Logistics, Payments and Healthcare: Where Will We Use Blockchain Technologies in 5 Years
Author Guy Yanpolskiy
Blockchain technologies are rapidly developing and penetrating other areas. And if two or three years ago the blockchain was used mainly for the creation and turnover of cryptocurrency, today the technology is used in logistics, the financial sector, data protection, and other industries. I have identified five main areas where the blockchain will be used in the next 5 years.
Healthcare
The coronavirus epidemic has shown the importance of consolidating and storing information. China has become one of the first countries to use blockchain technology to track the supply of medicines and monitor the situation with patients based on blockchain solutions. Today, other states are also adopting the experience of China and introducing blockchain technologies to control the healthcare sector.
For example, with the help of blockchain, you can track the movement of medicines from suppliers to hospitals and pharmacies and further to patients. This will make it possible to tighten control over the turnover of medicines, minimize the risks of unauthorized trade in medicines without a prescription, and also reduce the turnover of contraband products on the drug market. In addition, blockchain solutions will be used to track the course of treatment, as well as the impact of a particular drug on the patient’s health.
Document management and data storage
The second area of application of the blockchain will be data storage. In the next five years, archives, libraries, registries will transfer data to the blockchain. First, it will allow you to effectively store information for a long period without data loss. Secondly, the use of blockchain will protect information from theft by third parties. This is especially true for state registries, companies, and enterprises that store large amounts of information about customers, contractors, etc.
Property rights, real estate, and jewelry transactions
As for the use of blockchain technologies to protect copyrights or transfer ownership rights to certain objects, we are seeing this now. The use of NFT technology just opens up new opportunities for property rights management. For example, the first real estate transaction using NFT was recently made in America. And in June 2021, the second such transaction was made in Ukraine. In both cases, the ownership of the property was transferred in the format of a non-interchangeable token.
Also, thanks to the NFT technology, you can buy and sell the rights to the invention. Most recently, a group of graduates of the University of California at Berkeley paid 22 ETN for NFT for digitized documents with a cancer treatment technique that won the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Therefore, blockchain technology will be actively used by patent offices.
Aviation industry and transportation
The aviation industry remains one of the priority areas for the development of blockchain. Thanks to the blockchain, airlines can track fuel supplies and costs, manage payments and significantly speed up the purchase of air tickets. Already today, the Russian airline S7 uses blockchain technology.
Payments
The financial sector will remain the engine of the introduction of blockchain technologies. First of all, the blockchain will be used for payments. Already today, companies such as PayPal and Visa use crypto payments in their practice, which are gaining popularity at a high speed. In addition, blockchain technology will form the basis for creating a CBDC, which is being discussed today by the governments of China, the Eurozone, Germany, and other countries.
In conclusion, I will say that this is not a complete list of areas where the blockchain will be used. And if it is easier to answer the question “ ” Where will the blockchain be used”, then it is easier to answer – everywhere.
