With all the media abuzz with news of cryptocurrency prices, you may wonder how it affects a common man. At the heart of cryptocurrency and other digital currencies is Blockchain technology.
There are many industrial and administrative problems that technology can solve for the common man. Do you have a small business, but often feel that transparency is lacking due to traditional communication methods? Have you ever ended up with higher than usual medical bills? As a business owner, is finding legitimate candidates a hassle for you? These problems affect entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses, individuals and Blockchain technology seeks to provide solutions to make the life of a common man much simpler through simplified solutions.
Bank
Banking in almost every country is still very much focused on paper-intensive transactions for any money transfer, filing 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 chances of fraud as documentation and proof of asset ownership can be digitally verified by bankers in the Blockchain ledger that can be accessed at any time in an unalterable 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, there have been more than 13 million claims filed for card fraud and identity theft with 3 million of these claims filed in 2016 alone. Through a system of blockchain, customers can directly see all the accounts owned under their name and immediately notify their respective banks in case they discover any suspicious activity in their banking data. Some of the known examples include the Hyperledger Fabric project backed by IBM and the Utility Settlement Coin by UBS.
Health care
Blockchain technology can simplify healthcare in incredible ways and make medical data management much simpler. Making patient records widely accessible can make drug development research much more convenient, and also reduce the implications of counterfeit drugs. Clinical trials and their results can be made available in a decentralized network, which allows health specialists and researchers to conduct research and find solutions for better health care. Accenture is one of the largest companies that have started offering innovative healthcare solutions for the healthcare sector for secure and fraud-free transactions.
Medicare fraud can also be brought down through blockchain billing management, as the billing system can be fully automated without any targeting of middlemen who commit fraudulent activities. With more than 56 million people under Medicare as of 2017, more than $1.3 billion was ripped off by the government through fraudulent activity from rehabilitation facilities and home health care services. Blockchain systems can effectively safeguard citizens seeking medical care from healthcare providers who overcharge for services offered through fraudulent billing practices. Centralized data not only helps medical professionals offer treatment based on the history of the patient and their family, but also eliminates the chances of a patient incorrectly remembering past symptoms or disorders.
Public records
One of the most important functions of the civic administration of a government is to record all the information about its citizens. This includes information about individuals and companies regarding their assets and activities. Most of the recorded information is recorded in paper databases, making data management extremely difficult even in developed countries.
Blockchain-based systems like Ubitiquity can encode all public records into a digital ledger to keep data about citizens from being altered by fraudulent activity. Identity theft is a problem that can be very difficult to deal with for the administration and the digitization of all public information to make proof of manipulation can help prevent such cases of criminal activity.
Vote
One of the biggest limitations of the voting system in almost all countries is that even today, voters have to be physically present in the voting booths to cast their votes and that can make things difficult for people who need it. to travel on voting days. More importantly, there are no means of verifying the results of the survey for the average citizen.
Blockchain development companies like Followmyvote are coming up with solutions that seek to make online voting a reality. It will allow citizens to see accurate information about the ranking and poll results and various other statistics publicly. It also leads to a safer vote for citizens of countries in internal or external conflict and criminal activities to coerce citizens to vote for specific candidates can be completely avoided.
Assignment of business
Companies of all sizes have a hard time finding the right staff. Through blockchain technology, it is possible for companies to verify the credentials of all applicants through a digital database. Blockchain technology can be applied to create a decentralized database of professionals with verified qualifications in a secure ledger that companies can refer to when hiring candidates. Learning Machine is a New York-based company that seeks to address this problem by focusing on recording verifiable information about workers.
Tax or employment fraud accounted for 34% of all identity theft as of 2016, and a blockchain system makes the hiring process for any business much safer, as a company would only have access to valid candidates , reducing the risk of hiring fraudulent employees. . It also helps candidates by speeding up the hiring process and helping them find jobs they are eligible for and have a hassle-free application process.
The use of blockchain technologies helps individuals and businesses, as well as protect personal information while making important data publicly visible. While the blockchain has the best application in cryptocurrency, its use can spread to other sectors as well to provide meaningful solutions to the citizens of the world.