There have been a lot of predictions as to the next great use of blockchain tech. Some have even said that blockchain could be the solution to gun control in the United States. So what else could the blockchain be used for? We went straight to the experts to find out.
Much like blockchain allowed for the first decentralized, user-owned digital money, the technology will also allow for the first self-sovereign digital identities. The term “self-sovereign identity” has been coined to describe the ability for a blockchain-based identity system to give users ownership over their digital selves and personal data. Existing models of digital identity rely on centralized authorities, like Google or Facebook, that manage identities on behalf of their users and can therefore take unilateral action, like locking someone out of their account. If you use Google to login to applications and websites, a simple mistake or intentional censorship by Google can suddenly leave you deprived of the identity you use online.
Blockchain can provide a decentralized infrastructure for digital identity. Only the identity’s owner would have control over the use of their identity, with no need to trust any third party when they wish to prove who they are online. Giving users sovereignty over their digital identities is the first step in returning data ownership to the individual and creating a more user-centric Internet."
Food and Beverage Supply Chain
"I think it will be in the production and distribution of food and beverage products in order to ensure quality, safety and sustainability. A number of high profile applications of blockchain have been in this industry. IBM Food Trust was being used by 10 large-sized food companies such as Nestle, Unilever, Walmart. As of June 2018, the system stored data related to 1 million items in about 50 food categories including Nestlé canned pumpkin, Driscoll’s strawberries and Tyson chicken thighs. As of July 2018, there were more than 350,000 food data transactions on the IBM Food Trust platform. In November 2018, IBM commercially launched its Food Trust. Companies of all sizes in the food industry supply chain can join the network for a subscription fee, which ranges from $100 to $10,000 a month. Carrefour signed an agreement with IBM to use the solution.
Some innovative applications for this sector have been launched by blockchain startups. For instance, Denver-based startup Bext360’s Bextmachine is a Coinstar-like device, which employs smart image recognition technology machine vision, artificial intelligence, IoT and blockchain to grade and track coffee beans. It takes a three-dimensional scan of each bean’s outer fruit. Each coffee bean is also provided a unique ID which can be used to track it throughout the life cycle. Wholesalers and roasters can learn about attributes that may produce certain tastes. They can make future sourcing decisions based on this.
Bextmachines analyze farmers’ coffee cherries and coffee parchment deposited at collection stations and sort them to assess the quality. Farmers that supply bigger and riper cherries are paid more. The Bextmachines link the output to cryptotokens, which represent the coffee’s value. New tokens are automatically created when the product passes through the supply chain. The values of tokens increase at each successive stage of the supply chain. The supply chain is transparent due to this step-by-step and detailed process. It makes sharing the value added among various supply chain participants fairer and easier."
Smart Business Contracts
"Imagine a health insurance claim that automatically pays out as soon as your hospital uploads proper documentation of your illness or surgery. In the same way a real estate deal can conclude once your bank electronically verifies the loan. Smart contract-based applications that immutably, transparently perform routine tasks (like closing on a house) may not only render title companies obsolete, but also represent a significant cost- and time-savings for everyone from loan originators to closing agents.
The days of PDFs and electronic signatures for documents are gone. For smart contract-based insurance, the chief technical challenge is how to bring off-chain events, such as accidents, major diagnoses, death, etc. into the contract. This is the Oracle problem, but fortunately there's a solution for it. “Smart Business Contracts" can automate many aspects of business interactions that are done by humans today, including insurance policies. For example:
To manage customer identity and data privately and securely
To store important financial records in a decentralized (and encrypted) network
To reduce human error and make processes (such as dispute resolutions) much more efficient
The use case of blockchain 3.0 is analogous to automated escrow accounts in the real world. The smart business contracts allows strangers to build trust without centralized insurance companies. Driven by a greater number of individuals and organizations, blockchains are now better equipped to enable this type of economic progress."