Emerging Technologies

Blockchain technology is older than many people think. It really sprung on the scene as a critical element of cryptocurrencies. Once cryptocurrencies began to grow and mature, the value of blockchain technology became evident. At that point, blockchain technology separated from its parent (cryptocurrency) took its own path along the technology lifecycle. It rapidly moved out of the basic research stage and into the applied research stage and jumped into the very early stage of product development and evolution. That is where blockchain technology stands today.

In simple terms, blockchain technology is defined as a decentralized, distributed ledger that can be used to record and document multiple aspects of digital assets, their use, interactions and their transactions. A blockchain is a shared, trusted, ledger, directory and/or transactional database of a network that is public or private. It is often used as a log of database(s) that can keep track of all changes and/or transactions taking place. It is cryptographically secured and is currently being integrated with quantum key encryption technology to increase its integrity.

INSIGHT: Recently, a blockchain webinar was delivered for professionals. During the question and answer period, a question was posed about a particular piece of blockchain functionality. The answer made it clear, they were not aware of that capability/application that is projected to be a substantial part of the global market. This is a clear illustration of how fast blockchain technology is advancing.

Markets and Markets projects that the global blockchain technology will hit $3.0 billion USD in 2020 and grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 67.3% in the next 5 years. That puts the 2025 global market value at $39.7 billion! Another HOT emerging technology to say the least! Some of the more common application areas are listed below:

• Secure sharing of sensitive data
• International Payments (direct and indirect)
• Cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges
• IoT operating systems and device tracking
• Secure device, personal and organizational identity management
• Money laundering defenses and tracking
• Supply chain and logistics management
• Voting systems security, integrity, authentication and tracking

There are many more applications, but that should give you a feel for just how broad the blockchain application space is at this time. The projected rapid growth and impact of blockchain technology has forward thinking business leaders as well as a few government regulators beginning to take steps and prepare for what is likely to come. So, the question we should be asking ourselves is, how prepared are we? Please go to the link below and answer my poll on blockchain! I am hoping the structure of the polling answers should help frame your thinking about this subject matter.

POLL LINK:  https://www.projectmanagement.com/polls/656257/Please-estimate-your-organizations-current-blockchain-technology-capabilities-

So, Deep Ledger Technology is another name for Blockchain.  Blockchain is a relatively new and emerging technology that is commonly referred to as a ‘Digital Ledger.’  It is a list of records (referred to as blocks). It allows digital information to be entered, distributed, but that information is not allowed to be copied and most importantly it cannot be altered. That makes this highly secure and very desirable for a wide variety of applications. It first appeared as a core component of cryptocurrencies. Here is a link to a webinar on cryptocurrencies.  Although a bit dated now (April 2017), it sets much of the foundation.
LINK: https://www.projectmanagement.com/videos/380495/Cryptocurrencies

The Blockchain overall market is projected to grow to $169.5 billion by 2025 from a mere $1.3 Billion in 2017. That is very aggressive growth.  Many believe with the explosion data we are currently experiencing and that is expected to continue, these estimates of dramatic growth could be highly likely.  In 2018, IDC estimated that data will grow to an astonishing 175 zettabytes worldwide by 2025.  It is clear, that much data, demands aggressive management techniques.  When asked if Blockchain was a strategic imperative a limited number of respondents felt as follows, only 15% said YES and 35% said NO, with the remainder stating they were unsure.  It should be noted, many professionals are not really sure what blockchain is, or how the technology can be used. Clearly blockchain appears to be following Gartner’s Hype Cycle

Gartner’s Hype Cycle – LINK: https://www.gartner.com/en/research/methodologies/gartner-hype-cycle

There is little question, blockchain holds the promise of solving many of the data management problems we currently face as well as reducing our costs. There are a number of new products and services that leverage blockchain that have the potential to become commonplace throughout the digital world. This is another of the many emerging technologies that appears to be on the horizon with disruptive potential.  As such, program and project managers should familiarize themselves with the technology. 

In a recent survey by the management consulting firm Deloitte, over 50 percent of respondents said that Blockchain was critical and would be in their top 5 strategic priorities.  That view seems to be supported by a market research report that Blockchain projects were likely to experience up to an 80% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2018 and 2025! A September 2019 briefing suggested the global Blockchain market could top $160 billion by 2025. Other suggest that the Blockchain market in the United States will top $40 billion by 2025. Clearly a robust market with high growth.

When I looked into these results, it was unclear just how Blockchain fit and would be strategically leverage within organizations. A co-worker wondered what their definition of ‘strategic’ was! On the opposite end of the spectrum, a much smaller number, only 3%, felt Blockchain was not relevant. Without question, Blockchain fits somewhere in between the two ends of the spectrum. It would be interesting to examine the organizations in that 3% and find out their industry and operational model(s).  Perhaps they have just not examined the current and projected Blockchain application suite that is widely discussed on the web.  However, like most emerging technologies, there are those that believe the value of Blockchain is vastly overstated and may never come to fruition for many organizations.

Now for the issues.  The number-one barrier that was identified in a recent survey was actually a tie between replacing and adapting existing/legacy systems (as usual) and regulatory issues. I am not really sure what they are getting at with regard to regulatory issues, at least at this time.  I would have thought it was finding properly skilled resources to bring these Blockchain concepts into reality.  I thought an in prompt to look into the applications might be of interest.  Here are the top 5 application areas that was discovered.

• Smart Documents
• Security Applications
• Financial Applications
• Cryptocurrency Applications
• Asset Management & Tracking Applications

I like to get this groups opinion about a few of these topics. Here are a few questions.  Have you managed a ‘Blockchain’ project? Is your organization actively exploring the use of Blockchain technology? How comfortable would you be if you were handed a Blockchain project to manage tomorrow?

The White House just announced several advisors on science and technology. It is important to pay close attention to the subject matter expertise of these advisors.  Interestingly enough, many of there expertise is covered here on this blog!

In addition, this is an important development when it comes to Quantum Computing and more common topics on this blog.  October 28, 2019 the White House announcement is said to signal a "Quantum Leap." Equally interesting is the calls out cryptocurrencies and blockchain as well as other technology subjects.

Check out the YouTube video at the link below. 

Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1rW-6wXHGk

The disruption cause by one or more emerging technologies is cause disruption.  Blockchain is one of those technologies.  It is a secure digital distributed ledger system used to record transactions.  Strategists believe that Blockchain is poised to have an impact on business across the globe.  Here are what I believe are the top 5 segments.

1. Financial Services Industry

2. Healthcare Industry

3. Political/Government

4. Technology Services

5. Education / Training

Subject matter experts (SMEs) acknowledge that Blockchain technology provides a secure, auditable and reliable way to record transactions, adjustments, changes and transfer of data. This is another emerging technology that should be watched and monitored regularly.