It’s up to us as technologists to
be able to verify the trust, and
convey it to the organization in terms
of business value.
rithms. Once consensus is achieved, the new block containing the transaction
is added to the blockchain. Then it’s encoded with a hashtag of the previous
block to prevent attempts at modifying the sequence of entries into the ledger.
Since the entire ledger is distributed among all participants, any attempt to
modify or change an entry within a copy (without consensus) will immediately
be identified by the network and rejected.
A New Trust Paradigm
Blockchain’s distributed ledger technology is definitely a new paradigm in how
we deal with ledgers and trust. Trust is still involved, but it’s provided by the
technology’s underlying cryptography and distributed consensus. But it’s up to
us as technologists to be able to verify that trust and convey it to the business
in terms of business value.
Eliminating the need for trusted third-party processing can affect anything
from business transactions, to property ownership records, to health and stu-
dent records. The important thing to remember is that no technology negates
the need for good design and planning. For new, disruptive technologies like
blockchain, that is certainly true. Once we become comfortable with the tech-
nology’s new trust paradigm, only then will we start to realize its true benefits.
WINTER 2018 | THE DOPPLER | 21