Blockchain Made Simple - A Non-Technical Explanation: Harvard Business Review Says Blockchain Could Reshape the Economy. (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781723852329)

Why learn about Blockchain? It is already transforming the business world, and companies such as IBM and Microsoft are making significant investments in Blockchain THIS IS A NON-TECHNICAL INTRODUCTION What is it good for? Smart contracts - Supply chain management - Relief efforts - Medical research - Epidemiology - and, yes, least important, bitcoin. From IBM to the UN, blockchain is already impacting how large organizations work. Why learn about blockchain? Harvard Business Review says blockchain could reshape the economy. $400 million US will be invested in blockchain business technology in 2019. Blockchain is a form of distributed database - It is NOT synonymous with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is to blockchain as the dollar bill is to the printing press - Just One Example Why should you learn about blockchain? After all, you have zero interest in cryptocurrencies, the semi-mythical money backed by nothing but complex encryption, not gold, not silver, not even a government or a bank. However, blockchain has almost nothing to do with Bitcoins. Bitcoin is to blockchain as spam is to email. That is, you can't have spam without email - so too you can't have Bitcoins without blockchain. However, there is much to be celebrated with email. Besides cryptocurrencies, we already see blockchain being applied to digital contracts, financial and public records, and property ownership. Upcoming advances will see applications in medicine, science, education, supply chain management, and even intellectual property (books and music). Blockchain impact on business will be enormous as the technology matures. To cite just one disruptive example, smart contracts could dramatically reduce the need for business lawyers. Consider a self-actualizing or "smart" contract - that is, a contract to perhaps deliver 100 widgets of a particular color in exchange for $100 on delivery. In a contract managed through blockchain, you don't need a lawyer to execute the contract or a centralized clearinghouse to guarantee the transaction; you can get paid automatically as soon as the buyer accepts delivery. Blockchain technology is poised to disrupt the entire business legal structure by eliminating a large portion of it. The BLOCK in blockchain is a chunk of information. Each separate block containing additions or corrections to that original block contains information about every proceeding block and is hence a chain of blocks or a blockchain. >Today the UN is using blockchain technology to manage humanitarian crisis through eleven UN agencies. >Medical researchers say blockchain could greatly improve many aspects of medical practice and especially health administration tasks, including information sharing in clinical trials, electronic health records, drug management, education, and insurance. Upwards of $100 million is going to be spent on medical applications of blockchain technology in 2019 alone. >In fifteen years, when the government catches up with technology, your medical records from every doctor, lab, hospital, and pharmacy will be available to your doctor in one secure place. >Blockchain technology is already being used to keep track of perhaps a billion dollars worth of diamonds from the raw mined rock through sale, cutting, resale, incorporation in jewelry, and finally sale of the jewelry. >The music industry is about to be turned on its head when artists can directly bill downloaders. >IBM is investing in blockchain in a big way, beginning with supply chain management, and they have a pretty good track record in technology - remember, the first PC was the IBM PC. >Microsoft is developing a positive ID system for 1.1 billion people to use. >Banks, including international powerhouses such as JP Morgan/Chase, are already developing blockchain applications.

Author: Beth Goldie, John a. McCormick
ISBN-10: 1723852325
ISBN-13: 9781723852329
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 09/25/2018
Pages: 58
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.22lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.14d