Blockchain technology is, no doubt, one of the most interesting inventions of the past century, with Bitcoin being merely one of its expressions in finance. The latest experiment has proven to be extremely successful as more and more people choose to buy Bitcoin as a store of value and alternative form of currency.
Similar to the way Bitcoin has completely changed the way we see and interact with money, blockchain has already started to penetrate different industries, offering better solutions to their traditional systems. Industries that have nothing to do with cryptocurrency are now seeing the benefits of a transparent decentralized ledger, and are thus dabbling into its applications within their sector.
In this article we discuss some of the industries that blockchain technology is flirting with, and discuss which projects are making the first move, offering reliable solutions. Let’s get started.
Healthcare industry
The healthcare industry is known to have internal systems built to track and review many different aspects of the public register. From tracking the insurance level of patients, securing patients’ medical records, and their eligibility to receive a certain form of treatment, all the way medicine distribution management, tracking pathological conditions, and others.
Creating a blockchain solution for this industry is one of the most important upgrades the industry has seen in decades, as it gives a foolproof overview of patients. No longer will it be possible to get off-the-counter medicine using sneaky methods, or being refused treatment due to the subjective opinion of a patient’s insurance partner. All information will be visible on-chain, helping medical professionals make the best choice without having to go through external validators.
Cryptocurrency projects aiming to improve this sector include MediBloc, MediShares, SRCoin, Dentacoin, and others.
Logistics industry
When talking about the logistics industry we mainly refer to all the processes surrounding product shipping. From delivery schedules, truck and ship schedules, as well as automated “plan b” solutions in case circumstances require adaptation to unexpected conditions.
Tracking all this information using blockchain technology helps in a multitude of ways. First off, private companies that are responsible for massive amounts of shipping (e.g. Amazon) are able to identify when and why certain orders are delivered later than usual and understand which part of the chain requires attention. Aside from that, it can act as an insurance policy, as very often late deliveries are not a responsibility of the shipping partner but third parties, like customs delays, storage facilities, etc. In short, blockchain technology could improve the traceability and efficiency of product distribution.
Cryptocurrencies that improve this sector include RoadLaunch, CargoCoin, Bonafi, Quasa, and Curv.
Education industry
Educational facilities are in desperate need of blockchain solutions. This is not only important for tracking a student’s background and eligibility to participate in specific educational programs, but also for employers that wish to check on candidates for open positions within their company. At the moment, checking an employee’s background is a very time-consuming process that is not yet automated, causing huge losses through wrongful candidate selection.
While there are already blockchain solutions being developed for University-level educational facilities which have a more complex structure of student scoring, we are hoping to see solutions being developed on a high-school level and even in elementary schools. This is because the lower the degree of education is, the easier it is to manipulate through subjective viewpoints of the teachers involved.
If you wish to learn more about the solutions being developed for this industry at the moment, we recommend reading through this report.
Supply Chain management
Finally, one more industry that we should touch upon that of supply chain management. In short, this industry is a subsector of logistics and is primarily aimed at the tracking and authentication of a product’s origin. These solutions are very important as counterfeit markets continue to grow, and luxury brands suffer the consequences.
Projects like VeChain and Omisego are already established for the best part of the past 3 years, trying to develop and roll out solutions for luxury retailers. It can, however, also extend to products you can acquire at your local supermarket, including the origin of wine bottles, the ability to track whether a carton of eggs really comes from a “free-range” farm, and more. Naturally, this will decrease shady marketing efforts, as well as counterfeit products that sell for just a fraction of the original’s price.
Wrapping up
While the price of Bitcoin continues to grow steadily, we are seeing a proof of concept for the application of blockchain technology. This naturally makes more people aware of the potential of decentralized solutions, and how these can improve many aspects of traditional traceability systems. Hence, we believe that there will be many more industries to follow suit, as cryptocurrency continues to make front-page news in the mass media.
