Blockchain technology has been one of the most appealing and robust technologies of this decade. In the same way, as technologies like AI, IoT, AR & VR are transforming industries and ruling the world, blockchain technology is all set to make the world more secure and less complicated.
Blockchain technology is a remarkable technology that is often related to or many times considered just a mechanism behind cryptocurrency. But let me tell you, although a perfect example of blockchain technology implementation, cryptocurrency is just one application of this technology out of many.
In this post, we’ll be discussing some of the most popular applications of blockchain technology in various industries and how those applications are transforming their work process. So, let’s move forward and learn more about blockchain applications that are revolutionizing industries.
Top Applications of Blockchain in Different Industries
#1 Finance sector
One of the biggest beneficiaries of blockchain technology has always been the finance and banking sector. Blockchain technology is one of the most potent revolutionary tools to make finance and banking more transparent, secure, timely, and cost-effective.
As we already know, a blockchain is a distributed and decentralized public ledger used to store data and record transactions for a group of computers that are part of a network. Blockchain technology is used to record transactions by promising transparency and impeccable security in the banking industry.
Due to the distributed ledger technology, each participant in the network receives a copy of every transaction made. Any block added or transactions made are recorded and visible to all. Due to the immutable nature of blockchain, it’s impossible to alter or remove transactions once added to the ledger, hence making it nearly impossible to commit fraud.
Another benefit of blockchain technology is that it’s decentralized in nature; hence, using it in banking, a large chunk of payments can be made in less time and money thanks to the absence of a centralized controlling agency or meditators.
#2 Supply chain management
After the finance sector, supply chain management is another industry that has been influenced the most by blockchain technology. Just like this technology boosts transparency and mitigates the possibility of fraud in the banking sector it increases visibility in the supply chain to lower losses related to error-prone supply chain management.
Blockchain can be used in supply chains to store details of products part of the chain, such as their initial price, date of manufacturing, certification, unique id, dispatch location, a destination address, and other information. Putting this information in a distributed ledger improves the visibility of items and makes them easier to trace at various checkpoints to ensure that the correct quantity and quality are delivered.
Everyone in the organization’s blockchain network can access the data to track the supply chain. This helps organizations lower losses due to mishandling of the supply chain and enhance their credibility by delivering the right things at the right time. It’s nearly impossible to alter data in the blockchain ledger; hence the possibility of theft and counterfeit risks of products are reduced considerably.
#3 Healthcare
Every healthcare organization has been experimenting and paving the way for innovation to improve healthcare and treatment and safeguard patients’ lives. Blockchain technology in healthcare is one such innovation that is helping improve the healthcare of patients by boosting interoperability and assisting organizations in properly maintaining patients’ health records.
Blockchain has found its use in many services in healthcare, such as finances, drug supply chains, and data management of patients. Every health-related detail, diagnosis, and treatment can be saved in the ledger, further enhancing interoperability under HIE(Health information exchange).
HIE stands for electronic health information exchange, enabling doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients, and other relevant people to access health records and share them electronically. Blockchain technology implementation in HIE can help improve visibility among service providers so that no matter where a patient goes, he receives the proper treatment.
The ledger’s robust security features ensure that information can’t be altered in case of mishandling or wrong treatment delivery. Its implementation in the healthcare payment system can help make secure transactions and ensure that the patients are not overcharged. Moreover, drug counterfeiting can also be reduced by implementing blockchain in the healthcare supply chain.
#4 Retail
Retail is one of the most complex industries to manage, and even slight mishandling leads to considerable losses. Blockchain implementation can save billions of dollars for the retail sector by helping them accurately handle their products in the supply chain and know their whereabouts in the inventory.
Retailers can use blockchain to store every slightest bit of information about the products when they are sitting in the inventory as well as when they are in the supply chain. This makes it easier to track the items present in the inventory to ensure that the right amount of stock is present to meet customers’ needs to mitigate the possibility of stockouts or, in many cases, overstocks.
As already mentioned, blockchain cannot be tampered hence the inventory data entered once can’t be altered, thus reducing the chances of theft and counterfeiting of the products. The same thing goes with the supply chain; the records in the ledger can be used to trace the items to ensure their authenticity and quality to deliver the best to the customers.
Walmart uses blockchain solutions to improve food safety and easier tracking of items in blockchain-enabled transparent supply chains.
Wrapping Up
Blockchain technology has been one of the hottest technologies and trends of the 21st century. Leading organizations and entrepreneurs have invested in blockchain to use its appealing benefits to bring transparency into their systems and boost security.
Blockchain’s decentralized and distributed nature bolsters a range of benefits, such as better traceability and transparency, which are the key to their rapid adoption in various industries. In this post, we talked about some of the most prominent blockchain applications and how they are transforming the top sectors.
Author Bio- Hi There, I am Shaun Williams, a content writer with Goodfirms, a research platform for Cloud Computing, Ecommerce companies, Translation services companies, among many others. I enjoy communicating ideas and knowledge creatively and also ensure that the readers never suffer from boredom while reading my posts.
