7 Real World Applications of Blockchain

Blockchain is stealing the headlines. Literally! Besides Bitcoin as an “in the news” offering, Blockchain applications in various other spheres prove that it is as ground-breaking as was the advent of the internet itself. Predictions by Statista expecting the Blockchain market to soar to $2.3 Bn by 2021 are most likely to come true. Here are some great examples of Blockchain already making an impact across sectors!

MedRec – Deloitte forecasts the colossal-scale deployment of Blockchain in Healthcare by 2018 and MedRec is one such initiative. Having tasted project success with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, MedRec is now employing smart contracts to build a decentralized CMS for “Data” crucial to healthcare.

This open-source prototype controls the access to medical records. However, the options to audit, interoperability, and share the data still remain open. Medical researchers engage with MedRec and Blockchain plays a vital role in securing the authentication of the login.

Maersk – A consortium of Maersk and IBM have built a Blockchain Shipping Solution known as TradeLens. This industry-wide collaboration created a reliable shipping platform to connect 90 organizations. These organizations would benefit from a, comparatively, more secure and efficient global supply chain through the open-standard platform.

Through IBM Blockchain technology, shipping lines, shippers, freight forwarders, inland transportation, port and terminal operators, and customs authorities will efficiently interact through real-time shipping data and documents obtained from sensors and IoT. The TradeLens smart contracts let parties digitally collaborate in cross-organizational information exchange across business processes.

TransActivGrid – LO3 Energy of Brooklyn has partnered with Siemens in piloting a microgrid project leveraging Blockchain technology. The project allows residents (who have solar panels installed at their homes) with excessive energy to sell it to their neighbors.

Residents would get into a Blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer transaction. Estimates are that upwards of 5% electricity generated in the United States is lost during transmission. TransActivGrid thus employs microgrids which enjoy minimal energy loss during the transmission.

The capability of Blockchain together with TransActivGrid has supported a green, clean, and reliable energy source. This excess energy is now being utilized by community centers, shelters, and hospitals whenever needed.

Followmyvote.com – The Follow my Vote Platform allows checking of the real-time status of the progress of elections. With Follow My Vote, voters can securely and remotely login using a Government ID and a webcam to check for valuable information regarding their precious vote in real-time.

The most important advantage of voting through this platform is that voters can even change their votes before the deadline date.

This platform leverages Blockchain technology to prevent the digital ballot box from getting hacked. This offering has undoubtedly given the voters an opportunity to feel that their vote is imperative for democracy. Follow My Vote is not only reliable and secure; it is quite convenient and cost-effective as well.

Govcoin – A Brainchild of a tech-startup from the UK, Govcoin is an attempt to disrupt how the government provides and manages welfare. It implements Blockchain technology for payments. It aims to work exactly like the Jam-jar method, a proven method intended for financial savings.

The platform will use this method in the mobile phone environment offering instant benefits to claimants, avoiding any processing delays in payment.

Arcade City – This is a decentralized global community web and mobile app that connects customers with drivers through Ethereum Blockchain. The community offers temporary home rentals of short duration and peer-to-peer logistics.

Arcade City reshapes the system by exploiting the combined benefits of open-source development, the swarmwise principal, platform cooperativisim, and Blockchain technology. The capabilities of the app allow the user to schedule services and deliveries and call rides. These services can either be availed on-demand or scheduled beforehand. Arcade City is compatible with iOS and Android apps.

Also Read: Does Blockchain have a Role in IoT?

Verisart – An intuitive solution that allows the creation of digital certificates offering Blockchain-enabled security for artwork. Verisart allows binding them securely to provenance.

The solution provides a cryptography-secured, tamper-proof certificate that combines the three aspects of security, anonymity, and transparency to the artwork verifiable by a person. Users can avail this facility in two simple steps through a desktop or a mobile device.

Blockchain is then used to encrypt and timestamp these records. With this solution, managing and sharing the certificates is quite an effortless task.

Verisart’s solution offers the ease of:

• Documentation with standards as per the demands of museums, galleries, and cultural organizations
• Tagging to let the user add tagging numbers to the generated certificates
• Privacy settings to allow users to keep their crucial information and identity private
• Access where the user can share the certificates of ownership and place of origin.

Conclusion

These are only some of the examples among many many more that are already visible. Blockchain use cases now extend across Healthcare, Finance, Energy, Government, Charity, Retail, Transport, Real Estate, Media, and Manufacturing.

Blockchain could well fulfill its promise of being a game-changing technology with a transformational impact on our life and world!