With all the media ablaze with cryptocurrency price news, you might wonder how it affects a common man. Blockchain technology is at the heart of cryptocurrencies and other digital currencies.
There are various industrial and administrative problems that technology can solve for the common man. Are you a small business owner but often feel that traditional methods of communication lack transparency? Have you ever ended up with higher than normal medical bills? As a business owner, is finding legitimate candidates a hassle for you? These issues affect entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses, individuals and blockchain technology seeks to provide solutions to make life easier for the common man through simplified solutions.
Banking
Banking in almost all countries is still too focused on paper-intensive transactions for any money transfer, record keeping or other back-end functions. Blockchain technology can replicate this in a digital format and create a decentralized ledger that allows not only bankers but also customers to access a single source of information. This system allows banks to eliminate the possibility of fraud as documentation and proof of asset ownership can be digitally checked by bankers on a blockchain ledger that can be accessed at any time in an immutable format.
Identity theft is also a major problem in the banking sector, with citizens’ information being stolen and used to open fraudulent accounts for illegal activities. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s online complaint database, more than 13 million complaints have been filed for card fraud and identity theft, including 3 million complaints filed in 2016 alone. Through a blockchain system, customers can directly view all accounts owned in their name and immediately notify their respective banks if they see any suspicious activity in their banking details. Some well-known examples include the IBM-backed Hyperledger Fabric project and UBS’s Utility Settlement Coin.
Healthcare
Blockchain technology can simplify healthcare in incredible ways and make medical data management easier. Making patient records widely accessible could make research on drug development much more convenient and also reduce the impact of counterfeit drugs. Clinical trials and their results can be made available on a decentralized network, allowing healthcare experts and researchers to conduct research and find better healthcare solutions. Accenture is one of the largest companies that have started providing innovative healthcare solutions for the medical care sector for secure and fraud-free transactions.
Blockchain billing management can also reduce Medicare fraud as the billing system can be fully automated with no opportunity for fraudulent activity by an intermediary. With more than 56 million people covered under Medicare as of 2017, $1.3 billion was siphoned from the government through fraudulent activity through rehab facilities and home health care services. Blockchain systems can effectively protect citizens who seek medical assistance from healthcare providers who overcharge for services rendered through fraudulent billing practices. Centralized data not only helps medical professionals in providing treatment based on patient and family history but also eliminates the possibility of patient misremembering past symptoms or disorders.
Public records
One of the most important civil administration functions of a government is to record all information about its citizens. This includes information about individuals and businesses related to their assets and activities. Most of the recorded data is recorded in paper databases, which makes data management extremely difficult even in developed countries.
Blockchain-based systems such as Ubiquity can encode all public records into a digital ledger so that citizens’ information cannot be altered for fraudulent activity. Identity theft is a problem that can be very difficult for the administration to tackle and digitizing all public information to make it tamper-proof can help prevent such incidents of criminal activity.
vote
One of the biggest limitations of the voting system in almost every country is that even today, voters have to be physically present at the polling station to cast their vote and that can make things difficult for people who have to travel on polling days. More importantly, there is no way for the common citizen to verify the voting results.
Blockchain development companies like FollowMyVote are coming up with solutions that aim to make online voting a reality. It will allow citizens to publicly view accurate information on polling locations and results and various other statistics. This leads to safer voting for citizens of countries in internal or external conflict and completely avoids the criminal activity of forcing citizens to vote for specific candidates.
Business recruitment
Businesses of all sizes have a difficult time finding the right staff. With blockchain technology, it is possible for businesses to verify the credentials of all applicants through a digital database. Blockchain technology can be applied to a secure ledger to create a decentralized database of professionals with verified qualifications that businesses can refer to for hiring candidates. Learning Machine is a New York-based company that seeks to solve this problem by focusing on recording verifiable data on employees.
Tax or job-related fraud made up 34% of all identity theft as of 2016, and a blockchain system makes the hiring process more secure for any business because a company will only have access to legitimate candidates, reducing the risk of hiring fraudulent employees. . It speeds up the hiring process for applicants and helps them find eligible jobs and has a hassle-free application process.
The use of blockchain technology helps individuals and businesses alike to protect personal information while making important data publicly visible. While blockchain’s best application is in cryptocurrencies, its use can spread to other sectors and provide meaningful solutions to citizens around the world.