Since its inception, there has been much controversy about how this technology can be used. At first, people saw the potential of its application only in the banking sector, remittances, the replacement of ordinary currencies. But over time, having studied the functionality and correctly assessing all the advantages of the blockchain, people who have already begun to work in, or research this technology have identified a number of areas of public life where it can be applied. In the first part of our materials about where the blockchain has already manifested itself and where it intends to do this, we will tell you about the most “sick” and difficult areas of its application.
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Authorship and ownership
One of the most problematic areas in the legal segment is copyright. Companies, people, creative associations for years argue for their rights. Someone says that he made the photo, someone owns the text, someone created the image, and someone stole it all. Even with our modern technologies and methods of combating copyright infringement, many unresolved issues remain. We must understand that no matter how the legal laws are edited, it’s all the same to achieve an absolutely perfect result that will not differ in any way from the natural laws and laws of human logic, and thinking will most likely not succeed.
But as a last resort, you can automate all this and solve one of the most problematic issues.
Different companies are already trying to do this, such as for example Ascribe. It helps artists and creative people confirm and maintain the right of authorship. As you understand, this is done with the help of blockchain. Ascribe Market allows you to create digital editions using unique identifiers and digital certificates to confirm authorship and authenticity. In addition, a mechanism for transferring ownership from an artist or an author to a buyer or collector, including its legal aspects, has been established.
Insurance
Representatives of the banking industry are currently attempting to practically implement several blockchain use scenarios: from developing the technology of direct customer interaction with the payment system to launching trading systems on the exchange and currency exchange. The new technology can help many industry players to cope with competitive challenges, including such as weak customer interest in insurance products, limited growth in developed markets, and the tendency of a general transition to digital technology. The most promising scenarios for blockchain use in terms of insurance are divided into three categories: ensuring growth, increasing efficiency and reducing costs by automating key processes.
In ordinary life, it is difficult for the insurer to properly assess the risk so that the amount of the insurance policy is not over or under. The parties often make a deal without having reliable information about the insurance object and not trusting each other. For example, the policyholder may remove information about illnesses from the medical record in order to understate the amount of insurance, and the car dealer may hide information about minor accidents that were not recorded, poor vehicle conditions or overdue vehicle inspections.
Therefore, to correct the situation, insurers are increasingly thinking about the blockchain, which in principle, in this situation, can be considered as an electronic diary. New data will be constantly recorded, but what comes to correcting and deleting - it will not work. Actually, therefore, this technology opens up huge prospects for the development of the insurance industry.
Healthcare
There are already lots of companies that are merging healthcare and blockchain.
For example, MidasCaps startup project is producing innovative capsules with a daily dose of nutritional supplements, which are also very easy for carrying. They have implemented MidiasCoin token as a means of payments on their MidasEngine blockchain platform. In order, MidiasEngine serves as some kind of social platform, which is applied to organize some sport-related events.
Identity Management
This services help people to “send” their personal data to the system, which is working on blockchain. So they will have their digital identity in a safe place. Thus, for example, there is a bunch of information about you: starting with your passport numbers and driver’s licence, to the certificate about marriage or birth. Each client of this service can choose the data, which will be shared or hidden. And he or she can also choose, who can access each type of information.
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Last June, it became known that consulting giant Accenture and the largest IT corporation Microsoft united to develop and implement a blockchain platform with which over 1 billion people around the world will receive valid identity cards.
A new service, called Civic is another platform whose services are aimed at solving another big and very important problem. Its activity is aimed at reducing the number of thefts of personal data in the world, by protecting customer's credit history from fraudsters.
Voting
Where, but not in this sphere, is blockchain necessary? Election fraud has always been, and unfortunately, remains one of the most popular, but deplorable topics for discussion. In the 21st century, with continuous democratization processes going on, fair elections are one of the important components of freedom. But experience shows that it is not always, even when using surveillance cameras and other elements to try to prevent dishonest voting, the expected result is achieved.
The use of this technology will allow all the countries in the world to have an absolutely new type of voting system. It will be both electronic and transparent. The voters will be verified, so there will be no misunderstandings. So, imagine you are a voter. You have for example one special “coin”, which is your vote and you can give it to your candidate. After the authorization process, you just use your coin. It will be an easy process which will last until the end of the election. The transparency of the above is the possibility of showing personal vote to its owner and checking the accuracy of other people's votes.
You can think that it is a utopia, but know, that this type of election system has already been used by some countries and companies. For example, the Danish Liberal Alliance had implemented blockchain voting for its internal elections. Same was done by the libertarian party of the US state of Texas. The election concerned the internal party posts. The voting for candidates at the primaries stage was also done by the use of blockchain technology by the Republican Party of Utah. As for companies, this election system was used by the NASDAQ exchange with the support of the local government. The vote was among Estonian stockholders.
As an example of future development of this industry we can give Voatz, a startup which raised $2.2 million. It is a mobile application for blockchain based voting. Now some universities, companies, organizations, political parties already use it for their elections.
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And another popular platform is Follow My Vote. It also helps it clients to hold elections and participate in them.
Of course, the application of technology in public life doesn’t end here. The potential of the blockchain is many times greater than we, and even the most powerful experts in economics, innovation and programming can assume. Therefore, don’t forget in the next part of our materials series to get acquainted with the other and equally important sectors, where blockchain technologies have already shown themselves.