The local business community got an opportunity to learn about a relatively new technology, Blockchain, which experts say is changing the way large companies store data to better serve their business and consumers.
The Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon that provided an in-depth presentation on Blockchain by law firm, Miller Thompson. Law partner Derek Fahl was the presenter. He presented a thorough look into what Blockchain is and what it means for the future of business and technology.
In explaining Blockchain, Fahl says it is not a cryptocurrency, but it is a data set — a better data set that helps companies have an effective and efficient database system. According to the Chamber of Commerce, the technology of Blockchain has the potential to change dozens of industries.
Fahl explained that, “a Blockchain is essentially a database or dataset that exists on the internet where data is entered and stored. The difference between a normal database and a Blockchain is that rather than relying on a centralized party to maintain it, it is maintained by all the users in a decentralized fashion. Also, because of the software that has been developed, it allows users to manipulate and use that data for automatically recurring transactions that are called ‘smart contracts’ that you can’t do on a normal database.”
He says Blockchain is especially useful for large companies and across any industry.
“I think that anytime you’re doing a large number of processing transactions, Blockchain makes sense. Anything with high volume of records such as banking or financial data and large supply chains, Blockchain definitely makes sense to have. There’s a lot of curiosity about Blockchain in the business community for sure so my job is to help them in understanding it so that it can be used in their business development if they so choose.”
He noted that Blockchain is a fast-growing technology that is advancing businesses.
“I wanted businesses to understand the breath of applications that Blockchain is and can be used for. So many people think of Blockchain as Bitcoins or tokens that are created but the true value of Blockchain is really in the business use cases that have or are being developed,” he added. “It’s a fast moving and exciting field. The things we know and use Blockchain for today will be different five years for now but it’s a powerful tool that allows us to do things in a completely different manner than we have done before.”
Andrew Meyer of Sycamore Energy, who is a new member of the Chamber of Commerce says Blockchains is something that has potential opportunities in the energy market. His company, Sycamore, develops and installs solar energy.
“If you visit our website, you’ll see a logo called ‘Crypto Energy,’ something we’ve adopted in the market so we’re definitely looking into creating Blockchains for the solar energy market.”
He added that Blockchain opens many opportunities for businesses and he was happy to receive a deeper understanding of the technology and how it improves business.
“People generally think of currency exchange or buying goods and using this medium as a form of purchasing products, but it goes well beyond that, as we saw in this presentation. It is becoming essential in storing and decentralizing information. I think Blockchain has a huge opportunity because of the layers of processing and decentralizing of information. It opens opportunities for new businesses to develop their business for sure.”
