IBM is Transforming Enterprise Data With Blockchain: Here’s How it Being Done

• IBM has committed to transform enterprise data with Hyperledger
• Hyperledger now has 67 corporations building projects on the blockchain platform.
• The technology has already been used to solve problems in the banking, pharmaceutical, and retail industries

While cryptocurrencies are making the headlines for their accelerated growth, very little attention is given to their underlying technology, Blockchains. Although the backbone of cryptos, the use of blockchain tech spreads far beyond.

A blockchain is built using distributed ledgers that are stored in multiple places. This allows for greater transparency into transactions. This transaction method enables the secure identification of individual products, which has the potential to cut fraud and trace shipments.

Already, we have seen digital voting, payment platforms, data sharing, real estate confirmation, personal identity validation, retail loyalty programs, built on blockchain technology. One of the companies committed to furthering the real-world application of Blockchain is IBM.

IBM’s Involvement With Blockchain

The tech giant’s first significant involvement with Blockchain happened in 2016 when it signed on to Hyperledger with 29 other founding members.

Hyperledger is an open-source program designed to develop blockchain specifically for enterprise users. Four years after the corporation was founded with 30 members, Hyperledger now has 67 corporations and organizations all of which are building projects using the blockchain platform.

On the Flipside

• Governments around the world are beginning to accept and even migrate some of their services to blockchain platforms.
• Blockchain network, EHR Data is working with health authorities in the United States to facilitate better data for tackling the opioid crisis.
• Similarly, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) last week issued a letter approving U.S. banks to use public blockchain networks.

Hyperledger is Growing

In 2020, IBM continued its goals to bring blockchain into the mainstream by focusing on the benefits it offers enterprise users. Hyperledger completed the releases of Hyperledger Fabric 2.0 and Hyperledger Fabric 2.2 LTS in 2020.

On the surface, Hyperledger may be seen as a foundation, however, IBM has committed itself to convene blockchain projects that could be used across different industries. Some major use cases include;

• Developing the world’s largest full production blockchain solution for any industrial application for Walmart Canada enlisted DLT Labs.
• Developing BRUINchain, a blockchain-based system for pharmaceutical dispensers all within a shared-permission yet private ecosystem. This was done by one of its partners LedgerDomain.
• The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) partnered with Soramitsu to create Bakong, the first retail payments system in the world using blockchain technology.
• Developing the first blockchain platform to enable efficient, secure data collection and sharing within the insurance industry by the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS).
• The IBM Food Trust Network may be the most talked-about of all Hyperledger projects. It is designed to create transparency across the food supply chain from the producers down to the retailers.

Enterprises are Embracing Blockchain

Alistair Rennie, IBM’s blockchain manager announced that at the beginning of Hyperledger, many projects conducted were merely test projects.

He noted that, in the last 18 months, business leaders are beginning to understand the importance of blockchain integration. He says now, more partners are putting blockchain projects into daily use.

IBM considers blockchain an important tool for its expanding hybrid cloud strategy. Rennie notes that, in the future, blockchain will help manage the complexity that comes with using different cloud services.