Part 6: Blockchain-Technology – Application areas of Blockchain today
In my last article, I had addressed Blockchain-Technology in order you to better understand and classify the technical developments in the context of digitization and digitalization. Next step is to present some examples from various areas in this article to sensitize you to application areas of Blockchain-Technology nowadays.
Get the answers to blockchain technology
With this article you will get answers to the following questions:
- Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Financial Sector
- Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Information Technology
- Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Communication
- Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Administration
1. Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Financial Sector
Banco Santander, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain, is a retail and commercial bank.
In their press release from April 2018 the Santander announced the launch of a new international payments service, called Santander One Pay FX, that is using a blockchain-based technology. With this new service it shall be possible, that retail customers complete international transfers on the same day or by the next day. As highlighted in the press release, with the rollout of this service, Santander is the first bank to offer a blockchain-based international payment service.
2. Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Information Technology
Minebox IT Services GmbH, founded in 2009 and headquartered in New Zealand, offers a decentralized cloud backend, where you can store files.
While some files are stored locally some other encrypted pieces of your files are kept on multiple nodes around the world. As the data is fragmented and encrypted into small packages, this solution bypasses the common security issues of cloud storage.
According to their website, it is the world’s first network storage that generates cryptocurrencies. How does it work? You do not only store your own data, but also enable other users to use your free space. For that you get SiaCoins, a virtual currency, which you can use to pay the backups of your data.
3. Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Communication
Status Research & Development GmbH, headquartered in Switzerland, developed the first decentralized chat app. In addition to the use of various applications and the chat function Status also offers the possibility to transfer money directly from person to person.
To ensure continued development over the next few years Status has completed a successful round of financing of approximately $ 95 million.
4. Application area of Blockchain-Technology today: Administration
Estonia is in many ways a showcase when it comes to digitalization and the use of blockchain technologies. For example, Estonians have been able to vote online since 2005. Since 2011 even a turnout by SMS (short messaging service) is possible.
The interplay between digitalization and blockchain technologies is used in various contexts in order to exploit existing opportunities while taking transparency and security into account. E-government applications, e-tax for tax declaration and e-health for providing health data are just a few examples for Blockchain based application areas in Estonia.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are already several areas where blockchain technology is already being used successfully today. This is because the technology isn’t new. Even though the blockchain technology has recently become more and more popular as media attention increases, the Technology by now is already 10 years old. But relatively recently, more and more companies from different industries are interested in it – some because they feel threatened by the new technology in their segment and others because they see opportunities in this technology. Accordingly, it is not surprising that many areas of application are currently still in project phases. So you can be sure that there will be more and more application areas in the future.
However, given the fact that we are still relatively at the beginning in many places, board members and business owners should now recognize their opportunities and become active. With the right ideas and strategies, new business models can be developed today to conquer the market leadership of tomorrow.
Start today and check in the first step how to fit you are with the terms on this topic. With the Digi-Check you can easily find out what you already know and where you still have a lack of information. And if you belong to the first ones, you’ll also get the opportunity for a free 30 minutes online coaching session with me on top to talk about your results and your next steps.
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Do you want to get more insights from Yasemin about digitization, digitalization and digital transformation? Next Part is coming soon – so stay tuned. It is worth it!
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