THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF BLOCKCHAIN IS YET TO BE REALIZED

The short term for blockchain is in security and efficiency, but new business-transformative blockchain-based solutions are going to emerge in the years to come and most won’t even know blockchain is part of the solution

- Nate McKervey

The enterprise blockchain ecosystem has rapidly matured. Looking back, 2018 was the year of ‘what is blockchain’ conversations. 2019 was full of ‘nobody needs blockchain’ discussion, and in 2020 we’ve reached, ‘Okay, I understand where it’s useful and valuable. Now, how can you help me be successful?’ the 2021 conversation will be, “What is your blockchain strategy?”

In two years, some companies will realize that if they don’t have a blockchain strategy, they’ll be less competitive because they won’t be as efficient as their competitors. With that in mind, here’s a rapid-fire series of predictions around digital ledger technologies.

Prediction: COVID will accelerate blockchain adoption.

When the pandemic lockdowns began, we assumed that organizations would conserve resources and focus on core technology investments. I even told our leadership that I expected emerging technologies to be the first ones to be cut. But by autumn, not one of the more than 100 organizations I was talking to had suspended their blockchain initiatives. In fact, we’ve had more inbound interest.

Prediction: Successful blockchain implementations will focus on efficiencies.

As blockchain emerges from that 2019 trough of disillusionment, we expect adoption to accelerate in the pandemic/post-pandemic era. The degree to which the pandemic interrupted supply chains will particularly drive interest in blockchain technologies, which can improve visibility into the source of goods, and where they are at any time, and how overlapping supply chains interact.