Blockchain tech’s multipurpose role in driving global advancement

Published at: Aug. 25, 2020

Since the advent of blockchain technology in 2008, we have seen an ongoing sense of fortune, and several industries have been, and still are, grateful participants. The enormous boom will undoubtedly cause many other businesses to come aboard this train and completely step up their operations.

Food industry

Blockchain tech in the food industry will make the process of food production, distribution and storage completely transparent. The decentralized ledger system will provide easy access to vital information about the food product you are buying, from when it was grown to when it reached the market and how long it has been stored.

A study conducted by Walmart shows how the digitization of the food supply chain would reduce the risk of infected foods getting to consumers. Walmart partnered with IBM to develop a Hyperledger system to store all information about its two test products: mangos and pork. The result demonstrated a food system with increased fresh food and minimal waste. Frank Yiannis, vice president of food safety at Walmart, said the following about the study:

“With blockchain, you can do strategic removals, and let consumers and companies have confidence. We believe that enhanced traceability is good for other aspects of the food systems.”

Voting

The traditional ballot system has existed and served its purpose for years, but it’s safe to say it has outlived its time. The digital voting system was brought on some years back to replace the paper ballot style, but it isn’t clear how it is safer, especially with lots of hackers on the prowl. So, how can blockchain technology help? Remember, the aim is to make the process as transparent and secure as possible.

With elliptical curve cryptography, voters can create two keys — private and public — to cast their votes. The public key is revealed to a verifier that certifies it, while the private key is registered anonymously and used to pass ballots and sign off during elections. Once this is done, anyone can determine if the signature is right or wrong using the public key. This is how blockchain can provide an easier and better way to vote.

Data sharing

If there is any lesson to be learned from the 21st century and the six months of lockdown we’ve witnessed globally, it is the pace at which the world has gone digital. With many companies, researchers and individuals constantly looking to exchange information securely, blockchain adoption for data sharing is inevitable.

While the widely used methods of exchanging data are laden with many flaws, blockchain boasts of a tightly secure peer-to-peer exchange of information that is independent of a third party. For example, Ideaology, an open-source blockchain project on Ethereum, is a platform for entrepreneurs, engineers, artists and scientists to exchange, review and monetize ideas freely.

Medicine and pharmaceuticals

Up to $200 billion is lost annually due to fake drugs and other misdoings in the pharmaceutical industry. Blockchain technology can potentially revolutionize pharmacies the world over by taking over supply chains. The distributed ledger system is also well in line with the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Supply Chain Security Act requirements. Undoubtedly, it would significantly reduce the prevalence of substandard and counterfeit drugs, as every drug can be effectively monitored from production to the end stage.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity breaches and attacks are as old as the internet, and we have borne witness to quite significant ones with billions of pieces of personal information and resources stolen. Most of these breaches are a result of human vulnerability to phishing. A blockchain system can help prevent these attacks using cryptography — a sophisticated security network that uses a set of algorithms to encrypt and decrypt data.

Certainly, blockchain has come to stay, and many industries have realized this. It will be exciting to see how more industries adopt the technology in the post-pandemic era.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Joshua Esan is a freelance writer and editor passionate about blockchain technology and the health industry. He is a fourth-year medical student and has worked with various companies and blogs since the blockchain revolution began.