10 Dec Blockchain: an asset for companies

Blockchain, NFT, cryptocurrency, transactions, bitcoin…these are the terms that we hear more and more and that are often associated with a virtual universe, seemingly inaccessible to novices because too technical and dark. But what is this technology ? What is behind these words and why are companies turning more and more to this management system ?

Blockchain is a technology that allows to keep track of a set of transactions and exchange of datas, in a decentralized, secure and transparent way. This traceability concerns all available data from all sectors. The fields of application are huge : banking (for securing transactions), insurance (for automating reimbursement procedures), health (for the traceability of medicines), energy (to balance supply and demand), …

More concretely, the blockchain allows its users, connected in a network, to store and share data and information without intermediaries. The level of access to the data is limited according to the users. Companies are increasingly turning to this management system because it has many advantages:

– Speed : the update of data is done intensively

– Security : the validation of data is carried out by all users connected to the network, which makes it possible to guard against the risks of detour

– Efficiency and productivity : reduction of centralization and transaction costs.La blockchain : comment ça marche ?

In practice, a blockchain is a database that contains the history of all exchanges made between its users since its creation.

– The identification of each party is done by a cryptographic process

– The transaction is sent to a network (or storage “node”) of computers located around the world

– Each “node” hosts a copy of the database in which the history of the transactions made is recorded. All stakeholders can access it simultaneously

– The security system is based on a consensus mechanism of all the “nodes” each time information is added. The data is decrypted and authenticated by “data centers” or “miners”. The validated transaction is added to the database in the form of a block of encrypted data (this is the “block” in blockchain)

– The decentralization of security management prevents the falsification of transactions. Each new block added to the blockchain is linked to the previous one and a copy is transmitted to all the “nodes” of the network. The integration is chronological, indelible and unforgeable.

What are the benefits for companies?

Companies manage a large amount of information of all kinds. The faster it circulates, the more accurate it is, the better. Blockchain is ideally suited to making information available because it provides immediate, shared and completely transparent information that is stored in an immutable ledger that only authorized members of the network can access. In particular, a blockchain network makes it possible to track orders, payments, accounts and production. Because members all share an identical view of the situation, everyone can see all the details of a transaction from end to end, which builds trust, increases efficiency and generates new opportunities.

Lets’ be more precise with exemples. Lets’ take the food chain : the blockchain gives the possibility to trace the whole circuit from the culture, to the harvest, to the transformation, to the transport and to the sale. It is a perfect system for all the persons involved in the process : growers, retailers, suppliers and consumers. The identity of all the users is known by the whole network.

Lets’ take the automotive industry with its differents car parts, manufacturers, production processes but also the different intermediaries present in differents countries and

continents with their own regulations and controls processes…all of that with the main goal of selling cars at a competitive price. The data management is so huge and involves differents stakeholders and needs to be shared properly, to the right people, at the right moment. The blockchain allows professionnals to be more flexible, to facilitate and accelerate the internal processes and so to remain competitive thanks to the time saving. This is an end to end control of the value chain, and the identification of non-compliance ris

Tomorrow, the metaverse and blockchain

Let’s not say tomorrow, because the metaverse is well present in our daily life through NFTs and cryptocurrencies. An NFT, “non-fungible token”, is a visual identity that represents a person on the internet, in a virtual space in particular (social networks for example). Some of these images are very expensive. Regularly, celebrities invest huge amounts of money in what is too often presented as simple JPG images representing computer-generated characters. This avatar becomes the identity of a person in its own right.

To prove the uniqueness of an NFT, it must be digitized and registered on the blockchain. It can contain a large amount of information, ranging from images to lines of code and video. Once registered on the blockchain, the work will be accompanied by a certificate of digital authenticity. Once digitized on the blockchain, the history of the work (purchases, resales, date of creation, name of the creator…) is recorded forever.

Looking a few years into the future, blockchain could also find its future applications in the metaverse – a persistent digital world, often immersive, where interactions between users take place in real time. This virtual world will be a new version of the Internet with features specific to social networks, video games, virtual reality and augmented reality. One of the key principles of the metaverse is that of interaction: in the spaces of this new reality, it will be possible to move, to interact with one’s virtual environment, with the objects that compose it, and with other users.

Article written by Charlotte BERNADET, CCI Pau Béarn, c-bernadet@pau.cci.fr