Blockchain and DLT

Blockchain which is also mistakenly refereed to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) introduces a new level of transparency, automation, and efficiency to the businesses world. It is still in a nascent stage and is being explored by many companies and early adapters.

Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology which basically is a topology for a decentralized but shared database which replicated and synchronized among the members or nodes of a network. The transactions transactions in the network are all recorded, as in a a traditional ledger or record keeping theme, where businesses typically uses multiple ledgers to keep track of asset ownership and transfers between within the business or within the network of business partners.

Current business ledgers are inefficient and prone to misuse and tampering and require a central authority and auditors. Distributed ledgers and block-chains are tamper-evident shared digital records that could exists in private or public transnational networks. The major difference between a DLT and traditional ledger is that the transaction mediation does not relay on a third-party institutions or authorities such as clearing houses, etc. This means that member node in a blockchain network uses a consensus protocol to agree on the record’s content and to ensure its integrity uses cryptographic hashes and signatures for every transactions.

Industries that are mostly impacted by this technology are:

Blockchain versus Distributed Ledger

There is a misconception that many people and even companies have to use Blockchain as equivalent to distributed ledger technology. While there are similarities but theses two are inherently different buzzwords which are being used by everybody.

A Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT ) as the name implies is a database that exists across several locations or among multiple participants within a network which is basically contrast to centralized architecture. Traditionally most businesses currently use centralized databases that are located within a private or public physical network and essentially has a single point of failure.

Distributed ledger architecture is decentralized to eliminate the need for a central authority to validate or authenticate transactions. Data files in the distributed ledger concept are all timestamped and have a unique cryptographic signature and a verifiable and audit-able history of all data records (or set of data) are available to every node within the network.

A blockchain on the other hand is a shared database containing records that must be confirmed and encrypted. Each record or data set dependent on a logical relationship to all its predecessors. With every transaction records a Block is added to the chain which uses cryptographic signatures (i.e. hash).

Blockchain essentially is another type of Distributed Ledger concept which requires data is organized in a sequence of blocks (i.e. chain) in contrast to Distributed Ledger which does not require use of chains in a organized sequence. We can conclude that all block-chains are distributed ledgers but not all distributed ledgers are blockcahin. Essentially the major difference between Blockchain and is that blockchain is just one type or a sub-set of distributed ledger technology. Examples of blockchain solutions in various industries include:

• Blockchain in Retail

  Retail business can utilize blockchain-based solutions within purchasing, supply chain management and tracking.

• Blockchain in Manufacturing

  In manufacturing block-chain enables exchanging Peer-to-peer data records with component vendors, customers, parts provides to provide visibility, security and reduce costs.

• Blockchain in Health Care

  Healthcare industry can benefit utilizing blockchain in creating secure patient file storage, exchanging medical records, secure prescriptions transmission to pharmacies and many more.

• Blockchain in Financial sector

  Blockchain can help financial institutions in securing financial data storage, safe transactions, crypto-currency, mobile wallet development, document exchange and more.

• Blockchain in Insurance

  Insurance companies can achieve higher transparency and benefit from streamlining insurance operations; claim process, document exchange, case management and achieving.

Let’s Talk

Most business in Toronto and GTA have challenges understanding and applying  the power of Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers for a meaningful  business results. One of the reason is that the technology is nascent and could get more mature, however, waiting for the full fledged DLT solutions could also mean missing opportunities to some businesses.

Our team is always passionate about utilizing new technologies, tapping on our our technical capabilities and experience we can help Canadian businesses achieve value by implementing DLT and blockchain solutions within their organization.

Discuss your project idea with our blockchain and DLT consultants today, and see what this emerging technology  has to offer to your business and your industry.