Blockchain Beyond Bitcoin - Enterprise Applications Gaining Momentum

While blockchain technology first emerged as the foundation for Bitcoin, April 2017 marks a significant turning point as enterprise applications of this distributed ledger technology move from theoretical concepts to practical implementations across multiple industries.

Enterprise Blockchain Initiatives Accelerate

Major technology players are rapidly establishing blockchain platforms aimed at business applications:

• IBM Blockchain: Based on Hyperledger Fabric, IBM's offering has gained significant traction with over 400 clients exploring blockchain applications
• Microsoft Azure Blockchain: Providing blockchain-as-a-service with templates for rapid deployment
• R3 Corda: The financial industry consortium has released its distributed ledger platform specifically designed for financial services

These platforms are enabling organizations to experiment with blockchain applications without building the underlying infrastructure from scratch, significantly lowering barriers to entry.

Emerging Use Cases Beyond Financial Services

While financial services led early blockchain adoption, 2017 is seeing rapid expansion into other sectors:

1. Supply Chain Transparency

Walmart has partnered with IBM to pilot blockchain for food safety, tracking pork products from Chinese farms to American stores. The system provides unprecedented transparency, allowing the retailer to trace the origin of products in seconds rather than days.

Maersk is testing blockchain for shipping documentation, potentially eliminating the massive paperwork burden in global logistics and reducing fraud.

2. Digital Identity Management

Microsoft and Accenture have unveiled a blockchain-based digital identity system for refugees, addressing the challenge of providing identification for the 1.1 billion people globally who lack official documents.

Several startups are developing self-sovereign identity solutions that give individuals control over their personal data while providing verifiable credentials to service providers.

3. Healthcare Records

Healthcare providers are exploring blockchain for secure, interoperable patient records that can be accessed across institutions while maintaining privacy and patient control.

4. Intellectual Property and Rights Management

Music and media companies are piloting blockchain solutions to manage digital rights and ensure creators receive appropriate compensation for their work.

Smart Contracts: Programming the Blockchain

Smart contracts—self-executing code that runs on blockchain networks—are emerging as a powerful capability:

• Automating complex business processes without intermediaries
• Enforcing contractual terms through code rather than legal systems
• Creating new business models through programmable value exchange

Ethereum remains the leading platform for smart contract development, though enterprise-focused alternatives are emerging with features like privacy and permissioning.

Challenges to Enterprise Adoption

Despite the momentum, significant challenges remain:

1. Scalability: Current blockchain implementations struggle with transaction throughput compared to traditional systems
2. Privacy: Public blockchains expose transaction data, creating concerns for sensitive business information
3. Governance: Enterprise applications require clear governance structures for dispute resolution and protocol updates
4. Integration: Connecting blockchain systems with existing enterprise infrastructure presents technical challenges

The Consortium Approach

A notable trend in 2017 is the formation of industry-specific blockchain consortia:

• R3: Over 80 financial institutions collaborating on distributed ledger technology
• B3i: 15 global insurers exploring blockchain applications for their industry
• Energy Web Foundation: Energy companies developing blockchain solutions for the power sector

These collaborative approaches help establish standards and achieve the network effects necessary for blockchain systems to deliver value.

Looking Ahead: The Blockchain Roadmap

As 2017 progresses, several developments are likely to shape enterprise blockchain adoption:

1. Hybrid Architectures: Combining public and private blockchains to balance transparency with privacy
2. Interoperability Standards: Enabling different blockchain networks to communicate and share data
3. Regulatory Frameworks: Governments beginning to establish legal frameworks for blockchain applications
4. Tokenization of Assets: Representing physical and financial assets as digital tokens on blockchains

Conclusion: From Experimentation to Implementation

The blockchain landscape in early 2017 is characterized by a transition from experimentation to implementation. While many enterprise blockchain initiatives remain in pilot phases, the technology is clearly moving beyond the hype cycle toward practical business applications.

Organizations that develop blockchain expertise now will be well-positioned to capitalize on this transformative technology as it matures. However, successful implementation requires focusing on specific business problems rather than adopting blockchain for its own sake.

As we move through 2017, expect to see the first wave of production blockchain systems delivering measurable business value, setting the stage for broader adoption in the coming years.

This article was written by Nguyen Tuan Si, a technology strategist specializing in emerging enterprise technologies and their business applications.