Exploring the possibilities of Blockchain in different sectors.

In spite of the fact that blockchain is not a particularly new technology, many people are still unaware of its potential. There is a growing interest in understanding what advantages it has to offer and why industry and various sectors are starting to use it in their projects.

We at Fundació TIC Salut Social focus on exploring and raising awareness as to the possibilities that blockchain has to offer in the patient-centred healthcare sector. As a result, the foundation actively attends and participates in conferences and activities related to the subject. For example, it held a series of workshops throughout October to explore the possibilities offered by this technology and its application in numerous types of projects.

The first seminar, Blockchain for Entrepreneurs (an introduction), took place on October 10 at the Parc Tecnocampus, and was organized by PAE Mataró. It focused on the use of blockchains in the business world. The main objective was to explain how it can be used in different contexts. The session consisted of a panel discussion with three speakers:

• Jesús Soler, a lawyer specialising in blockchain technology
• Dani Rodríguez, a computer scientist specialising in blockchain programming
• Lluís Mas, the founder of a company that gives formal training in blockchain technology.

The speakers addressed questions raised by attendees based on personal experience, explaining how and why the technology emerged, giving a brief overview of its history and its connection with Bitcoin. They also spoke of other uses for blockchain aside from exchanging digital currencies.

These are some of the main ideas which were addressed during the seminar:

• Although digital currencies have existed since 2001, it wasn’t until 2008 when someone thought of using cryptology as a means of protecting and distributing digital coins without the existence of a central bank.
• Using existing technologies, a ledger was created which registers every transaction.
• So far no one has managed to hack Bitcoin.
• Although we are in the midst of a cryptocurrency boom, in the long run only the strongest will survive. However, blockchain technology can be applied to any area which requires records which can be kept in the form of a ledger, since it is a means of ensuring encrypted records remain unaltered.
• Within the next 5 or 6 years we will see blockchain technology being used in many areas of daily life, in the same way as which HTML is used in across the internet.
• “[…] banks will continue to exist but bankers will not” as a result of opacity and corruption. The current concept of a bank and its business model will evolve towards an Exchange (exchanges of various digital currencies). This business model will generate millions of dollars more than traditional currently banks do.
• The two major challenges facing blockchain are firstly, scalability, the ability to manage large quantities of data. And secondly, interoperability, since common standards will be required to exchange tokens generated by different cryptocurrencies.
• Blockchain is interesting mainly for two reasons:
  • The philosophy underlying it offers values ​​which are more just than economic liberalism, with a more equitable distribution of wealth. An example of this is that many Latin American countries, whose currencies are weaker than the dollar or the euro, are moving over to digital currencies.
  • Blockchain allows us to work in environments with high levels of mistrust thanks to its basic structure: databases distributed throughout multiple nodes. Everyone retains a copy, thereby making it difficult to manipulate.

To conclude, however, we ought to think carefully before incorporating blockchain into our line of work, since currently there are many other useful solutions we can use in our projects.

A second seminar, Demystifying Blockchain. How can Blockchain be used today?, was held on October 24 at the Cibernàrium de Barcelona by Luis Carbajo (who founded Vottun together with two other partners). It examined use cases where blockchain technology can be applied:

• In the world of healthcare blockchain can be used to register medical data safely and permanently. To be able to access this data personally when we wish to and provide access to whoever we want to.
• In the food industry, blockchain technology can be used to trace the origin of the food we buy to ensure it meets the requirements of hygiene, security and sustainability.
• Insurance companies can automate the claims process through the use of Smart Contracts.
• Fizzy is a practical example of the use of blockchain technology, allowing passengers to instantly receive compensation for flights which are delayed by more than two hours.
• Vottun has developed an application to improve security regarding registered gas appliance installers working for Naturgy (formerly Gas Natural Fenosa) with the use of digital documentation to guard against forgery and to ensure its validity is kept current.
• When searching for a job, individuals can grant others access to a digital CV which carries a guarantee that the information is accurate.
• IT Academy is a teaching application through which students can receive their certificates in the form of a digital wallet.