How Blockchain Companies Offer The Promise of Modernisation to Mainstream Industries How Blockchain is helping transform industries through smart contracts and distribution ledger technology
By Kumar Gaurav
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Blockchain, a technology that was until very recently the domain of techies, has caught the attention of mainstream industries around the world. Businesses across various sectors are now lining up to adopt this distributed ledger technology which promises far greater levels of efficiency, security, and productivity than most current technologies offer. This is distributed ledger tech offers a decentralised and transparent method for two or more parties to conduct transactions involving money and high-value assets and exchange valuable documents or information in a highly secure manner.
Although the most popular and successful application of blockchain technology has been in the creation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, etc. the technology can prove to be highly transformative to several industries. Let's take a look at a few of them:
Healthcare industry
While the digitisation of healthcare systems and records are a reality in many parts of the world, India's healthcare industry is still heavily reliant on paper-based records. There is a pressing need for modernisation and digitisation within this sector which is still encumbered by inefficient systems. Blockchain has the ability to help make healthcare information of transparent and easily accessible for patients and providers, while keeping it secure from hackers.
Entertainment industry
As music and videos went digital about two decades, piracy became a growing concern for music artists, production companies, and record companies who lost control over ownership of content as well as revenue streams due to online downloads. However, today the entertainment industry is looking towards blockchain technology to create better digital rights management systems for media such music and videos, and find new content monetisation opportunities. Many companies are developing blockchain-driven solutions which are aimed towards creating a standard system for authenticating content ownership and rights on a global scale.
Real estate industry
Anyone who has ever purchased or sold a home knows just how much paperwork is involved in a real estate transaction. Blockchain technology can eliminate all the hassles of such paper-based processes and complex transactions arising at the time of exchange of fixed real estate assets between two or more parties. With blockchain, all documents is involved in such deals. Smart contracts powered by blockchain will play an integral role in managing both fulfilment of legal requirements for real estate transactions and help in disbursing funds as soon as the pre-determined criteria for the sale and purchase of assets are met.
Blockchain is a technology that has caught the attention of not just private businesses and crypto exchanges, but also the Indian government, which has committed a substantial amount of money for the development of IndiaChain, the country's own home-grown answer to Blockchain. According to reports, the government is also exploring the possibility of blockchain being used to maintain land records, health data, and linking it to India Stack, a digital framework developed around Aadhaar. The government has also been keen on using the distributed ledger technology as part of the Digital India initiative, and bring greater transparency and accountability in the country's existing banking system. It is no surprise that alongside developments like these, blockchain players operating in India find themselves in an unusual fix due to the government's ambiguity in recognising virtual currencies. Although IndiaChain is envisioned as a foundation on which a decentralised digital banking system will be based, allowing blockchain-powered cryptocurrencies to operate, albeit in a regulated environment, will be the key to building a truly digitised and cashless economy.
Therefore, the government's approval for the use of virtual currencies will not only help transform the way in which financial transactions are conducted, but also bring more transparency into them to prevent fraudulent transactions from taking place.
