Blockchain Usage In Mainstream Examples

[JollyGood]

As we start 2020, looking back at 2019 and before that - what in your opinion were the biggest innovations where implementation of blockchain was a big step forward (medical, economical, scientific etc) and how did it impact those that were to be beneficiaries of that implementation?

Kindly list them and share your opinions

[deisik]

As we start 2020, looking back at 2019 and before that - what in your opinion were the biggest innovations where implementation of blockchain was a big step forward (medical, economical, scientific etc) and how did it impact those that were to be beneficiaries of that implementation?

Kindly list them and share your opinions

There were quite a few efforts in this department

Most are related to financial sector, though. For example, the Chinese central bank was going to test its digital yuan by the end of 2019 (you can read about it here and here). European financial authorities are also looking in that direction and seem to want something similar. Russian Nornickel, one of the largest producers of nickel and palladium in the world, was testing its trading platform for digital metal tokens (read here)

Apart from that, European soccer clubs are running private blockchains and proprietary tokens for their fans (see here) as well as the Italian manufacturer Lamborghini is using a tailored blockchain to authenticate its heritage cars (more here). There should also be other examples, plenty of them, I guess

[milewilda]

I cant elaborate 1 by 1 but surely thing that blockchain technology is already been used on different sectors.

https://www.blockstuffs.com/blog/countries-adopting-blockchain
https://www.blockchain-council.org/blockchain/top-10-countries-leading-blockchain-technology-in-the-world/

[o_e_l_e_o]

I've been keeping an eye out for blockchain developments in the medical sector for quite some time. There a quite a few on the horizon or in development, but few that have actually reached a workable solution yet. There's a good summary in this paper - Blockchain in Healthcare: A Patient-Centered Model. Scroll down to Table 1 for a TL;DR of the different systems currently being discussed or developed.

Many of them revolve around storing patient data, of which I still have my doubts for two reasons. First of all, privacy of this data is paramount, and given this data is now being decentralized and distributed across multiple servers and sites, there would need to be robust mechanisms in place to ensure its security. Second of all, the amount of data which a single patient can generate is massive. Even the data from a single hospital would rapidly become expensive to store on a blockchain model. However, there are a few projects I've found which seem to be trying to address these issues. A couple of relevant quotes below. There was another project I read about (I can't seem to find the paper at the moment) which discussed about storing health records off-chain, but using a blockchain system to organize and permit access to them, which also looked quite interesting.

To assure the security and the privacy of medical data, we need to develop an effective data encryption solution. The asymmetric cryptography is adopted to encrypt these data in this paper, which is efficient and low cost. If someone tries to read a record, he must know the corresponding decryption key. On condition that attackers don’t have decryption key, what they get is meaningless. In many fields, ring signature algorithm, group signature and zero-knowledge proof scheme are used to enhance the anonymity of data. We achieve the same effect in MedBlock based on access control protocols by hiding the signature information and encrypting summaries for unauthorized users.

As health records can be formed by many data, the intent is that queries are not made of all health records at once, but in parts. In addition, these health records can be divided in order to be sought only the most recent data in a paginated format.
...
This mechanism provides optimization of database queries, because records are always divided into pages, generating less traffic on the network.

I've also been quite interested in the development of a project called RAPID, or Real-Time Application for Portable Interactive Devices, by Booz Allen and the FDA, which is designed to be used during pandemics and other public health emergencies to improve data sharing between hospitals.

[Upgrade00]

I've also been quite interested in the development of a project called RAPID, or Real-Time Application for Portable Interactive Devices, by Booz Allen and the FDA, which is designed to be used during pandemics and other public health emergencies to improve data sharing between hospitals.

This looks very interesting, and I'm going off thinking about its possible applications in my countries health care system. I used to keep my eye on a couple of projects, but these were all ICOs and the emphasis was more on profit, so a couple of them have fizzled out while the rest are yet to take off.

I was also looking into the possible applications of the blockchain technology into (real-time) advertising, can not recall the websites now, also not sure if the projects are still active. Would update this reply when I do some research.

[Febo]

As we start 2020, looking back at 2019 and before that - what in your opinion were the biggest innovations where implementation of blockchain was a big step forward (medical, economical, scientific etc) and how did it impact those that were to be beneficiaries of that implementation?

Kindly list them and share your opinions

Biggest innovation of blockchain is money. It helps to be able to move it fast, cheap and securely and untraceable. It is premisionless and censorship resistant.    I mean what else do you want really?

[JollyGood]

I cant elaborate 1 by 1 but surely thing that blockchain technology is already been used on different sectors.

https://www.blockstuffs.com/blog/countries-adopting-blockchain
https://www.blockchain-council.org/blockchain/top-10-countries-leading-blockchain-technology-in-the-world/

Thank you for the links, the first one in particular was quite handy to see what was going on a broader scale.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I used to keep my eye on a couple of projects, but these were all ICOs and the emphasis was more on profit

Yeah, ICOs tend to be more about making the creator(s) money than about bringing a product to market or having a real world use. Many of them were a solution in search of a problem, awkwardly shoe-horning blockchain in to a space or area it wasn't needed. Much better projects are ones which identify a problem and think "Could blockchain help out here?"

If you are interested in RAPID, you can read more below:
https://www.lexjansen.com/phuse-us/2018/rg/RG11.pdf
http://nitaac-nih.hs-sites.com/showcase/blockchain-innovations-in-health-data-sharing-with-fda-and-booz-allen

I'm very interested to see how such a project could scale to share data globally, to help co-ordinate a response to the next big pandemic or potentially even an emerging threat, such as an antibiotic resistant superbug.

[btcmurat]

We agree that Blockchain technology is good. But how can we integrate it into life? I don't think all paperwork in public diplomacy will be moved to the blockchain. But one day the blockchain can shake the state systems. A new area of assurance is emerging.

[LeGaulois]

I don't have a preference but I truly believe it will help us to resolve some very difficult societal problems. The blockchain isn't just about cryptocurrency, finance, and healthcare.

If we consider the private blockchains I have heard a lot more about it than the ones concerning the finance industry and cryptocurrency together. Blockchain in the food industry with Carrefour, for the cars with Mercedes, telecom, supply chain with the US army, China with chickens and so on. Even Amazon jumped on the blockchain train, Dell, IBM PWC, Walmart... so many large and medium companies worldwide. Crazy but 33,000 Companies in China Claim to Use Blockchain Technology

If we exclude all the shitcoins, the finance is maybe the industry that uses less the blockchain (if we compare the number of projects). The application of the technology is so large that it's evident the finance will be a small industry compared to the blockchain's potential (food, real estate, IoT, )

[JollyGood]

I've been keeping an eye out for blockchain developments in the medical sector for quite some time. There a quite a few on the horizon or in development, but few that have actually reached a workable solution yet. There's a good summary in this paper - Blockchain in Healthcare: A Patient-Centered Model. Scroll down to Table 1 for a TL;DR of the different systems currently being discussed or developed.

Many of them revolve around storing patient data, of which I still have my doubts for two reasons. First of all, privacy of this data is paramount, and given this data is now being decentralized and distributed across multiple servers and sites, there would need to be robust mechanisms in place to ensure its security. Second of all, the amount of data which a single patient can generate is massive. Even the data from a single hospital would rapidly become expensive to store on a blockchain model. However, there are a few projects I've found which seem to be trying to address these issues. A couple of relevant quotes below. There was another project I read about (I can't seem to find the paper at the moment) which discussed about storing health records off-chain, but using a blockchain system to organize and permit access to them, which also looked quite interesting.

To assure the security and the privacy of medical data, we need to develop an effective data encryption solution. The asymmetric cryptography is adopted to encrypt these data in this paper, which is efficient and low cost. If someone tries to read a record, he must know the corresponding decryption key. On condition that attackers don’t have decryption key, what they get is meaningless. In many fields, ring signature algorithm, group signature and zero-knowledge proof scheme are used to enhance the anonymity of data. We achieve the same effect in MedBlock based on access control protocols by hiding the signature information and encrypting summaries for unauthorized users.

As health records can be formed by many data, the intent is that queries are not made of all health records at once, but in parts. In addition, these health records can be divided in order to be sought only the most recent data in a paginated format.
...
This mechanism provides optimization of database queries, because records are always divided into pages, generating less traffic on the network.

I've also been quite interested in the development of a project called RAPID, or Real-Time Application for Portable Interactive Devices, by Booz Allen and the FDA, which is designed to be used during pandemics and other public health emergencies to improve data sharing between hospitals.

The healthcare system was always going to make some use of blockchains in some capacity or other. About the example you gave for RAPID, it does seem interesting the work being tested by FDA and Booz Allen to secure medical data.

On a slightly different note just think about the amount of money being spent to funds hospitals, nurses, specialists and doctor then add to that the other financial aspect of that including pharmaceutical and R&D? If details of a particular illness or condition could be made available to a selected target of associates working to better understand it or for a whole variety of reasons then it might be a matter getting there faster and maybe going further with collaboration than with traditional sources.

I always knew the medical industry would find some way of utilising what blockchains can offer.

[ecnalubma]

As we start 2020, looking back at 2019 and before that - what in your opinion were the biggest innovations where implementation of blockchain was a big step forward (medical, economical, scientific etc) and how did it impact those that were to be beneficiaries of that implementation?

Kindly list them and share your opinions

Blockchain technology is really quiet fascinating and could be consider a big help in different industries and sectors. We really need to utilize its potential because it could be the answer to our current society problems. We know that it is slowly applied already in different industries, but its potential contribution to pharmaceutical industry could be remarkable.

https://www.leewayhertz.com/blockchain-in-pharma-supply-chain/

[alyssa85]

The UK government is exploring it's use for recording the land registry.

Here is Her Majesty's Land Registry on the subject:

https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/2019/05/24/could-blockchain-be-the-future-of-the-property-market/

If you’ve ever bought or sold a property you will know that it can take a long time. There are a number of reasons for this. Some delays are avoidable and some are inevitable. With so many people involved in the process, it is often difficult for the buyer and seller to know what is happening at each stage.

Our ambition at HM Land Registry is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data. Our Digital Street research project enables us to explore how we can use technology to make processes such as buying and selling property simpler, faster and cheaper.

This year in Digital Street we set out to build a prototype that would enable a digital transfer of a property that automatically updates the Land Register. We were keen to test the use of blockchain technology in a digital transfer and therefore developed the prototype using the Corda platform.

To demonstrate the benefits of a fully distributed network, we worked with leading conveyancing firms Mishcon de Reya and MyHomeMove, payment intermediary Shieldpay, digital identity provider Yoti and HM Revenue & Customs to build an end-to-end proof of concept. We also created a simple mobile interface for the buyer and seller so they could complete their actions on their mobile phones, such as verifying their identity and signing their agreements. All we needed then was a real life property transaction to test the prototype.

On 6 March 2019 the sale of a recently refurbished, semi-detached house in Gillingham had completed. It had taken 22 weeks, much longer than the six weeks the buyer and seller had expected. In early April we sat down with all the parties involved to see how much time it would take to run the sale and purchase through our blockchain prototype.

We used a video chat to bring everyone together. The buyer, Peter, was at work in Medway and his conveyancer was in Manchester. The seller, Stefan, was in his partner’s home in Gravesend and his conveyancer was in central London. The Digital Street team were in Plymouth, with representatives from Yoti in London and Shieldpay calling in from Malaga, Spain. Once each action had completed (such as drafting the sales agreement) the application automatically informed the next party it was their turn to act. The demonstration of the technology ran through, end to end, in less than 10 minutes.

By using blockchain technology, each party was able to see a current view of the transaction, any historical actions that had been taken, and actions that still need to take place before the transaction was complete.

By holding definitive and permanent records of a property transaction in the open, with each stage of the transfer recorded for all parties to see, there is no confusion on who needs to act next.

By using smart contracts, we enable automation across the transaction including the transfer of funds and updating the Land Register (we used a copy of the Land Register for the test).

Overall this test was a success and we believe that blockchain technology could enable:

    speedier property transactions
    more trust in the transaction
    higher levels of security
    increased transparency for participants in the transaction

[Hydrogen]

Blockchain is a good data structure for maintaining the integrity of data.

This trait is what makes it a good foundation for currencies, ledgers or accounting systems. The data being cryptographically signed and authenticated, introduces an additional abstraction layer making it hard(er) to alter, delete or forge data.

Blockchain could be a decent platform for electronic voting systems, records keeping, archives, inventory, ledgers, accounting. Anything where a reliable integrity of electronic data must be maintained.

[aBTCd]

So far, blockchain usability is looking very good as authors before me stated and counted a few of already successful projects. I have a strong feeling, that the year 2020 will be strong in blockchain development.
Also, changes need to be done in the industry sector, which is a "driver" of progress. Some of the current processes are based on old theories and practices but because of lack of flexibility in this sector, everything is moving slow. This sector is at risk for disruptive innovation which is in my opinion blockchain.
I am also now for a few years in a development team which we would like to simplify processes and make it more cost-efficient with the help of blockchain. So far looking very promising 

[merchantofzeny]

Not exactly blockchain usage and likely not gonna be operational soon but UNICEF's blockchain project seem like it'll be a big thing. It's investing in blockchain startups we might find something useful with at least 2 or 3 of those. Last I've read UNICEF is funding 6.

[EdvinZ]

 Singapore is a leader in implementing blockchain technology in various spheres of life. So, in 2019, the Trible Accelerator platform supported by the Singapore government selected several projects that will be implemented within the framework of the smart city program.
 Among these projects, we can mention the startup WhatsHalah — a system to optimize the process of delivering food directly from the manufacturer directly to your home.
 Digix — this startup is engaged in the transfer of traditional assets to their digital counterpart.
 Especially worth noting is the company Chorus Mobility — it is engaged in the implementation of the Internet of things (IoT) for cars. It is important that the plans provide for the transfer of vehicles under automatic control using AI.
 All these startups and many others use blockchain technology in one way or another, which, as we see, can be successfully applied not only in the financial sector.

[mu_enrico]

Not sure mate if this topic is about economics.

Anyway, one feature about blockchain is transparency and immutability right? So I think it can be used to merge all corporate ledgers (accounting) in one place just like @hydrogen said. It would be so good if analysts could access financial information from a free database without having to subscribe to Bloomberg etc.

The overhyped DeFi sucks by the way.

[deisik]

Blockchain is a good data structure for maintaining the integrity of data.

This trait is what makes it a good foundation for currencies, ledgers or accounting systems. The data being cryptographically signed and authenticated, introduces an additional abstraction layer making it hard(er) to alter, delete or forge data.

Blockchain could be a decent platform for electronic voting systems, records keeping, archives, inventory, ledgers, accounting. Anything where a reliable integrity of electronic data must be maintained

You seem to forget about a very important aspect or factor

That of a decentralized trustless environment where no one trusts anyone else that these solutions are expected to operate in. If you remove this key factor from the equation, you can build more reliable and cheaper solutions which would guarantee the integrity of your data and redundancy of its storage

Really, why would you need that additional layer (adding unnecessary overhead and incurring deployment as well as maintenance costs) if you are the only one who is supposed to add, alter, or delete the data? Regular distributed databases will do the trick just wonderfully

[JollyGood]

I've also been quite interested in the development of a project called RAPID, or Real-Time Application for Portable Interactive Devices, by Booz Allen and the FDA, which is designed to be used during pandemics and other public health emergencies to improve data sharing between hospitals.

This looks very interesting, and I'm going off thinking about its possible applications in my countries health care system. I used to keep my eye on a couple of projects, but these were all ICOs and the emphasis was more on profit, so a couple of them have fizzled out while the rest are yet to take off.

I was also looking into the possible applications of the blockchain technology into (real-time) advertising, can not recall the websites now, also not sure if the projects are still active. Would update this reply when I do some research.

Real time advertising utilising blockchain technology is something I never heard of before. This could have huge implications in the advertising field.

Regarding the ICOs, you are right most of them were all about profit but "team" related profit and most of those projects failed miserably as they were not strong to start off with.