Page 14 - EngineerIT November 2021

BLOCKCHAIN

How business can harness the
How business can harness the

power of blockchain

By Andrea Tucker, Head of Research & Development and Strategic Projects at fintech specialist e4

n today’s digital world, where faxes have all but been replaced by email and landlines by smart
phones, doesn’t it seem strange that we’re still signing contracts in person? That we’re driving
Ihours to do so, creating mountains of paper trails, and storing them in lever arch files to gather
dust, when the technology exists to eliminate this physical burden?
Blockchain has been proven to solve this problem, yet its business adoption has been slow.
The technology at the heart of bitcoin and other virtual currencies, blockchain is an open,
distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable
and permanent way. It’s time for the way we do administration to change.
Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible
to hack the system or forge the data stored on it - making it secure and immutable. A blockchain
is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire
network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number
of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that
transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of
transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on physical asset. (https://www.debeersgroup.
the blockchain. com/sustainability-and-ethics/leading-
Most of the blockchain projects we see in South Africa within organisations are in pilot ethical-practices-across-the-industry/tracr).
phase to prove the business case that blockchain has a true and meaningful use. In my opinion, Initiated and led by De Beers Group and built
an area that could benefit hugely from a blockchain implementation is the area of home loans. collaboratively with the diamond industry,
Traditionally a space with consistent monthly volumes and a number of parties as a part of the Tracr is an inclusive platform that documents
value chain, you’re looking at creating an ecosystem that is dramatically simplified and transaction the story of a diamond’s journey, including
times that are accelerated through the use of blockchain technology. Buyers to sellers, multiple the positive social and environmental impact
banks, attorneys, agents, the deeds office, could all access the transaction in one place. Building it has made on local communities. This
an immutable record of a property transaction creates transparency and allows for more trusted instance of the use of a blockchain platform
transactions where all verifications and legal requirements are added to a master transaction works because De Beers had a pressing
which is viewable by all, significantly reducing the volume of paperwork traditionally created requirement to verify authenticity of a
through this transaction. physical asset, as well as a need for multiple
An example of a successful implementation of blockchain is in the diamond industry, where parties to update and share data, and
De Beers is using blockchain paired with other technologies to trace and authenticate the because transactions depend on each other
movement or transfer of natural diamonds through the creation of a digital asset representing the through the value chain.

EngineerIT | November 2021 | 12