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Blockchain is the technology with the greatest potential to disrupt and reshape digital business in 2018, according to Dimension Data.
The global technology company named distributed ledgers as top disrupter, ahead of AI, machine learning, robotics and VR/AR, and said that businesses that have not started the digital investment cycle are at “high risk of being disrupted”.
Blockchain came out on top due to its “immense potential to disrupt and transform the world of money, business, and society using a variety of applications”.
Ettienne Reinecke, Dimension Data’s Group Chief Technology Officer, said:
“Last year, when we looked at the top digital business trends for 2017, we predicted that centralised transaction models would come under attack. We were spot on.
“In the financial services sector, we’ve seen the US and European capital markets moving onto Blockchain platforms, and similar activity in markets such as Japan. Considering how conservative and compliance-focused this sector is, that’s quite remarkable.”
“Delivering on the promise of IoT”
Aside from the much-touted security and transparency benefits of distributed ledger technology, Reinecke believes that blockchain will also begin deliver on the promise of IoT in the coming years:
“In the world of IoT you’re generating millions of small transactions that are being collected from a distributed set of sensors. It’s not feasible to operate these systems using a centralised transactional model: it’s too slow, expensive, and exclusive.
“To extract the true value from IoT technology you have to be able to operate in real time. Once a sensor alert is received from a control system you must react to it, meter it, and bill for it instantly – all of which negates the viability of a centralised transactional authority. The cost of the transaction has to be near-zero or free, and the cost elements of a centralised model simply don’t support the potential business model in IoT.”
Dimension Data are predicting interesting blockchain-related developments in IoT and cybersecurity in 2018. There have been a number of significant attacks have been launched from low-cost IoT endpoints, and device manufacturers have little incentive to take on the cost of a security stack, leaving the devices vulnerable.
Dimension Data think that blockchain will play an important in securing these devices and IoT ecosystems.
