Will 2019 be the year of the blockchain?

The plummeting prices of bitcoin may have dampened the mood of cryptocurrency investors, but that has not stopped proponents of the underlying blockchain technology from deploying real-world blockchain applications.

In 2018, more businesses across the Asia-Pacific region such as SunMoon started rolling out blockchain-based platforms to track their produce and other goods, and more importantly, to capture real-time information on order fulfilments and product quality.

Earlier in the year, Singapore-based Global eTrade Services (Gets) had also launched an open trade blockchain (OTB) network to boost cross-border trade between China and the rest of Asia.

These developments are expected to continue in the new year. However, in the IT realm, there are other areas that will be affected as blockchain becomes more prominent in 2019.

Traditional backup, for one, will give way to hyper-converged solutions, according to Ravi Rajendran, managing director for Asia South at Veritas Technologies.

Convergence will occur between compliance, protection and security as businesses continue to address risks and exploit opportunity with the data they have access to. In the coming year, organisations that can effectively leverage blockchain will be the clear winners as technologies continue to converge.

“This makes blockchain ripe for the backup and recovery market because it can touch all pieces of data, stored in any location, Rajendran said.

“As long as data exists, the need to tap into that data will also exist – but who has access to this data will be the real determinant of blockchain’s power,” he added.

To that, Rajendran said individuals will need to be able to delete their data and access it when they like. Organisations will also want to use insights from the data to explore new opportunities. At the same time, both parties should be concerned with any threats from third parties, he said.

“Blockchain can provide a solution that enables all of the above. But before it can be widely adopted, factors such as people, legality, business, culture and more will need to be well aligned.

“In 2019, we will see more innovators experimenting with blockchain use cases that demonstrate many of the blockchain data protection benefits.”

Will 2019 be the year of the blockchain? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!