BLOCKCHAIN | BUSINESS
Chris Middleton explains how blockchain aims to make sensitive supply chains smarter and more trustworthy. But the technology is not without its challenges...
Blockchain: redefining industry supply chains
Blockchain – the encrypted ledger technology that secures cryptocurrency and potentially a whole raft of business transactions – is simultaneously one of the most hyped and criticised technologies in living memory. And it is sometimes hard to sift the truth from the fiction. Last month, the professional services specialist PwC published global research suggesting that 84% of organisations are experimenting with the technology. 25% of organisations have projects that are either live or at the pilot stage, it said, while 32% have projects in development and a further 20% are researching the market. However, in May the technology analyst firm
Gartner had published a very different set of findings. Its 2018 CIO survey said that only 1% of CIOs report live blockchain programmes within their organisations and just 8% are either planning blockchain initiatives or looking at or experiment- ing with the technology. According to Gartner, 77%
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of CIOs said their organisation had no interest in the technology and/or no plans to investigate or develop it. Two highly reputable organisations and two
detailed, global surveys presenting contradictory findings published just three months apart. These extremes of claim and counter-claim have typified discussions about the technology. However, Gartner’s latest Hype Cycle report, published at the end of August, acknowledged that blockchain is a fast-maturing technology.
Blockchain explained Essentially, a blockchain is a distributed ledger. It is a continuously expanding chain of records (blocks) that are linked and secured via strong cryptogra- phy to create a networked audit trail of transac- tions. Because each block, ledger, or record usually contains a cryptographic hash of the preceding one, together with a timestamp and data about the
September 2018 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 41
Main image: Blockchain technology could reshape supply chains in industries such as
chemicals and plastics
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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