{"id":9853,"date":"2018-10-05T09:43:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T16:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=9853"},"modified":"2018-10-05T09:46:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T16:46:18","slug":"blockchains-quiet-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/10\/05\/blockchains-quiet-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Blockchain\u2019s Quiet Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"elevateCoverContainer elevateCoverContainer--withImage\">\n<div class=\"elevateCover\">\n<div class=\"elevateCover-textOffset u-flexColumn u-flex1\">\n<div class=\"elevateCover-content elevateCover-content--withImage\">\n<h4 class=\"elevate-summary u-md-marginBottom24\">Most of us will never use the technology, but we\u2019ll still feel its effects<\/h4>\n<div class=\"uiScale uiScale-ui--large uiScale-caption--regular\">\n<div class=\"u-flexCenter \">\n<div class=\"u-flexTop u-noWrapWithEllipsis u-flex0\">\n<div class=\"u-noWrapWithEllipsis u-flex0\">\n<div class=\"ui-captionStrong u-noWrapWithEllipsis\">\n<div class=\"u-flexEnd u-marginBottom4\">\n<p>By <a class=\"ds-link ds-link--styleSubtle postMetaInline postMetaInline--author\" dir=\"auto\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@digitaltonto\" data-action=\"show-user-card\" data-action-value=\"22f5b0d6a0b9\" data-action-type=\"hover\" data-user-id=\"22f5b0d6a0b9\">Greg Satell<\/a>\u00a0(Medium.com)<\/p>\n<div class=\"u-marginLeft8\"><span class=\"followState js-followState\" data-user-id=\"22f5b0d6a0b9\"><button class=\"button button--primary button--smallest button--dark u-noUserSelect button--withChrome u-accentColor--buttonDark button--follow js-followButton\" data-action=\"toggle-subscribe-user\" data-action-value=\"22f5b0d6a0b9\" data-action-source=\"-22f5b0d6a0b9-------------------------follow_byline\" data-follow-context-entity-id=\"46b87dca5179\"><span class=\"button-label button-defaultState js-buttonLabel\">Follow<\/span><\/button><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ui-caption u-noWrapWithEllipsis\"><span class=\"u-noWrap\" data-tooltip=\"Updated Oct 3\"><time class=\"u-inlineBlock u-lineHeightBase\">Sep 22, 2018<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elevateCover-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"uiScale uiScale-ui--regular uiScale-caption--regular elevateCover-imageCaption u-md-hide\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-9854\" src=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Blockchain-300x90.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Blockchain-300x90.jpg 300w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Blockchain-150x45.jpg 150w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Blockchain-250x75.jpg 250w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Blockchain.jpg 408w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"elevate-container u-relative u-marginAuto\">\n<div class=\"elevateSidebar\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<div class=\"js-elevatePostActions u-foreground u-md-left50 u-sm-hide u-absolute\" data-scroll=\"fixed\">\n<div class=\"u-paddingTop30 u-md-paddingTop0 elevate-actions uiScale uiScale-ui--regular uiScale-caption--small\">\n<div class=\"u-marginTop10 elevate-actions\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"postArticle-content js-postField js-notesSource js-trackedPost\" data-post-id=\"46b87dca5179\" data-source=\"post_elevate_sequence_page\" data-tracking-context=\"postPage\" data-scroll=\"native\">\n<section class=\"section section--body section--first\">\n<div class=\"section-content\">\n<div class=\"section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn\">\n<p id=\"be42\" class=\"graf graf--p graf--hasDropCapModel graf--hasDropCap graf--leading\"><span class=\"graf-dropCap\">In\u00a0<\/span>1970, a scientist at IBM Research named\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Edgar_F._Codd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Edgar_F._Codd\">Edgar F. Codd<\/a>\u00a0revealed a remarkable discovery that would truly change the world. Though few realized its significance at the time\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding IBM, which neglected to commercialize it\u200a\u2014\u200athe\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Relational_model\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Relational_model\">relational model<\/a>\u00a0for managing data would spawn an entire industry.<\/p>\n<p id=\"9853\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Today, few have heard of relational databases, but everybody seems to be talking about blockchain. Much like Codd\u2019s idea nearly a half century ago, blockchain represents an opportunity to create a new data infrastructure likely to help power businesses for another half-century.<\/p>\n<p id=\"d550\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Contrary to current hype, few of us will ever work with a blockchain or even know it\u2019s there. The real revolution will come not from the technology itself, but from its secondary effects in the form of new business models. To understand these, you must first understand how Codd created the data economy in the first place.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"adb5\" class=\"graf graf--pullquote graf-after--p\"><p>Blockchain represents an opportunity to create a new data infrastructure, which will likely help power business for another half-century.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4 id=\"940a\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--pullquote\">How relational databases changed the\u00a0world<\/h4>\n<p id=\"696b\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Imagine taking a trip back to 1980. Ronald Reagan was just elected president, and Terry Bradshaw led the Pittsburgh Steelers to yet another Super Bowl. Just a year before,\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Larry_Ellison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Larry_Ellison\">Larry Ellison<\/a>\u00a0and two friends launched the first commercial product based on Codd\u2019s ideas. Two years later, they would change the company\u2019s name to Oracle.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ce7f\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Now, imagine trying to explain to someone in 1980 what they\u2019d need a relational database for. Back then, few people used computers. Mainframes were primarily used for back office tasks and heavy computational jobs like scientific research. Relational databases were hardly relevant to most people\u2019s day-to-day work.<\/p>\n<p id=\"9593\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">What made relational databases important? They changed how people manage data. They made data fungible. Classical or \u201cflat file\u201d databases worked very much like Excel spreadsheets. They stored data in inflexible columns and rows. People would need to understand exactly how the database was set up to find the information they needed. Anybody who\u2019s tried to understand someone else\u2019s spreadsheet knows what that\u2019s like.<\/p>\n<p id=\"d189\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">With relational databases, however, all we\u2019d need to know is the query language. With it, we could extract whatever we needed from any database no matter who set it up. That\u2019s why, today, we can hop on a system like the internet and pull data from just about anywhere we want. Relational databases are what made the information age possible, and most people hardly realized it.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"b0a7\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--p\">Why blockchain matters<\/h4>\n<p id=\"d96c\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Relational databases were designed for centralized computing. Data was stored in a mainframe, and we\u2019d use a terminal\u200a\u2014\u200aand later a PC\u200a\u2014\u200ato get information out. For example, executives use\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Enterprise_resource_planning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Enterprise_resource_planning\">ERP software<\/a>\u00a0to pull data from far-flung operations and manage business processes more effectively. Marketers access research databases to understand consumers. Salespeople leverage\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_relationship_management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_relationship_management\">CRM systems<\/a>\u00a0to service their customers.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3e74\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Today, however, computing is no longer centralized, but radically decentralized. We carry smartphones in our pockets that are more powerful than what would have been considered a supercomputer back when relational databases were invented. We use those devices not only to retrieve information, but also to send it to centralized databases, often without knowing we\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"0a4a\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">That creates an information bottleneck that is often insecure for a number of reasons. First, while most commercial databases are encrypted, data needs to be unencrypted for us to use it, which leads to problems like the one with\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltonto.com\/2018\/its-not-just-facebook-and-cambridge-analytica-the-internet-is-broken-but-we-can-fix-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltonto.com\/2018\/its-not-just-facebook-and-cambridge-analytica-the-internet-is-broken-but-we-can-fix-it\/\">Facebook and Cambridge Analytica<\/a>. Data is also unencrypted at the source, so firms can access our data and store it without us having any control over it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"62cd\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">The most salient aspect of blockchain is that it functions as a distributed database<em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">.<\/em>\u00a0Unlike relational databases that house data in one location, blockchain distributes data everywhere at once in a secure form. So we can track data wherever it goes, see what it\u2019s used for and who alters it in any way. This will create a radically more transparent information economy.<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"71ce\" class=\"graf graf--pullquote graf-after--p\"><p>With blockchain, we can track data wherever it goes, see what it\u2019s used for and who alters it in any\u00a0way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4 id=\"699d\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--pullquote\">What a killer blockchain app will look\u00a0like<\/h4>\n<p id=\"4ccf\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">In a recent conversation I had with\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www-03.ibm.com\/press\/us\/en\/biography\/39806.wss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www-03.ibm.com\/press\/us\/en\/biography\/39806.wss\">Bernie Meyerson<\/a>, IBM\u2019s chief innovation officer, I asked him what he was most excited about. Thinking he would talk about the Watson program or a futuristic research project, I was somewhat surprised that the first thing he mentioned was his company\u2019s\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/01\/16\/ibm-blockchain-maersk-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/01\/16\/ibm-blockchain-maersk-company\/\">joint venture with Maersk<\/a>\u00a0to develop a blockchain infrastructure for global trade.<\/p>\n<p id=\"f642\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">With everything going on at IBM, from artificial intelligence to developing new computing architectures like\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltonto.com\/2018\/heres-what-our-quantum-future-will-look-like\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltonto.com\/2018\/heres-what-our-quantum-future-will-look-like\/\">quantum computing<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltonto.com\/2016\/ibm-has-created-a-revolutionary-new-model-for-computing-the-human-brain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltonto.com\/2016\/ibm-has-created-a-revolutionary-new-model-for-computing-the-human-brain\/\">neuromorphic chips<\/a>, shipping seemed a bit lowbrow to me. Nevertheless, once I started digging into the numbers I could see what he meant. Blockchain really can have an extraordinary impact on global trade.<\/p>\n<p id=\"bab9\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Consider the fact that a\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"http:\/\/www3.weforum.org\/docs\/WEF_SCT_EnablingTrade_Report_2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-href=\"http:\/\/www3.weforum.org\/docs\/WEF_SCT_EnablingTrade_Report_2013.pdf\">2013 study<\/a>\u00a0by the World Economic Forum found that reducing back-office friction in international trade could increase GDP by nearly 5 percent and commerce by 15 percent. Global GDP amounts to nearly $80 trillion, which means you\u2019re talking about a $4 trillion potential impact. If even a fraction of that pans out, it\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n<p id=\"80e8\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">The thing is, nobody is going to buy a product and say, \u201cWow! This is 5 percent cheaper thanks to blockchain!\u201d The truth is that no one will ever see it. Blockchain, much like the relational databases that came before it, is technology infrastructure. It\u2019s basically to global business what paved roads were to cars\u200a\u2014\u200aan essential enabling technology, but not a \u201ckiller app.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"1def\" class=\"graf graf--pullquote graf-after--p\"><p>Blockchain is to global business what paved roads were to cars\u200a\u2014\u200aan essential enabling technology.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4 id=\"e1ce\" class=\"graf graf--h4 graf-after--pullquote\">Where to find the next big\u00a0thing<\/h4>\n<p id=\"63f5\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--h4\">Over the next decade, we\u2019ll see the impact of blockchain unfold, but it will look a lot more like Oracle and the IBM-Maersk joint venture than the next Google or Facebook. If you don\u2019t work with a relational database now, you probably won\u2019t have much to do with blockchain in the future.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3f05\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">Still, that doesn\u2019t make the impact any less real or exciting. Much like the internet distributed computing, blockchain will distribute secure data. That is likely to radically increase transparency and security while reducing costs. \u201cDisintermediation\u201d is a term we can expect to hear a lot of in the future.<\/p>\n<p id=\"c92b\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p\">For example,\u00a0<a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/hu-manity.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-href=\"https:\/\/hu-manity.co\/\">Hu-manity.co<\/a>\u00a0is a new startup that plans to give patients more control over their health data. Today, when we sign a consent form for our data to be used for research, we essential give it away. However, with blockchain, we will be able to track it, decide for ourselves how we want our data to be used and even be reimbursed for it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"f24b\" class=\"graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing\">If you want to know how to profit from blockchain, start looking for information bottlenecks, like global shipping or medical data. Eliminating those bottlenecks is how blockchain will truly change the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"section section--body section--last\">\n<div class=\"section-divider\">\n<hr class=\"section-divider\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"section-content\">\n<div class=\"section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn\">\n<p id=\"804c\" class=\"graf graf--p graf--leading graf--trailing\"><em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">An earlier version of this article first appeared at\u00a0<\/em><a class=\"markup--anchor markup--p-anchor\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/greg-satell\/blockchain-will-truly-change-world-just-not-in-way-everybody-seems-to-think.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/greg-satell\/blockchain-will-truly-change-world-just-not-in-way-everybody-seems-to-think.html\"><em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">Inc.com<\/em><\/a><em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"u-maxWidth700 u-paddingHorizontal20 u-marginAuto\">\n<div class=\"u-flexTop u-paddingVertical50 u-xs-flexColumn u-xs-textAlignCenter u-xs-paddingVertical30 uiScale uiScale-ui--regular uiScale-caption--regular\">\n<p><a class=\"link u-baseColor--link avatar u-xs-hide\" dir=\"auto\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@digitaltonto\" data-action=\"show-user-card\" data-action-value=\"22f5b0d6a0b9\" data-action-type=\"hover\" data-user-id=\"22f5b0d6a0b9\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"avatar-image avatar-image--larger\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-images-1.medium.com\/fit\/c\/150\/150\/1*Kx5_SO2TuWMb0DCy_oDTVw.png\" alt=\"Go to the profile of Greg Satell\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"u-marginLeft25 u-xs-marginAuto\">\n<p><span class=\"elevate-caps\">WRITTEN BY<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"ui-h2 u-paddingTop4 u-marginBottom4\">Greg Satell<\/h3>\n<p class=\"ui-summary u-marginBottom16\">Author of Mapping Innovation, Speaker, Innovation Adviser, @HBR and @Inc Contributor, Publisher- www.DigitalTonto.com\u200a-\u200aLearn more at www.GregSatell.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most of us will never use the technology, but we\u2019ll still feel its effects By Greg Satell\u00a0(Medium.com) Follow Sep 22, 2018 In\u00a01970, a scientist at IBM Research named\u00a0Edgar F. Codd\u00a0revealed a remarkable discovery that would truly change the world. Though few realized its significance at the time\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding IBM, which neglected&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/10\/05\/blockchains-quiet-revolution\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9853"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9857,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9853\/revisions\/9857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}