Researcher Makes Blockchain Warning, But Companies Loath to Slow Down
Blockchain adoption continues apace, but a report from researcher Gartner claims that 90% of already-implemented business blockchain platform solutions “will require replacement within 18 months to remain competitive, secure and avoid obsolescence.”
The researcher believes that the sector will continue to expand, and states that “the business value added by blockchain will grow” to over USD 176 billion by 2025, and “exceed USD 3.1 trillion by 2030.”
However, per a press release from Gartner, the company’s senior research director Adrian Lee issued a word of warning, stating,
“Many [chief information officers] overestimate the capabilities and short-term benefits of blockchain as a technology to help them achieve their business goals, thus creating unrealistic expectations when assessing offerings from blockchain platform vendors and service providers.”
According to Gartner, today, the blockchain platform market is composed of fragmented offerings that often overlap or are being used in a complementary fashion, making technology choices confusing for IT decision makers.
“Compounding this challenge is the fact that blockchain platform vendors typically use messaging that does not link to a target buyer’s use cases and business benefits. For example, ‘transactions’ was the term mentioned the most in relation to blockchain, followed by ‘secure’ and ‘security.’ While these may be functions of blockchain-enabling technology, buyers are still confused as to how these functions are achieved or what benefits blockchain adds compared to their existing processes,” said Lee.
The company does not expect there to be a single dominant blockchain platform within the next five years: “Instead, we expect a multiplatform world to emerge.”
Regardless, many companies and major governments believe that they need to steal a march on their rivals when it comes to blockchain adoption – with many insisting that IT races are rarely won by overly-cautious companies and organizations.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, the government says it will use blockchain-powered solutions to catch benefits cheats. According to South Korean media outlet BC Post, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will conduct a research project over the next five months, with a budget of over USD 42,000 – looking for ways to use the technology to put an end to benefit fraud.
The ministry believes that blockchain solutions could help it fight back against fraudsters who copy details from people claiming disability benefits in order to receive government payouts. The ministry says fraud is an increasing problem, and that welfare bills shot up by 10% in 2018.
Elsewhere, CNews reports that three of South Korea’s biggest energy companies – the Korea Power Exchange, Nambu Electric Power and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) – have agreed to work together on a public blockchain pilot project for the issuance of renewable energy supply certificates (RECs).
The companies say the solution will help ensure South Korean companies and individuals cannot make fraudulent or misleading claims about the nature of their energy resources.
Previously, some of the country’s top conglomerates, banks and shipbuilding companies have announced that they are turning to blockchain technology, with many keen to commercialize blockchain products beginning in the second half of this year.
