Automation is typically associated with AI. But will smart contracts take business automation to the next level? Zilliqa’s Amrit Kumar investigates

In going beyond grains and gold, commodities have now taken on a new form in the age of personalisation. “Data is the new oil”, many have argued, and data has come to cement its position as the most valuable resource in the digital era.

From advertising to remittance, industries today benefit from the efficiencies offered by digitalisation, thriving on the seamless flow of information and the easy connections formed across stakeholders beyond borders.

Despite this ease, the next frontier appears to be in automation, as the resulting supply chain — across all sectors ranging from healthcare to finance, consumer goods to entertainment — has become hindered by the middlemen and third-parties.

With drawbacks ranging from hefty fees to an overabundance of restrictive processes, the diversification of service providers and the ability to connect with them appears to be a double-edged sword. It’s a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen.

Enterprises have sought out opportunities for greater optimisation, afforded by the rise of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and most recently, blockchain. In the case of the latter, the introduction of an immutable, distributed ledger coupled with self-executing agreements, known as smart contracts, looks set to catalyse the much-needed transparency, accountability, and efficiency in today’s business processes.

The elimination game

According to ITIC’s 2018 Global Server Hardware survey, 59 percent of respondents cited that human error was the leading cause of systems downtime.