The global healthcare cloud computing market is expected to grow by USD 25.54 billion during 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report

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Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global healthcare cloud computing market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Research collaborations have been increasing in recent years, particularly in the field of healthcare. Healthcare establishments and organizations involved in research initiatives require systems with high computational capabilities. Deploying cloud computing in healthcare ecosystems offers various advantages, including cost savings, enhanced flexibility, and system scalability to the organizations. Furthermore, the use of cloud computing also facilitates better collaborative research among various healthcare researchers and other stakeholders. The cloud computing modules designed for the healthcare ecosystem helps healthcare professionals make precise decisions while prescribing appropriate medications to their patients. Thus, growing collaborations among different stakeholders of the healthcare industry will drive the healthcare cloud computing market.

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As per Technavio, the introduction of blockchain in cloud computing will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024.

Healthcare Cloud Computing Market: Introduction of Blockchain in Cloud Computing

Rising deployment of cloud computing systems in the healthcare industry have increased data and information theft, resulting in cybersecurity issues. However, the implementation of blockchain in healthcare IT infrastructure will help in achieving greater data security, streamlining claims, managing the billing process, and ensuring integrity within the drug supply chain and health research. Also, blockchain-enabled systems reduce breaches during data exchange and offer greater ownership to patients about their data and records. As a result, with the growing awareness of benefits provided by blockchain technology, vendors in the healthcare industry are collaborating with cloud computing companies to develop blockchain-based healthcare management systems.

"Introduction of edge computing, integrated service offerings for the healthcare industry, and development of hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) are a few other factors that will boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio.

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Healthcare Cloud Computing Market: Segmentation Analysis

This market research report segments the healthcare cloud computing market by product (SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS) and geography segmentation (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA).

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North America led the healthcare cloud computing market share in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA. The North American region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the increasing adoption of cloud computing by healthcare institutes and the launch of various cloud computing products.

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Some of the key topics covered in the report include:

Product Segmentation

Geographic segmentation

Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

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Technavio ResearchJesse MaidaMedia & Marketing ExecutiveUS: +1 844 364 1100UK: +44 203 893 3200Email: media@technavio.com Website: https://www.technavio.com

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Global Healthcare Cloud Computing Market 2020-2024| Introduction of Blockchain in Cloud Computing to Boost the Market Growth | Technavio - Yahoo...

Chinese entrepreneurs registered 714 blockchain firms in China this month, resulting in a total of 26,089 such companies operating in the country.

According to cryptocurrency data firm LongHash on Jan. 26, the total number of blockchain firms registered in China is 79,556, while 57,257 Chinese blockchain firms also lost their legal status or had their licenses revoked.

From 200917, the annual number of founded blockchain firms remained relatively static, before a notable jump upward in 2018.

While it remains to be seen whether funding remains stable for the remaining 11 months of 2020, if the average monthly rate of founded blockchain firms remains the same as in January, China would see 8,565 new blockchain-related companies this year.

Blockchain firms registered in China per year. Source: LongHash

As per the map below, the lions share, 28.5%, of blockchain firms in China are in the province of Guangdong, which is home to the major city of Shenzhen and shares a border with Hong Kong. Both of these cities are known for their tech hubs and initiatives to apply blockchain in civil administration and other aspects of municipal development.

Distribution of registered blockchain firms in China. Source: LongHash

The data also reveals that over 46% of Chinese blockchain firms have no more than 5,000 yuan of registered capital, which is equivalent to just under $721. Furthermore, 8.32% of firms have between $721 and $1,442, 26% have between $1,442 and $7,208, while 9.17% of firms have $7,208 or more.

This apparent lack of capital in the Chinese blockchain space is in line with the results of a recent joint study by Chinas government-run financial information and media firm Xinhua and financial data platform Rhino Data. The study states that investment and financing deals in the Chinese blockchain space dropped over 40% in 2019.

As Cointelegraph reported in October 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the country to accelerate its adoption of blockchain technology:

We must take blockchain as an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies, clarify the main directions, increase investment, focus on a number of key technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain and industrial innovation.

After the announcement, reports suggested that blockchain technology was rapidly maturing in China as it is increasingly implemented in government projects. The consequences of Jinpings talk are far-reaching, as some noticed that reports criticizing blockchain technology are now banned from local media.

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Over 700 Blockchain Firms Founded This Month in China, Over 26,000 in Operation - Cointelegraph

By building on leading blockchain platform Zilliqa, the product will be backed by enterprise-grade security and scalability standards

Aqilliz, a blockchain solutions provider for the digital marketing ecosystem, andLucidity, a leading blockchain-enabled digital advertising verification platform, together announced a global collaboration that looks to bring greater authenticity to the US$333.25 billion digital advertising sector. The product will integrate Luciditys existing technology withZilliqas high-security, high performance blockchain infrastructure, and will be capable of aggregating and processing large quantities of data from multiple sources with assurances of utmost security and scalability.

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As Aqillizs sole infrastructure provider, Zilliqa is responsible for developing cutting-edge, customised solutions for Aqillizs enterprise partners across the wider digital advertising and marketing ecosystem. With Zilliqas emphasis on scalability, the product will be able to analyse and ingest multiple data points from various sources through smart contracts in near real-time, allowing for greater cost-efficiencies and reducing the need for third-party intermediaries.

Gowthaman Ragothaman, CEO of Aqilliz said, The age of automation has prompted greater efficiencies but also a lack of reliability in authenticity in the digital media supply chain. As we look towards the future, its crucial that we work together as an industry to build the right infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability. At Aqilliz, we are extremely delighted to be partnering with Lucidity, as we both continue to pioneer the use of distributed ledger technologies in order to tackle perennial challenges across the industry. Together, we look forward to developing this state-of-the-art product for the betterment of the marketing ecosystem.

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For the past two years, Lucidity has had the privilege of helping major North American brands and agencies gain greater transparency into their media spend, saidSam Kim, CEO of Lucidity. With an established foothold in the Asia Pacific region, this partnership with Aqilliz not only provides us with an automatic global footprint, but also allows us to benefit from the scalability and cost effectiveness of their infrastructure.

Renowned across the blockchain industry as the first public blockchain platform to successfully utilise sharding as a scaling solution, Zilliqa has established itself as a leading high-performance, high-security platform. In March 2019, Zilliqa successfully ran a pilot for a fast moving consumer goods giant as part of Project Proton, a programmatic advertising alliance with leading AdTech members as its partners. The pilot saw Zilliqa enable up to a 28% increase in cost-efficiencies for verifiably viewable impressions when run through its smart contracts. Built for enterprise use, Zilliqa is also known for its prioritisation of security through its network infrastructure and secure-by-design smart contract language, Scilla.

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Blockchain Solutions Aqilliz and Lucidity Bring Greater Authenticity - AiThority

Food supply chains are long, complicated processes that get edibles from farms to the dinner table. Many individuals, companies and countries are involved in ensuring that a wide variety of food is available worldwide. With so many links in the chain, however, a lot of inventory and communications end up getting lost along the way despite the implementation of modern technology and systems.

Blockchain is here to fix those communication problems. Acting as a record keeper for multiple industries, it can keep track of everything and make sure the system flows correctly at all times. And while mere record keeping doesn't seem like something that can totally change how the industry operates, blockchain ups the game.

Here are just a few ways it is changing the food supply chain.

Efficiency and automation. Efficiency can be considered the umbrella term for everything good that blockchain brings to the food supply chain. But its about more than just record keeping. A blockchain is made up of code that keeps track of every action involved in the process. The technology eliminates the need for manual transitions from one step to the next.

Smart contracts are complex if-then statements of code written into the blockchain itself. When certain conditions are met, the blockchain automatically moves the process on to the next task, resulting in less time wasted and less miscommunication between companies. This simple process of automation is sufficient to change the way food supply chains work.

Tracking products and information. A blockchain is made up of blocks of data, as the name suggests. Each consists of smaller ones that represent individual transactions. Each transaction has its own specific code, providing information on when and where an item was transferred. Essentially, a blockchain is a tracking system.

The tracking aspect of blockchain is how it's able to keep such precise records. Both items and information are being monitored, allowing for all parties involved to communicate clearly under one shared language and program.

An even better way to use this tracking information is to implement predictive analytics, so that a manufacturer can get a hint of future operational performance.

Much less waste. When dealing with the food industry, there's always going to be a certain amount of waste. However, with blockchain, there can be a lot less food loss, especially for unnecessary reasons. Blockchain can predict the freshness of a field harvest during processing, so that the inventory can go exactly where it needs to. In addition, this same technology can filter by supply and demand.

The tracking aspect of blockchain also becomes useful in reducing waste. Companies can find when and where the food was initially harvested, and what kind of conditions it was stored in. There have been instances of individuals making false claims about the freshness of their products, and blockchain seeks to end this problem.

Better food safety precautions. Waste can sometimes be a fact of life, but risks of harm from food products should always be avoidable. Blockchain is cracking down on false claims of quality, but its also going further to make sure that food that's less than fresh doesn't continue to be processed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ways of tracking food-safety measures across the country, and some of these records are made public.

Even at the end of the chain, blockchain doesn't stop working. The FDA can use it to see if restaurants aren't following safety procedures, by tracking food poisoning cases from hospital to hospital. From sensors in food storage facilities and beyond, everything can be kept monitored. This easily accessed information helps everyone prevent waste and support healthier food products.

Blockchains are already being implemented in food supply chains all over the world. The benefits are numerous, and the cons few. Even switching over to blockchain can be easy, if not exactly seamless at first. Blockchain has been proven to house multiple functionalities within the food supply-chain industry, making this futuristic record-keeping system almost necessary to the process.

The implementation of blockchain now will save companies time and money later. Its a secure, easy and new way to keep track of vital data, one that will boost productivity and reduce unnecessary waste. With the 2020s finally here, we can look forward to new technology and be as adaptable to change as possible. That's what makes progress possible.

Jenna Tsui is a technology blogger at The Byte Beat.

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Four Uses of Blockchain in the Food Supply Chain - SupplyChainBrain

The ability to share information across different blockchain networks is seen as one of the most important steps in the mass adoption and evolution of the blockchain industry.

The term blockchain interoperability has been tossed around for some time now, yet the vast majority of projects are still operating in siloes, thereby preventing the industry from reaching its full potential.

Recently, new organisations have sprung up that aim to facilitate interaction between networks and ensure the concept of decentralisation is fully realised.

What is blockchain interoperability?

Blockchain interoperability means the ability to share, see, and access information across different networks without the need for intermediaries.

Currently, blockchain networks operate independently from one another. The Bitcoin blockchain, for instance, operates entirely separately from the Ethereum network.

There are vast numbers of projects out there, all of which have different characteristics such as the type of transactions, hashing algorithm, or consensus model and which specialise in a particular area. Some networks are designed for specific groups, organisations, or governmental departments.

None of these networks have knowledge of the information contained on other networks, despite operating in the same industry.

ConsenSys has argued that the ecosystem is currently in danger of Balkanisation becoming a series of unconnected systems operating alongside, but siloed from, each other.

Its research paper warned: We would be left with a scattered collection of siloed blockchains, each supported by a weak network of nodes and susceptible to attack, manipulation, and centralisation.

Why is blockchain interoperability important?

The ability of different blockchain networks to interact with each other and share information is regarded as critical to the success of projects and the industry in general.

In fact, interoperability is crucial in any software system it simply wont work to its full potential if it cant work with other software. For example, most mobile apps that allow payments have to interoperate with PayPal.

As IBM fellow and vice president for blockchain technologies Jerry Cuomo recently pointed out: Interoperability in digital systems is important period.Blockchainhappens to be the latest and greatest recent breakthrough in that, so it applies equally as well.

Interoperability is thought to be an important precursor to blockchains mass adoption because it would hopefully enable smooth information sharing, easier execution of smart contracts, a more user-friendly experience, the opportunity to develop partnerships, and the sharing of solutions.

At the same time, removing the need for intermediaries or third parties would push the industry closer to its goal of decentralisation.

The concept of decentralisation and blockchain interoperability are closely related, said Jack Lu, founder and CEO of Wanchain.

Interoperability is the ability to freely share information across all blockchain networks. In a fully interoperable ecosystem, if a user from another blockchain sends you something on your blockchain, you will be able to easily recognise and interact with it.

Blockchain projects that want to implement interoperability into their platform want to create an ecosystem that will enable different blockchains to easily communicate with each another without the need for an intermediary like a centralised exchange.

Projects focusing on blockchain interoperability

Several projects have launched that aim to encourage and facilitate blockchain interoperability.

One of the most well-known is Cosmos, which aims to act as an ecosystem of blockchains that can scale and interoperate with each other.

The end goal is to create an internet of blockchains a network of blockchains that can communicate with one another in a decentralised way.

The companys website states: With Cosmos, blockchains can maintain sovereignty, process transactions quickly, and communicate with other blockchains in the ecosystem, making it optimal for a variety of use cases.

Other well-known projects include Polkadot, which facilitates transactions and data exchange; Aion, which is working towards integrating artificial intelligence in its consensus model; and Ark, which lets users create new blockchains within minutes.

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Moving forward

Interoperability could be a game changer for the blockchain industry, but there are still lots of hurdles to overcome.

Many blockchains continue to move in different directions, are out to compete with one another and dont have features that would support interconnection.

But as interoperability start-up ventures gain traction, it could help to persuade networks that the seamless exchange of data is crucial to the success of the entire market.

The post Blockchain interoperability will be key to successful projects this year appeared first on Coin Rivet.

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Blockchain interoperability will be key to successful projects this year - Yahoo Finance

Sustainability has sat at the heart of this years World Economic Forum (WEF) agenda in Davos, with themes including How to save the planet and Better business. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) responsibility. Itis viewed in a number of different ways by corporates: some see it as a business strategy, others think of it is as a form of marketing spin and others see it as a self-regulatory initiative. What we can all agree on, however, is that ESG has now become a key business imperative and its here to stay. Despite what the motivations may be, its clear that positive ESG outcomes will have an impact on our society. Key to this is ensuring we have effective means to measure our progress, as this will help us meet sustainability goals and prove weve achieved what we set out to do.

The growing importance of ESG

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) published The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which perhaps served as an inflexion point in ESG. At its heart are 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which, according to the UN, are the blueprint to achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. In qualitative terms, it is fairly easy to talk about things like Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (Goal 9) or Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal 12), but if the objective is to unequivocally demonstrate our achievements around SDGs, we must be able to prove our progress with quantitative metrics.

In practice, this means 1) identifying key performance indicators (KPIs); 2) measuring where they are today; 3) defining a target for those KPIs; and 4) creating and implementing a plan that delivers the desired outcome. As that plan is implemented, we must make sure that we continuously measure our KPIs to validate our progress; essentially, we need to create an auditable record of how we come to achieve our goals. In short, this is simply the introduction of traceability into ESG policies.

Authenticating ESG progress

Traceability is critical to the achievement and communication of SDGs, as well as the overall ESG strategy. Companies must be sure that, when communicating their sustainability success stories to the world, they have an indisputable record that authenticates their message. Simply setting goals isnt enough: in a world where ESG efforts are coming under increasing scrutiny, not only by the regulators who have woken up to the challenges we are facing as a society but also by increasingly conscious consumers, its time to show some evidence.

As Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, said last year: We should embrace independent tracking tools for assessing progress under the Paris agreement and the SDGs and implement stakeholder capitalism by introducing an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scorecard for businesses. This sentiment was reflected at Davos 2020, with the Forum discussing how to create a general framework for companies to demonstrate and verify their long-term sustainability and integrate ESG considerations alongside their financial reporting.

The challenge, however, is introducing traceability into ESG policies, which often involve complex supply chains and industrial processes. The only truly effective way to do this is by embracing the power of technology, which is the key to achieving global goals.

Why blockchain?

The question that then remains is: why, out of the many digital technologies available, should we pay closer attention to blockchain when it comes to sustainability goals?

It all goes back to traceability and those auditable records that prove progress. The principles of transparency and trust enshrined in its foundations, coupled with its immutability and ability to digitally represent assets moving along value and supply chains, make blockchain the clear choice to introduce traceability into industrial processes. Through the adoption of a transparent digital agenda, i.e. deploying blockchain technology to prove transparency in a way that no other digital technology can, businesses will improve their sustainability credentials and make reporting easier.

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Blockchain in action

Repsol, the global energy giant, is leading the way on this. The company is already using blockchain technology to digitise some of its downstream supply chain (this means any resource that starts at a refinery or industrial complex before being processed into a product in subsequent supply chains; examples include fuels, lubricants or chemical compounds). Repsol is using blockchain to create a digital asset that mirrors the physical resource that will move along a supply chain, with that asset registering all of the characteristics that define the quality and regulatory compliance of its physical counterpart.

For instance, In the case of a chemical compound like polyethylene, we could potentially trace the asset all the way up to the plastic container that was ultimately produced. This opens up new business opportunities in areas like the circular economy in the future. Having traced the polyethylene to the plastic container, we could recover the container and, through mechanical recycling, use it to produce new raw materials for a new batch of plastics. That new batch of plastics can then be traced as well, so we can certify how much primary and secondary raw material was used in the production process.

There are numerous other opportunities when it comes to blockchain and sustainability in the broader petrochemicals sector, which encompasses everything from upstream all the way down to the final consumer goods that use petrochemicals in their supply chain. Sustainable fashion is one example. Chemical dyes and plastics (petrochemical products) are a big part of the fashion industry and, using blockchain, we can track the use of recycled or low-carbon footprint materials in the manufacturing process. Meanwhile, in the production of biofuel, we can ensure that vegetable oils do not come from deforestation or conflict areas and, when those biofuels are burnt, we can trace their lower impact on greenhouse emissions.

Looking to the future

There are countless other areas where traceability can help us measure the environmental and social impact of our value chains. Any asset that can be measured and traced can provide evidence of achieving our sustainability goals.

What we have covered in this piece is only the beginning. Blockchain and sustainability are interlinked, and as the technology reaches the right level of maturity, I expect to see many implementations over the course of 2020 that further demonstrate the valuable relationship that can exist between the two.

By Juan Miguel Prez, CEO and Co-founder of Finboot.

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Blockchain: the key to unlocking the full potential of ESG initiatives - Supply Chain Digital - The Procurement & Supply Chain Platform

Much has been made of the potential for blockchain to transform processes in the construction industry, with the technology potentially offering greater transparency and oversight across projects and payments. But less attention has been paid to the cultural and behavioural changes it could foster.

Blockchain is a distributed digital ledger, designed to eliminate the need for a trusted third party to audit transactions. The technology stores the details of transactions in real time within logical blocks, which are cryptographically linked together to produce a verified, chronological record of activity that is effectively impossible to tamper with once created.

Any claims or disputes about what was agreed upon by the interested stakeholders can be checked against the information held on each block in the digital chain. This single source of information provides a readily accessible chronology of timestamped data, yielding a clear record of cause, effect and ownership. This process also has the potential to offer a real time audit trail, with improved management of costs.

In the construction industry, trust between parties is often low and legal disputes are all too frequent. How can this burgeoning technology incentivise behavioural change?

Increased accountability for everyone usually leads to better supply chain performance

The use of smart contracts in construction projects is one of the most exciting growth areas in the industry, with the potential to foster positive changes in the client-contractor relationship. Smart contracts can provide automation for the entire breadth of the contracting process from planning and tendering, through creation and negotiation, and in use from commencement to completion.

Taking a simple example outside of the construction sector, consider a smart contract between a YouTube influencer and an advertising agency. The YouTube user might be automatically paid one cent for every view of a video in which a particular product is featured.

The smart contract works by overseeing the contractual mechanism for the agreement between the two parties where code within the contract automatically validates the video. From the moment a new video is uploaded to YouTube, there is no human supervision of the process.

The construction industry is built on personal relationships that resonate throughout the supply chain. But imagine if clients and contractors applied the use of blockchain-based smart contracts to their own operations. This could enhance existing relationships by ensuring that trust commits each signatory to their word.

Beyond payment transparency, the technology can drive greater clarity about roles and responsibilities during the construction process and push project partners from materials suppliers to surveyors to perform better. In my experience, increased accountability for everyone usually leads to better supply chain performance, which has the knock-on effect of boosting project productivity.

In addition, crucial updates about the project such as delivery of materials on-site could be automatically sent to everyone in real time. This would decrease project delays and the need for rework.

Blockchain is not the solution to all of the construction industrys challenges. It cannot, for example, solve inherent issues that might be the cause of a contractors financial instability.But blockchain can drive cultural and behavioural shifts in the sector, from the boardroom to the site, if it is readily adopted by contractors and clients alike. The only barrier is our appetite for change.

Tim Thomas is senior cost manager for infrastructure at Turner & Townsend

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Blockchain can be the missing link in the supply chain - Construction News

Theres a curious sense of irony that The New York Times R&D Lab is looking at an unrefined, if not undeveloped, technology to fix an industry beset by issues created by, well, technology.

Over the past couple of years, the Times has been working with IBM to create The News Provenance Project, looking to answer a few questions that dance around two main themes: the rise of misinformation and using technology to blunt the spread of that misinformation. This week, the team released its first batch of findings and design principles.

Marc Lavallee, the media companys R&D chief, told Adweek the company is looking at how it can help build an ecosystem of solutions, not just conduct fact checks or have a reporter on the misinformation beat.

Its about finding multiple seeds and starting points of collaboration, Lavallee said. Were trying to do two things: figure out from different angles what different parts of the solution look like, and two, the opportunity to use the name recognition of New York Times to get everyone to work together. Its not just tech companies but other news organizations. Misinformation is an everyone problem.

The idea seems relatively straightforward. In an age when images are manipulated and deepfakesget more sophisticated each day, using blockchain technology to show readers and viewers where and how an image, static or moving, has been changed can be an important way for consumers to understand where the image actually came fromtrusted source or not.

Perhaps at a more foundational level, the main question The News Provenance Project seems to be asking is: Can blockchain save journalism, if not society? Lofty, yes. But what is an R&D Lab if not reaching for the stars.

Using blockchain technology and user research, the skunkworks team of five shared its findings earlier this week about the problem space, user insights and technological solutions, according to Lavallee.

As he wrote on LinkedIn, his team developed a simple perspective about content: Users have a right to know where it came from. That means all the images, text, video and audio in their social media streams and on news websites.

Putting images on the blockchain through the metadata can let readers know those images havent been altered and that they arent fake news, no matter what the memes say.

While internet users can see the view source of a webpage with a right-click, we dont have a mechanism yet to understand how that information ended up there. Or as Lavallee put it, We should also be able to view SOURCESnot just the source code, but also the people that uploaded the content.

For example, one discovery was that people are capable of being discerning, yet rather than ask themselves whether a post is true or not, they are motivated by whether they find a post interesting, Emily Saltz, the UX lead for The Provenance Project, wrote in a Medium post outlining the research.

Project lead Sasha Koren, who is now an editorial consultant, went on to describe in a different post the creation of several design principles for how digital platforms and publishers might better communicate information about photo provenance.

Some of those principles are assessing visuals for source information at the same time a photo is uploaded, using prompts to induce a more critical mindset, and highlighting details that users can understand for themselves.

All of this is in service of the reader, but perhaps more nobly, society. If journalism is to help inform the public and to let society make better decisions based on accurate and truthful information, then we need to establish protocols and systems to let readers understand what theyre seeing. Its no longer putting trust in one person, like the TV anchor or the newspaper columnist. The News Provenance Projects bet is that blockchain is that technology to help us all.

However, blockchain has fallen out of favor among many of its participants. The technology is confusing at best, and to get publishers across the internetmany of whom actually make a pretty penny from peddling Photoshopped imagesto adopt an immutable ledger seems, perhaps, a bit idealistic.

The promise of a technology saving journalism, while not newhello, ad techdoes hold a particular kind of idealism that speaks to the very real, dark timeline the media industry lives in.

Originally posted here:

The News Provenance Project Wants to Save Journalism Using Blockchain - Adweek

Lionel Chocron, Chief Product Officer at Hedera Hashgraph, was born in France. About twenty years ago, he came to the US west coast to receive a Masters degree at UC Berkeley, whereafter he eventually took a job working at Cisco. He spent 10 years there focusing on emerging technologyhe ran the Internet of Things business unit at Cisco for yearsand corporate strategy. He then joined Oracle to lead the emerging technology industry solution group, which was focusing on imaging technology, IoT, blockchain, and AI.

He crossed paths in 2019 with the co-founders of Hedera Hashgraph, and grew excited about blockchain technology. At the time, large companies were adopting public ledger tech, and he saw the potential for Hedera Hashgraph to become third-generation distributed ledger technology.

The adoption of blockchain is going faster than I've seen in IoT and AI, said Chocron, noting IoT takes longer due to the need for connecting millions of devices. The time it takes to really get the value on the IoT side is pretty long. On the AI side, you don't have any hardware to install, but the volume of data that you have to be able to analyze to raise the level of insight that your AI machine is giving you, minimizing what the market calls a false positive, is huge. You cannot do it in a few weeks. It takes years and years and volumes of data to be able to train your algorithms. Adoption is great, but it is a game for those who have access to the data to be able to optimize.

Until a company or startup gets these prerequisites to play balleither the hardware for IoT or the data for AIyoure on standby in those industries. With blockchain, its easier than IoT and AI, for, in its journey towards mass adoption, blockchain relies on neither major hardware investment nor on major volumes of data.Now, from proving the value to scaling, says Chocron, thats a different discussion, but at least you can demonstrate the value pretty quickly.

At Hedera Hashgraph, he focuses on enabling small, medium, and large companies to adopt distributed ledger technology. He helps them integrate with the tools and the ecosystem out there today. Blockchain and distributed ledgers are pretty well understood, said Chocron. Everybody knows what a ledger is. When you start understanding a distributed ledger, and you start paving the path of how you can use an ecosystem of companies that are working together and sharing information on the ledger, whether it's a private and public ledger, it clicks pretty quickly and people see the value in it.

Hedera Hashgraph CPO Lionel Chocron at Blockchain Expo 2019 in Santa Clara, California.

Whether or not public ledgers are adopted depends on performance, stability, security, and governance, he says. When I was looking at the first generation and second-generation players, as amazing as they've been, and are doing today in terms of paving a path for a new industry, there were a lot of shortcomings in terms of performance, stability, security, and governance that my customers [at Oracle], the big companies, were seeing as a no-no, said Chocron, with whom I spoke at Blockchain Expo 2019 in Santa Clara, California. The third generation that's coming today is going to address that, he believes.

In order to be adopted by enterprise, a distributed ledger will need to be fully integrated into what companies are doing today, he says. Enterprise is already running use cases on private ledgers like Hyperledger, for instance, so an enterprise-facing blockchain company like Hedera needs to help clients integrate into Hyperledger.

Alongside performance, stability, security, and governance, another challenge for blockchain isnot having a complex and fully matured regulatory environment. The regulatory environment for blockchain is still not fully defined, and not just in the US, but globally, Chocron said. There's enough room for interpretation that it's pretty critical for companies, like we've done, to carefully look at the path in front of us to make sure that we stay aligned with what we believe the regulatory environment is going to be. While companies have been looking at private ledgers, they also see value in a public ledger, and they are also trying to understand the regulatory environment to be able to move in that direction.

Such companies are also trying to wrap their heads around how to use the tech, as was Chocron when he first made the leap from enterprise into the blockchain startup world. Unlike in other startup environments, when you are joining the blockchain industry, you have to deal with the token on-ramps and token ecosystem, such as wallets, custody, etc. This barrier to entry doesnt exist in the traditional startup world.

In the blockchain space, it is actually a pretty big challenge not having had the experience, he said of working with hardware wallets, etc.. This is a learning curve that the industry is going through today.

Besides the regulatory uncertainty and a new stack of technology to learn, the rest of the blockchain industry reflects more traditional ones: This is about building use cases, proving the value, developing, and technology, deploying on a POC, and so forth, said Chocron.

Originally posted here:

Hedera Hashgraph CPO: The Adoption Of Blockchain Is Going Faster Than Ive Seen In IoT And AI - Forbes

Blockchain has topped the list of skills bosses are looking for in employees around the world this year, according to professional social media platform LinkedIn.

The record-keeping technology first emerged in 2009 with the birth of cryptocurrency but has since moved on from supporting the use of the likes of Bitcoin.

The ability to store, validate, authorize, and move data across the internet with blockchain means it is now being used to securely store and send any digital asset. The technology also stores a permanent and non-editable record of data entry.

Blockchain was the top priority for employers hiring in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Australia, LinkedIn found. Yet it was both first time blockchain made it onto LinkedIn's rankings of in-demand skills and came in first place.

Namrata Murlidhar, marketing director at LinkedIn, said blockchain had emerged from the "once shadowy world" of cryptocurrency to become a "transformative business solution."

Industries outside the financial services sector were increasingly seeking talent with experience in blockchain, she added, including retail, shipping, healthcare, farming and gaming.

LinkedIn measured demand by looking at the profiles of its users, to determine the frequency that people with different skillsets were getting hired.

Cloud computing came in second place, which is the technology allowing data to be stored and managed on the internet. People working in this area would be developing the architecture, design and delivery of cloud systems.

In third place was analytical reasoning - the ability to make sense of data and uncover insights that can help business decisions.

Artificial intelligence (AI), which is the technology developing machine-learning, was the fourth most in-demand area of "hard" skills for employers.

Rounding out the top five was UX design, the focus on users' experience of products, particularly technology.

LinkedIn also ranked "soft" skills the interpersonal qualities employers want most in their staff. The list looked very similar to the 2019 rankings, with creativity holding onto the top spot.

However, emotional intelligence also made an appearance in this year's top five. This is the ability to perceive, evaluate and respond to both your own emotions and those of others.

LinkedIn said this emphasized the "importance of how we respond to and interact with colleagues."

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These are the most in-demand job skills in 2020, according to LinkedIn - CNBC

If the United Arab Emirates (UAE) successfully implements emerging blockchain technology, the nation could see a plethora of benefits across the board, according to a joint whitepaper by the Centre for the Fourth industrial Revolution and the World Economic Forum.

How the Middle Eastern nation adopts the new crypto technology could serve as a template for other countries, which are eyeing it. The strategy, was launched in recent years to help advance their legislative efforts, to improve the morale of their citizens, and to advance government efficiency. The strategy intends to provide a digital transformation for the UAE.

The government of Virginia is also studying the impacts of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and introduced legislation to form a study group last year dedicated to researching the topic.

For the UAE, the efficiency would occur by the itss reducing printing needs by over 398 billion printed documents annually and saving 77 million work hours annually. Chief among the benefits provided through implementation of blockchain would be the saving of AED 11 billion (USD $3 billion) a year in transactions and documents processed routinely.

The use of blockchain technology will not only allow operational cost reduction but will support the digital security of national documents and transactions, as well as accelerating decision-making processes, the report said.

Small Persian Gulf principalities are serving as proving ground for blockchain. Dubai, under its own blockchain strategy, aspires to become the hub for blockchain intellectual capital and skill development, the report noted.

The report emphasized many challenges the UAE may face in adopting and implementing blockchain technology, as shown by historical examples of other jurisdictions who vied to do the same. The challenges are largely societal issues, and not based on the technology itself.

The reports authors suspect there may be difficulty in aligning the interests of required stakeholders in corporations, service providers and the government. Education of the technology and awareness of its intricacies is also considered to be an important obstacle, as well as unclear regulatory implications.

Survey participants were unified on the opinion that the core challenges in blockchain implementation remain in the operational and regulatory sphere rather than on the technical side, the report said.

The public sector saw education and alignment with stakeholders as the most pressing challenge, whereas the private sectors key concern resonated around regulatory uncertainty, the report added.

Those same issues are propping up in the United States as well. The US Senate last summer held hearings on potential regulatory frameworks for digital currencies. The digital currency and blockchain ecosystem is diverse, and care must be taken in determining what gaps may be present in the existing framework and developing a more comprehensive approach, said US Sen. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican

The UAE and Dubais blockchain strategies have so far advanced the development of a thriving blockchain ecosystem within less than three years, contributing towards the nations vision of becoming an innovation-drive economy, the report said.

The government of Virginia is also studying the impacts of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and introduced legislation to form a study group last year dedicated to researching the topic.

Related stories:Blockchain Firm to Pay SEC $24 Million for Unregistered ICO

Senate Holds Hearing on Digital Currencies, Blockchain

Virginia Government Aims to Create Blockchain Study Group

Tags: blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Dubai, emerging technologies, Middle East, UAE, United Arab Emirates

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Blockchain Could Save a Country Billions, Report Says - Chief Investment Officer

IBM

Feeding a growing planet will require a great amount of food. Doing it safely and sustainably will require an even vaster amount of data to overcome our uncertainty about who is producing our food, as well as the conditions in the farming and fishing communities that supply our most basic needs.

The world population is expected to reach nearly 11 billion people by the end of the century, up from about 7.7 billion today. To keep up with all that population growth, food production and distribution systems must become significantly more productive even as they become more sustainable. Its the only way to feed the world without harming the earth, making people sick or wasting precious nutrients.

That requires lots of informationdata about the growing conditions that make food healthy and safe to eat, as well data about what happens to all the food along the way. For example, spoilage and waste reduces the global food supply by more than a third, according to the USDA. Each stop in a food items supply chainfrom farm to processor to distributoris an opportunity for it to go bad, whether from exposure to the elements or bacteria or simply because the journey takes too long. When it comes to the intricacies of our food supply, we still have vast gaps in our knowledge.

More and better data can help us fill those gaps. But the truly valuable insights and efficiencies come only when all links in the food chainfrom farm to tableare connected. How, for example, are farmersto know if their apples reached consumers in better or worse shape than last years harvest, given that their customers may be thousands of miles away? And if the apples were bad, whos to say it is the farmers fault, and not the power outage that caught the distributor by surprise, or the retailer who didnt handle the apples properly?

Data can also provide us an opportunity to understand how farms and fisheries operate, and what practices they follow that respect animal wellness and the ecology of our planet. By making this connection, we can directly contribute to these communities health and well-being and make more thoughtful choices about what we consume.

By creating a single version of the truth that all participants in a supply chain can share in a permissioned way, we can begin to answer such questionsand many others. Thats the value of blockchain, a distributed ledger creating a continually updated and indelible data record that tracks every step and transaction in even the lengthiest global supply chains. Blockchain can help us create that single version of the truth, and in so doing can help us improve, expand and secure our food supply in the decades to come.

To get food data thats actually useful, we need to connect all the links in the food chain, a goal increasingly within reach thanks to distributed ledger technology. With blockchain, cross-industry collaborationeven between competitorsbecomes dramatically simpler. Members of these networks can designate who sees what information, and why, allowing them to strike a balance between transparency and trade secrets. Many companies are even using this technology to provide key data to consumers, using the provenance record to foster trust and tell a story about their product.

IBM

Take the example of Terra Delyssa, one of the Mediterraneans leading olive oil producers. The company recently began using IBM Food Trust, a blockchain network, to establish traceability for its Terra Delyssa extra virgin olive oil.

Using Food Trust, Terra Delyssa was able to create two applicationsone for its enterprise partners to track in-depth information and audits, and the other for consumers who simply want to know where the oil came from and how it was produced. Consumers can have greater trust in the product, while Terra Delyssas distributor and retail partners can tap vast swaths of new data about the product and its sourcing, to improve their purchasing and distribution efficiency.

With Food Trusts network at 200 participants and growing, Terra Delyssa is hardly alone in looking to blockchain to solve problems related to data, trust and supply chain integrity.

Through careful collaboration via blockchain, even the most complex supply chains can become more transparent and efficient.

Consider coffee.Most coffee is grown in Latin American or Africa on smallholder farms that are technologically unsophisticated (one study estimated the average size of a coffee farm at only 7.5 hectares, or about 18 acres). Many of the best beans cannot be machine harvested. And members of the supply chain use a patchwork system of technology and notebook systems to track their operations. Coffee quality falls in a vast range, from a lukewarm cup of Joe to premium beans that can retail for hundreds of dollars per pound.

The coffee market, in short, was the perfect candidate for blockchain technology. In field tests in Rwanda and Colombia, a new organization called Farmer Connect established the traceability of beans that were entered into the blockchain ledger, and then used the blockchain to detail each shipments journey.

But putting this idea into practice required uniting players large and small to begin collaborating on a shared system. Despite the logistical hurdles, Farmer Connects vision is already working. Industry leaders like the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, the J.M. Smucker Company and Sucafina have all joined Farmer Connect and have begun using blockchain technology to share pertinent industry data up and down the supply chain. Through this new collaboration, Farmer Connect will finally make it possible for coffee industry players large and small to collaborate using one shared, trusted set of data.

In earlier, simpler times, people generally knew who was producing their food, milling their grain, making their cheese or cobbling their shoes. But globalization and international supply chains introduced anonymity and uncertainty to the process.

Reversing that trend is the virtue of blockchain. Even at a global scale, the technology has re-introduced the values of trust, traceability and accountability to our communities of commerce.

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Blockchain Can Help Safely Feed The World - Forbes

Blockchain has emerged as the leading hard skill sought by employers for 2020. In its latest report, the professional networking company found that blockchain was sought by employers more than cloud computing, artificial intelligence and UX design.

The annual report on the most in-demand skills by LinkedIn gives a comprehensive look on what employers are on the lookout for from their employees. In 2019, cloud computing led the list of hard skills, with artificial intelligence and analytical reasoning following suit. Blockchain wasnt even in the top ten. However, in a complete change of fortunes, employers are now more interested in those possessing blockchain skills than any other skill.

LinkedIn pointed out that blockchains rise has been aided greatly by its breakout from its traditional financial industry connection and into other industries. Supply chain, gaming, pharmaceuticals, insurance and legal industries are all using the technology. This has opened up more opportunities and led to the skyrocketing of the demand in blockchain skills.

The demand for blockchain skills varies from one country to the next. However, in most leading economies such as the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France and Australia, its the most in-demand skill.

The report stated, The business world, however, is voting with its jobs, and companies seem to be saying that the potential is worth the gamble. Blockchain has become a line of business for a whos who of the corporate world IBM, Oracle, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft (LinkedIns parent company), Amazon, and American Express, to name just a few. Blockchain is now being used in industries ranging from shipping to healthcare, from farming and food safety to entertainment and gaming.

As CoinGeek reported, while the demand for blockchain skills has continued to skyrocket, the supply has waned. This is despite blockchain jobs having higher pay, with those in the U.S. offering twice the national average. In its Emerging Jobs Report 2020, LinkedIn revealed that blockchain developers were no longer on their list of top 15 emerging jobs. An earlier report by Indeed also found that searches related to blockchain have been on a decline for the past two years. In 2019, these searches went down 53%. In stark contrast, Indeeds portal saw a steady increase in job postings for blockchain-related roles.

The Genesis protocol upgrade on February 4, 2020 is a monumental step in the history of Bitcoin, and will see BSV returned as close as possible to the original protocol as envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto. Visit theGenesis Hard Fork pageto learn more.

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Blockchain is the top skill for 2020, LinkedIn says - CoinGeek

The deployment of blockchain technology can save the United Arab Emirates (UAE) more than $3 billion, according to new findings.

The findings were revealed in a white paper entitled Inclusive Deployment of Blockchain: Case Studies and Learning from the United Arab Emirates, Emirates News Agency reported on Jan. 15.

The paper was prepared by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution UAE a multi-stakeholder operation focused on science and technology the Dubai Future Foundation and the World Economic Forum.

The white paper aimed to understand the current level of blockchain application, key challenges and success factors associated with the technology. More than 100 organizations from over 60 governmental and non-governmental entities that already use blockchain participated in the study.

The vast majority 80% of the surveyed government entities named early-stage identification of applicable blockchain solutions as the most important factor in deploying the technology.

For large organizations, the success of blockchain deployment relied on a clearly defined scope, roles and responsibilities within projects.

As for the public sector, education and alignment with stakeholders appeared to be the most critical challenge when it comes to blockchain implementation, with the private sector noting regulatory uncertainty as a key concern.

By integrating blockchain into their operations, the UAE government can also drastically reduce paperwork, eliminating 398 million printed documents and 77 million work hours per year, the analysis stated.

With reported 80% of public and private sector entities already using blockchain, the UAE has apparently dove headlong into the sector. The UAE, along with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, is leading the charge when it comes to positive crypto and blockchain legislation. As blockchain author Sukhi Jutla previously told Cointelegraph:

The UAE has been smart enough to understand that this innovation will grow in years to come and they dont want to miss it. I wouldnt be surprised if the UAE becomes the leading nation in this space just as they did with the oil and property space."

Over the past several months, the UAE has launched a number of blockchain-related initiatives, including the Digital Silk Road which aims to digitize the trade process, the development of the country's first financial document exchange platform based on the tech, and the Silsal blockchain project with the objective to provide greater security, transparency and efficiency in shipping and logistics.

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UAE Can Save Over $3B by Deploying Blockchain, New Research Reveals - Cointelegraph

The Sacramento Kings will auction off starting guard Buddy Hields jersey from Wednesdays game against the Dallas Mavericks using a blockchain-powered marketplace.

Working with ethereum project incubator ConsenSys, the Kings said Wednesday it would be live-auctioning team memorabilia using an ethereum-based platform operated by Treum, a supply-chain product. The platform will be used to verify the provenance of athletic collectibles, with auctions running during and after NBA games.

The platform will help ensure all items being sold are authentic, said Tyler Mulvihill, Treums co-founder.

We've seen time and time again and instances of this exact problem, right? This is the jersey, [is it] real, was it game-worn, how do I know? he said. Were working with the Kings to solve each and every one of those problems.

He told CoinDesk in a phone call the platform wants to heighten fan experiences, noting that a relatively small number of basketball aficionados are able to make it to games at present.

"We wanted to create an application that does something real right now, [that] adds enthusiasm, said Bradley Feinstein, head of business development at ConsenSys. Fans can "participate live in the game [and] ultimately give them this experience where they can participate with verifiable proof. [They] understand that what they are about to get is real.

If the Buddy Hield game jersey auction is successful, here's how future auctions will work: During home games, Kings fans can bid on gear worn by players on the team. Each auction would run from right before tip-off to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, with all items authenticated and recorded on Treum. A digital token that will contain data detailing the game, season, player and timestamp will represent proof-of-ownership for items, and will be held by the items owner.

Proceeds from auctioning Hields jersey will benefit the victims of 2019's Hurricane Dorian (Hield grew up in the Bahamas) while proceeds from future auctions will generally go to the Sacramento Kings Foundation.

Kings Chief Technology Officer Ryan Montoya told CoinDesk the move is only the Kings latest foray into blockchain, noting that the team has accepted bitcoin since 2014 and offers other blockchain-based fan experience products.

Calling ConsenSys the Andreessen Horowitz of crypto, Montoya said the new auction platform is going to transform businesses, economy.

We just want to be a part of it and share this with our fans, he said.

The NBA is strictly overseeing memorabilia from its teams, said Ian Wheat, the team's director of innovation and esports. The Kings chose to use a blockchain as part of an effort to promote transparency around how the items entered the market and help verify authenticity in secondary markets.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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NBA Team Auctioning Basketball Star's Jersey on Ethereum Blockchain - CoinDesk

Bitcoin isnt exactlyen voguein 2020, but its underlying technology (blockchain) is apparently still cool.

At least, thats according to employment service LinkedIn, which listed blockchain as techs most sought after hard skill this year.

A LinkedIn blog published last week notes that blockchain is the most in-demand skill in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Germany more popular than cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and UX design.

Blockchain has emerged from the once shadowy world of cryptocurrency to become a business solution in search of problems, said LinkedIn. Which means that you dont have to be in financial services to be seeking new hires who have background and expertise in putting blockchain to use.

The Microsoft-owned company then urged recruiters to start familiarizing themselves with how blockchain works and what its perceived benefits are.

[] Companies seem to be saying that the potential [of blockchain] is worth the gamble, LinkedIn continued. Blockchain has become a line of business for a whos who of the corporate world IBM, Oracle, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft (LinkedIns parent company), Amazon, and American Express, to name just a few.

LinkedIn explains that there are two different kinds of skills: hard and soft.

Hard skills are those that pertain to an employees aptitude for executing specific tasks, mostly technical abilities and specialized knowledge. For software developers, proficiency in the C++ programming language would be a hard skill.

Soft skills relate to the way in which those employees perform those tasks. How one behaves, how they think, and their cognitive skills are all examples of soft skills.

While soft skills are difficult to measure, and perhaps harder to learn, LinkedIn did offer some advice to those looking to break into blockchain this year: learn the programming language used to write Ethereum smart contracts, Solidity.

In November last year, Hard Fork reported that job vacancy site Indeed had noted decreasing candidate interest in blockchain-related roles, but that employer demand in the industry had skyrocketed.

So, while it might be relatively difficult to make money from investing in or trading cryptocurrency this year, working with its underlying tech still seems mightylucrative for now.

[H/T Bitcoin News]

Published January 13, 2020 12:24 UTC

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LinkedIn: Blockchain beats AI and cloud computing for hottest skill in 2020 - The Next Web

Blockchain has spread its wings to virtually every other industry in the world, and this is driving demand for talented blockchain developers through the roof. According to a study released this week, it topped the list of the most in-demand skill globally. The study by LinkedIn attributed the rise to the diversification of the technology from financial services to other industries. The fete is even more incredible given that blockchain didnt crack the top ten skills last year.

Blockchain adoption was also in high gear, starting in Switzerland where a real estate company tokenized a $134 million property. BrickMark investment company issued bond-backed tokens which represent shares in the building. The tokens are only available to accredited investors who will get to earn income from the rent as well as any rise in the buildings value.

The week also saw IBM expand its blockchain efforts, joining hands with one of the largest olive oil producers in the southern Mediterranean. CHO joined IBMs Food Trust Network, which it will use to trace its Terra Delyssa virgin olive oil. The company will trace the oil from the farms where the olives are grown through the supply chain to the final consumer.

In Africa, a utopian crypto-powered city could be on the horizon. Global superstar Akon this week announced that the final plans for the crypto city were in place. The city will be powered by blockchain technology and transactions will be made in Akoin, a native crypto. There are glaring gaps however, such as the lack of a whitepaper for the project, which Akon must address if this real-life Wakanda is to become a reality.

Over in the Philippines, the government wants to build Asias Crypto Valley, and Japan is willing to help make this dream a reality. The two countries believe that blockchain technology, especially when applied to tokenization, has a great role to play in Asias future. The Filipino government also intends to construct an $80 million airport to connect the crypto valley, citing investors demand.

Huobi crypto exchange this week joined the Blockchain Turkey Platform, a cross-industry organization to harness the power of blockchain technology. The exchange has been operating in Turkey for half a year now and becomes the first major exchange to join the organization which consists of tech firms, banks and financial institutions, venture capitalists and the crypto industry.

Still in Asia, the Malaysian government has laid down guidelines for the ICO and IEO sector. Securities Commission Malaysia published the guidelines this week, requiring ICO and IEO issuers to register with the regulator beforehand. The rules also impose a $24.5 million cap on the offerings, but allow participation from both retail and institutional investors.

Blockchain and cryptos have for long been portrayed as bad for the environment, but this week, one big industry player was doing its bit to conserve it. Bitfury partnered with the United Nations on a project that seeks to plant 20 hectares of trees in Kazakhstan. The forestland is estimated will offset the companys carbon footprint by 110%.

Finally, Libra, the Facebook project that you thought had died off, has established a new committee to guide its technical development. The Libra Association formed the five-member team to guide the development of Libras code, implement a technical roadmap for the project, direct the research and engage the Libra community. Diogo Monica, the founder of Anchorage and Nick Grossman, a partner at Union Square Ventures are among the members.

The Genesis protocol upgrade on February 4, 2020 is a monumental step in the history of Bitcoin, and will see BSV returned as close as possible to the original protocol as envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto. Visit theGenesis Hard Fork pageto learn more.

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This week in tech: Blockchain tops the list of in-demand skills - CoinGeek

Blockchain will be the most in-demand hard skill in 2020, according to a new study by the educational subsidiary of professional social network LinkedIn.

A newcomer to LinkedIns annual list of top-demanded hard skills, blockchain now tops the list of the most-needed skills in 2020, according to a LinkedIn Learning blog post on Jan. 13.

In 2019, blockchain-as-a-skill overtook major hard skills including cloud computing, analytical reasoning, artificial intelligence (AI), and user experience (UX) design, becoming the number one hard skill in demand among global employers in 2020, according to LinkedIn Learning.

In contrast, a similar list of skills provided by LinkedIn Learning for 2019 does not include blockchain technology at all. Titled The Skills Companies Need Most in 2019 And How to Learn Them, the list ranks cloud computing as the most in-demand of that year. In order, other top hard skills in 2019 included AI, analytical reasoning, people management and UX design.

Top 10 hard skills companies need most in 2020. Source: LinkedIn Learning

As noted in the post, demand in the recent study was defined by analyzing skills that were in high demand versus their supply. Specifically, demand was measured by identifying the skills listed on the LinkedIn profiles of people who were employed at the highest rates.

The study only analyzed cities with 100,000 LinkedIn members, the blog post notes.

As opposed to soft skills, hard skills refer to an employees ability to do a specific task and include specialized knowledge and technical abilities such as software development, tax accounting, or patent law expertise. Meanwhile, soft skills refer more to the way those tasks are done how employees adapt, collaborate, solve problems and make decisions.

In the blog post, Linkedin outlined the immense potential of blockchain technology in terms of providing a cost- and time-efficient, secure and decentralized method of tracking transactions of all types.

It emphasized that a number of high-profile global firms such as IBM, Oracle, JPMorgan, Amazon as well as LinkedIns parent firm Microsoft have been actively implementing the technology. The post advises global recruiters to start becoming more aware of blockchain technology:

Blockchain has emerged from the once shadowy world of cryptocurrency to become a business solution in search of problems. Which means that you dont have to be in financial services to be seeking new hires who have background and expertise in putting blockchain to use. So, recruiters should start becoming familiar with how blockchain works, what its perceived benefits are, and who are the people best suited to help your company explore where this budding technology might have a role.

LinkedIn has previously outlined the importance of distributed ledger technologies like blockchain. Earlier in 2019, a LinkedIn Asia Pacific report listed blockchain among the most demanded skills in the coming years as part of its regular feature The Future of Skills.

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Blockchain Will Be Most In-Demand Hard Skill in 2020: LinkedIn - Cointelegraph

As we launch in the brand new year- 2020 of the brand new decade, it deserves some exciting introspection to see what it has in store for us. The evolution of the crypto sphere in the last decade cant be ignored, and the same evolution lays the foundation of the promising New Year. In this article, we will see what is in store for blockchain and crypto in 2020.

Looking at 2019, Granter points at trough of disillusionment. As per Granter last year, the crypto sphere has a reality check on its potential, real facts, public response and pace-matching with the mass adoption and of the blockchain technology. The concept revealed that a sense of maturity is still needed to make use of the full potential of blockchain technology fully.

In 2019, many companies and industries were still toying with the potential of the technology, whereas only a few real-world use cases surfaced. This experimentation era leads to the shut-down of many start-ups.

The experience has stream-lined the perspectives, expectations, and approaches towards business in the crypto sphere. The inclination has now shifted from experimentation to more practical, useful ambitions. This inclination, as per Granter Hyper Cycle, will design the crypto sphere in 2020, which will lead to a completely scalable blockchain domain in the next three years. The pragmatic approach will pay a good farewell to the small scale proof-of-concept style of work.

In 2020, as discussed above, an inclination towards operational real-world use cases should be expected. The main areas of focus for the new year, as per market predictions, are- development flexibility, interconnectivity, and operational domain.

The blockchain technology, its implementation, user-interaction are expected to have a more realistic approach. This will lead to strategic development backed by strong research and awareness. The blockchain projects can be expected to burst the bubble of ideal experimentation la-la land.

A shift from R&D-type exploratory proof-of-concept (PoCs) and inclination towards the end-to-end process can be expected. Implementation of the blockchain technology will improve massively. This can lead to a stronger bond between traditional industries and blockchain technology.

Also, the debate between the public and private blockchain will only get further stirred up. It will stay like that for a while and will eventually settle-down. There will be more completion between the several blockchain platforms leading to the adoption of hybrid blockchain solutions.

Market analysts predict that the finance industry will keep leading the blockchain adoption. With the expected fine-tuning of the blockchain industry, the blockchain industry will take over many sectors of society. It is anticipated that especially the banking and the finance industry will surpass the past reluctance towards the blockchain industry and will rather start embracing it. Reports suggest that the new year 2020 will see the blockchain technology to become an integral part of the in-production process of many finance institutes.

The advantages of blockchain technology such as transparency, time-stamped transactions, security for both the users and the institutes, the privacy of the users, inexpensive cross-border transfers, almost instant transactions, etc will be celebrated on a grander scale in the new year by the finance industries.

Good things take time. This saying will stand true when it comes to an acceptance of the crypto and the blockchain technology from the non-financial companies. As opposed to past strong repulsion, the non-financial industries are expected to reconsider their take on the blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency. The New Year will pose the question of how the new technology can be used constructively in their businesses rather than just seeing it as a pure element of disruption.

With the advancements and the use-case maturity of the blockchain technology, it is very likely that it will find a fit in the non-financial industries in this new decade. The advantages of blockchain technology such as transparency, time-stamped transactions, security for both the users and the institutes, privacy of the users, inexpensive cross-border transfers, almost instant transactions, etc. can be an attractive hooking point for such industries to start embracing the blockchain technology.

2020 is expected to be a challenging time for start-ups to gain support. It will not be as easy as it was in the last few years. This will raise a question on their survival. Only those start-ups will see the light at the end of the tunnel, which will offer unique, real-world solutions. As the inclination will tilt towards pragmatism, so only those start-ups will survive, which will prove their mettle.

In the past, the success-formula was repeated by many start-ups. One solution was offered in many versions. This new year onwards, this practice will take a shocking halt, and original creative ideas will be expected.

The token market will spin in 2020, and many tokens will get delisted from the market. Reports suggest that there are around 2500 tokens currently active in the market, but as we will walk through the next twelve months, this number is expected to be distilled to mere 1000 active tokens.

The reason is simple- thorough professionalism. The elevated levels of KYC and AML processes, background checks of companies, checking of the purpose and the relevance of the token in the market, the platforms on which they will be offered, etc.; all of such considerations will tighten the entry of any new token and will decrease the number of the current inactive tokens.

Overall, we will get to see the blockchain industry to become more mature and evolved in this New Year and the coming years. The blockchain industry is expected to earn trust from governments from all over the world. The question is just not limited to 2020, but the future of the blockchain technology and crypto industry can lead to many interesting developments such as a whole new internet of blockchains in the next few years. Blockchain and the crypto industry has come a long way from the initial obscure cloudy formation years. As of now, its development is in a highly active stage where it is producing amazing results and is still expecting many beautiful possibilities.

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Whats in Store for Blockchain and Crypto in 2020? - CryptoNewsZ

In an interview with CoinDesk, the founder of Feleman Limited, Akin Sawyerr, said that decentralized finance and governance can rebuild economies all over the world. Feleman is an Africa-focused impact investment and advisory firm based in Washington, D.C.

He said:

I have geographical purview over Africa. So a lot of what I've been working on is identifying opportunities around Africa. One of the big challenges you see across Africa is governance. And wherever you have weak governance you have more transaction costs. We believe that cryptocurrencies and crypto networks will have a lot of applications across Africa.

He pointed out that weak governance makes it harder to get things done, which is why Decred, a cryptocurrency known for its governance principles has gained a lot of attention.

We're sort of at the point where people appreciate the methods of governance at Decred.

Sawyerr expects places like Africa to be early adopters of blockchain-based governance solutions.

There's just more value in going into these environments.

.

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Decred Team Lead: Blockchain is a part of Africas future - FXStreet