Blockchain for Business

Video transcript: What does a

blockchain-enabled world look like

Now that we have explored the ‘Promise of Blockchains’, we are ready to consider
just what does a ‘Blockchain-enabled’ world look like? It is pretty clear that
Blockchains will become part of our every day lives before long, but what will it
actually look like?

The first thing we will notice is that our online transactions will involve less
companies, meaning that they will attract less transaction fees. This is because in a
Blockchain ecosystem we can transact directly with service providers, which is called
“Peer-to-Peer”, without the need for credit card companies, banks or other financial
intermediaries.

This also means that we can do online transactions without giving our data away to
these intermediaries, who often not only require that we give them the data in order
to do the transaction, but they also sell this data for their own benefit.

For instance, as Don Tapscott explains in his TED Talk, previously when people
wanted to send money to their families back home they would need to use a money
transfer, especially if the recipient does not qualify for a bank account. Such a
transfer can attract a fee of as much as USD$40 and involve a number of
intermediary companies.

However, with Blockchain the funds can be transferred directly between the people
involved, instantly and at a fraction of the cost, without involving a single
intermediary. In a Blockchain enabled world we will all own and control our own
online data and provide access only to those that we choose to.

One day soon, rather than having a receipt for major purchases we will be issued an
NFT which will effectively be a digital statement of ownership that cannot be
duplicated, and whoever has access to the NFT owns the item... which could be
digital, like an image or a song, or physical, like a car or even a house.

For example, when you buy a car you will be allocated a NFT that is linked to
Blockchain that securely holds all the information and history of the car, this NFT
cannot be copied or transferred and you will be the only person that can access the
details.

Then for the life of the vehicle all data is stored in the Blockchain, things like service
history, the type of oil used, how many times it has been in a car wash, and even its
location data, all enhancing its resale value.

And this is just the beginning - imagine walking into a Medical Facility and providing
a code that allows the Doctor to see all of your medical history for as long as it takes
to help you with your current medical issues, and then update the files before they
lose access.
This means that your medical service provider is able to access and update your full
medical history each time, avoiding the need to go over your history each time you
see a different doctor.

Imagine that an AI program is monitoring your health data and providing you with
advice on healthy choices, or even flagging potentially dangerous conditions that
may have not been diagnosed, especially if your heart rate monitor feeds into the AI
also.

Other things we will see is that our data is no longer able to be hacked, unlike a
number of health care and telecommunications companies that have been hacked
recently.

We will see a growing array of new digital entrepreneurship opportunities where

services can be built within Blockchains, and customers can be interacted with one-
on-one in a trusted environment without needing to use intermediaries.

We will even see companies along entire supply chains interacting in a single
Blockchain to significantly cut down on transactions and duplication, making our
global freight system far more efficient and effective.

Given this type of functionality is far superior to existing options, it is likely that when
they come online and are accessible to people the uptake will be strong.

This is likely to result in push back from the existing service providers to try to
discredit the new options, typically through what is referred to as ‘Fear, Uncertainty
and Doubt’ which we will cover later on in the course.

After this video, we will look at how Blockchains work - don’t worry, we won’t go into
the code part, just how it works on a functional level. We’ll also learn about how
Blockchains are protected against hacking.

We will also start to look at some of the embedded functionality of Blockchains, such
as ‘Smart Contracts’ which are self-executable digital contracts that live inside
Blockchains, and NFTs which are ‘Non-Fungible Token’s that can act as certificates
of ownership that cannot be duplicated.

So let’s get started.