From hiring and HR functions to daily employee workflows and large-scale enterprise planning, blockchain is here — and it’s ready to change what it means to work and “do business.
” In fact, its potential here, at least for now, would seem to surpass its usefulness as a currency.
Let’s take a look at some of the changes it proposes and how they might impact the future of work.
According to some estimates, as many as 85 percent of job hunters include falsified information on their job applications or resumes. These can range from white lies to more elaborate fabrications, but the end result for business is the same: it seems to be getting harder to source talent that’s both qualified and trustworthy.
Blockchain could help parse fact from fiction thanks to its underlying technology, which relies on consensus to build immutable records. Most of us focus on financial records, but these could be records of any kind — including the educational and professional background of job-seekers looking for work.
What blockchain represents is, essentially, a sort of “value passport” or, to borrow a phrase from the animal kingdom, a “pedigree document.
” Each stage of a person’s personal and professional development may soon be an entry in a blockchain-based ledger, which cannot be falsified or altered, except with the consent of each party involved, and which could easily follow an individual from employer to employer.
In the world of international commerce, the process of exchanging goods and services can be expensive and burdensome. When money and products cross borders — when value is exchanged between entities, in other words — there are multiple steps and expenses involved.
There are exchange rates to worry about, which change on a regular basis, plus waiting times for funds to clear as well as the cost of engaging a third-party service for “reconciliation” and the manufacturing of trust.
There is no central authority for this process — simply a series of companies providing verification services. The near future will see blockchain applied here as an impartial and trustworthy medium of exchange as well as a way to track freight withuncompromising accuracy and transparency.
Companies may soon begin issuing their own in-house blockchain-based “coins” to serve as a medium of exchange. Doing so could improve the speed and transparency, and lower the cost, of engaging in cross-border transactions.
Legacy remittance systems require wait times of three to five days or more. Exchanging value using blockchain could make the process more-or-less instant, and it requires no outside parties for verification.
If blockchain ends up streamlining the process of doing business and trading goods across borders — making the exchange of value more mobile, in other words — we can probably expect it to make the global workforce more mobile at the same time, and for the same reasons.
Companies that wish to stake their claim in a global economy must be able to cast a wider net when it comes to talent acquisition. Simultaneously, work exchange programs, which see employees traveling to overseas branches to learn the culture, or new skills, or simply broaden their horizons, are quite popular among companies that maintain multiple locations across continents.
For all of the same reasons blockchain facilitates faster overseas transactions, it may also make the process of “exchanging” labor easier, more straightforward, and far more convenient for employees. With blockchain in your HR department’s toolkit, you’ll likely find it much easier to deal with regional tax jurisdictions and verify and log travel expenses accurately and transparently.
Blockchain technology isn’t without its own potential for misuse and fraud — usually when crypto exchanges are involved. But when applied to certain security problems, blockchain technology represents a fraud prevention measure in its own right.
Today’s companies are stewards of customer and employee data, not to mention intellectual property and trade secrets. As we’ve seen with many recent headlines, traditional software-based security protocols aren’t up to the task of protecting this vast amount of sensitive material.
In fact, the very idea of centralized storage for high-value data is probably on its way out the door.Blockchain provides a better way at a time when cybercriminals seem to be consistently broadening their reach. In 2017, the average cost of remediating a company data breach rose to $3.5 million.
The idea of preventing breaches in the first place represents a huge potential cost- and labor-saving measure — and peace of mind that’s perhaps even more valuable.
As mentioned, blockchain relies on consensus to verify or alter shared records, which makes it substantially more difficult, and perhaps impossible, for employees and outside parties to engage in embezzlement, fraud and other crimes.
Just as importantly, companies can use blockchain to “scatter” important data across multiple “nodes,” which does two things simultaneously: it denies would-be hackers a single point of entry, and it ensures that only useless, unintelligible fragments of data can go missing at a time.
There are quite a few other applications of blockchain that herald significant changes in how we work and do business. “Smart contracts” are another one you may have heard about.
These involve the use of blockchain and automated software to automatically execute the terms of a business contract when one or both parties complete agreed-upon conditions.
The savings on time, and even legal fees and other expenses could be significant — and it could replace a lot of the human effort required to verify the many moving parts in complex transactions and other business processes.
For these reasons and many more, expect blockchain to become a common and increasingly useful asset in the business world.
Bio:
Nathan Sykes is the founder of Finding an Outlet, where he writes about the latest in technology and business news and advice.
If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking
” In fact, its potential here, at least for now, would seem to surpass its usefulness as a currency.
Let’s take a look at some of the changes it proposes and how they might impact the future of work.
Searching for Talented and Trustworthy Applicants
According to some estimates, as many as 85 percent of job hunters include falsified information on their job applications or resumes. These can range from white lies to more elaborate fabrications, but the end result for business is the same: it seems to be getting harder to source talent that’s both qualified and trustworthy.
Blockchain could help parse fact from fiction thanks to its underlying technology, which relies on consensus to build immutable records. Most of us focus on financial records, but these could be records of any kind — including the educational and professional background of job-seekers looking for work.
What blockchain represents is, essentially, a sort of “value passport” or, to borrow a phrase from the animal kingdom, a “pedigree document.
” Each stage of a person’s personal and professional development may soon be an entry in a blockchain-based ledger, which cannot be falsified or altered, except with the consent of each party involved, and which could easily follow an individual from employer to employer.
Making International Payments Faster and Cheaper
In the world of international commerce, the process of exchanging goods and services can be expensive and burdensome. When money and products cross borders — when value is exchanged between entities, in other words — there are multiple steps and expenses involved.
There are exchange rates to worry about, which change on a regular basis, plus waiting times for funds to clear as well as the cost of engaging a third-party service for “reconciliation” and the manufacturing of trust.
There is no central authority for this process — simply a series of companies providing verification services. The near future will see blockchain applied here as an impartial and trustworthy medium of exchange as well as a way to track freight withuncompromising accuracy and transparency.
Companies may soon begin issuing their own in-house blockchain-based “coins” to serve as a medium of exchange. Doing so could improve the speed and transparency, and lower the cost, of engaging in cross-border transactions.
Legacy remittance systems require wait times of three to five days or more. Exchanging value using blockchain could make the process more-or-less instant, and it requires no outside parties for verification.
Building a Truly Global Workforce
If blockchain ends up streamlining the process of doing business and trading goods across borders — making the exchange of value more mobile, in other words — we can probably expect it to make the global workforce more mobile at the same time, and for the same reasons.
Companies that wish to stake their claim in a global economy must be able to cast a wider net when it comes to talent acquisition. Simultaneously, work exchange programs, which see employees traveling to overseas branches to learn the culture, or new skills, or simply broaden their horizons, are quite popular among companies that maintain multiple locations across continents.
For all of the same reasons blockchain facilitates faster overseas transactions, it may also make the process of “exchanging” labor easier, more straightforward, and far more convenient for employees. With blockchain in your HR department’s toolkit, you’ll likely find it much easier to deal with regional tax jurisdictions and verify and log travel expenses accurately and transparently.
Lowering the Cost of Fraud Prevention and Cybersecurity
Blockchain technology isn’t without its own potential for misuse and fraud — usually when crypto exchanges are involved. But when applied to certain security problems, blockchain technology represents a fraud prevention measure in its own right.
Today’s companies are stewards of customer and employee data, not to mention intellectual property and trade secrets. As we’ve seen with many recent headlines, traditional software-based security protocols aren’t up to the task of protecting this vast amount of sensitive material.
In fact, the very idea of centralized storage for high-value data is probably on its way out the door.Blockchain provides a better way at a time when cybercriminals seem to be consistently broadening their reach. In 2017, the average cost of remediating a company data breach rose to $3.5 million.
The idea of preventing breaches in the first place represents a huge potential cost- and labor-saving measure — and peace of mind that’s perhaps even more valuable.
As mentioned, blockchain relies on consensus to verify or alter shared records, which makes it substantially more difficult, and perhaps impossible, for employees and outside parties to engage in embezzlement, fraud and other crimes.
Just as importantly, companies can use blockchain to “scatter” important data across multiple “nodes,” which does two things simultaneously: it denies would-be hackers a single point of entry, and it ensures that only useless, unintelligible fragments of data can go missing at a time.
Putting Blockchain to Work, at Work
There are quite a few other applications of blockchain that herald significant changes in how we work and do business. “Smart contracts” are another one you may have heard about.
These involve the use of blockchain and automated software to automatically execute the terms of a business contract when one or both parties complete agreed-upon conditions.
The savings on time, and even legal fees and other expenses could be significant — and it could replace a lot of the human effort required to verify the many moving parts in complex transactions and other business processes.
For these reasons and many more, expect blockchain to become a common and increasingly useful asset in the business world.
Bio:
Nathan Sykes is the founder of Finding an Outlet, where he writes about the latest in technology and business news and advice.
If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking
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Francisco Gimeno - BC Analyst The blockchain is out of hype time and being seen as the new transformational tool for business with societal repercussions. Those (like us) who like to think long term, understand the possibilities of the blockchain to be the connector between new techs and ideas to develop the 4th IR,