Blockchain: not just about fintech

There’s a common misconception that blockchain technology is mainly about fintech, but all sorts of industries are harnessing the tech.

Unless you’re living somewhere under a rock, you will have come across the word ‘blockchain’ with increasing frequency in recent times.

READ: Seriously, what is blockchain?

There’s quite a knowledge gap among SME owners and startup founders when it comes to this technology.

Many don’t realise that adapting this emerging technology to their business offering can potentially revolutionise their product or service, mostly because they think ‘it’s a fintech thing’.

But in my capacity as a mentor (and service provider) for startups, I’ve recently had many discussions about how this exciting technology is revolutionising many not-so-typical industry sectors.

Throughout those discussions, I have collected some interesting perspectives about the power of blockchain and the value it can bring to small businesses from a variety of industries.

Take Horizon State, for example.

Horizon State is a startup that is aiming to revolutionise global democracy through blockchain.

They’ve taken on the mission to transform age old voting systems and turn them into secure, reliable and effective platforms so voters and constituents can be confident their voice is being heard and that their opinion was being accounted for.

Jamie Skella, co-founder of Horizon State sees the potential of this technology to reorganise the way things are done in both the private and the public sector.

“The paradigm shifting opportunities that Blockchain presents has far-reaching implications for bettering our businesses, and for how our society organises itself more broadly,” he told The Pulse

I have little doubt that the innovation blockchain is set to enable in the decades ahead will see it join the likes of the steam engine, printing press, and internet, as another of humankind’s most pivotal and profound technological advancements.”

Meanwhile, Civic Ledger is a startup aiming to disrupt traditional systems and processes the public sector has been using for decades.

It’s using blockchain technology to build citizen-at-the-centre solutions for government, which is missing from current legacy systems including things like notarisation and time stamping, issuance ownership and transfer, digital asset chain of possession and life-cycle tracking and transparency.

But, it’s about much more than the public service.

Katrina Donaghy, Co-Founder of Civic Ledger sees blockchain as a way for businesses, industries and governments to make and verify transactions.

“Blockchain technology is an emerging method for streamlining business processes, saving money, and reducing the potential for fraud,” she said.

“It’s an enabler that will give businesses those missing tools to create transparent transactions to complete the customer fulfilment process.”

Hut34 is a startup that uses blockchain to create a network of artificially intelligent chat bots to pull data from each other and become even more intelligent. It’s also created a cryptocurrency token that these AI chat-bots can pay each other with.

Peter Godbolt, Co-Founder of Hut34 says that blockchain is the next step in the evolution of information technology.

“Blockchain tech is in many ways the next iteration of the evolution of information technology that began with the microprocessor, led inexorably to the internet, and will now revolutionise human interactions by making ‘trustless’ enterprise possible, which means the role of the powerful large organisation, like a bank, will become less relevant, and the role of the value-adding small business becomes much greater.”

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how blockchain is revolutionising different industry sectors and businesses.

If you’re in the business of innovating and looking to push the boundaries of technology, consider how this emerging technology can work for you.

READ: Blockchain goes out to sea as new use case emerges