Blockchain: Hurry up and wait

Blockchain: Hurry up and wait

Despite the huge amount of noise about blockchain, new research from Gartner finds that very, very few organisations are implementing the technology yet.

Blockchain, Gartner concludes, is “massively hyped”, much of the technology remains immature and untested, and best practices are hard to come by.

That doesn’t mean we should throw the blockchain out with the bathwater, though. Now’s the time for cities and companies to better understand the technology, find out what problems they could realistically solve with it (that wouldn’t be cheaper and simpler to do another way), and evaluate how blockchain fits into their organisation.

There are signs that government is, uncharacteristically, leading the way with a vision for what’s possible with blockchain, and early experimentation is not only addressing real city problems but also tackling the practical challenges, such as ensuring regulation keeps pace.

Sarah Wray,
Editor,
SmartCitiesWorld

sarahw@smartcitiesworld.net