How Blockchain will transform industries of the next decade

We are all aware that trust plays a crucial role in any business. However, have we ever wondered how much companies spend to take care of the trust through various legal measures and risk mitigation efforts? It is estimated that companies spend 25% to 30% of commercial transaction value to build and maintain trust. With Blockchain, there is a way to automate this process and reduce the cost by using technology.

Any recorded transaction that needs validation such as in payments or purchases, also requires authorization and authentication. Today, with the ‘new normal’ of digital relationships across industries, these transactions and authorizations have to be done quickly without incurring high costs by avoiding dependencies on third parties. This is where Blockchain is disrupting the way we transact by providing a safe and secure environment.

Blockchain and its applications in the new normal

Blockchain is a list of records or a public/private ledger where transactions are recorded in the form of blocks. The use of cryptography makes the information highly secured and there is absolutely no scope of modification.

Even though Blockchain was initially associated with cryptocurrencies like itcoin and agreeably that was the first large scale use of Blockchain, today it is widely used in many industries such as BFSI, Industrial products and manufacturing, Travel and Hospitality, Energy and utilities, Healthcare and the Government sector.

Let’s look at an example from the banking industry. We’ve heard of fraudulent practices when it comes to issuing Letter of Credit across geographies, leading to complete breach of trust. When a bank wants to offer many Letter of Credits, it is constrained by costs and time to execute the same. Blockchain provides a common ledger for LoC and it allows banks and counterparties to have the same validated record of transaction and fulfilment. This ensures increased trust, speed of execution and reduced cost.

Even in the Travel and Hospitality industry, Blockchain has proved to be highly effective in managing secure payments along with providing a secure ID for the travelers that can be used for loyalty programs and efficient management of activities like baggage tracking during the journey.

As almost all industries are investing in Blockchain, the global Blockchain market size is expected to grow from USD 3.0 billion in 2020 to USD 39.7 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 67.3% during the forecast period.

How does Blockchain for businesses work?

Blockchain applications in various businesses imply broader participation of the stakeholders, lower costs and increased efficiency. There are four elements that play an important role in the process of executing any transaction. This includes, shared ledger, smart contract, privacy and validation.

Shared ledger: Provides a record of all transactions across business networks and shares the same with the participants. Each participant can see only applicable transactions
Smart contracts: Business rules implied by the contract are embedded in the blockchain and executed with the transaction. This is verified and signed and encoded in the programming language.
Privacy: Ledger is shared but participants require privacy and transactions need to be authenticated. Cryptography central to these processes.
Validation: This involves transaction verification and commitment. The cost of commitment is relative to the familiarity and trustworthiness of the participants.

In-demand skills to build a career in Blockchain

There are many career opportunities in blockchain since it is used across industries and there tremendous scope of career growth since it is not limited to the core IT industry. However, there is a dearth of trained talent. Companies are not getting rightly skilled people who can translate business requirements into a solution through blockchain. If you are looking to build a career in Blockchain, you must acquire the right skill-set and be industry ready.

Skills that will be crucial if you want to build a career in Blockchain,

Web development
Data structure
Data architecture
Cryptography
Smart contracts
Distributed ledger expertise
Programming languages such as C++, Java, JavaScript

To build the expertise and to acquire the skill set, you can take up courses specially designed to meet the industry requirements. These courses will help you become industry ready and will enable you to leverage the opportunities that are available.

The Blockchain job roles that are going to be in demand,

Blockchain Project Manager
Blockchain Developers
Blockchain QA Engineer
Blockchain Legal Consultant/Attorney
Blockchain Analyst

Also read: FinTech revolutionizes the new normal in the Banking and Finance industry https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/fintech-revolutionizes-the-new-normal-in-the-banking-and-finance-industry/

Apart from these, there are various other job roles and career opportunities associated with Blockchain. Blockchain is being adapted by many industries and businesses and its adoption has been further accelerated in the wake up the global pandemic. You must upgrade your skills to cope with the fast adaptation and to stay relevant.