeeping. However, its potential applications go way beyond that. Just imagine any situation you've faced where there were delays in a process or contract because someone needed to verify your records for ownership, identity, history, authenticity or something in that regard. Blockchains have the potential to remove, or alleviate much of the work done by middlemen (compliance officers, accountants, lawyers etc.), possibly saving businesses and users billions of dollars in resources and time.

• An intellectual property holder could, through the use of blockchains, have an irrefutable record of who, or what has accessed their content, and settle the appropriate payments quickly without costly checks.
• Security-sensitive areas such as airports could have a reliable record of passenger and aircraft movements. Passenger data, such as passports in a blockchain could make it impossible for someone to travel with a forged passport.
• Inventory and vendor management could benefit much with a blockchain shared by businesses and their vendors or suppliers - removing the always-present problem of records not tallying up, or duplicated/incomplete records, speeding up payment and settlement times,

That's great, but what's the catch?

As with all new technologies, we don't yet know the potential problems of blockchains. This can almost be regarded as the Wild West of Internet technology - very much unregulated and poorly understood beyond what is potrayed in the media, but if you're daring enough, anything can be achieved. With the now world-famous example of Bitcoin, there are already issues cropping up with transaction speeds (with some transfers taking up to 20 minutes or more) due to limitations in the blockchain.

In spite of that, blockchains have the potential and are already starting to change the world. I'm excited to see what this technology has in store for us, and for the future.