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ESSAY ON Blockchain Technology
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INTRODUCTION Blockchain has a tremendous history attached to it where it has been implemented strongly
in the field of computing sciences (Farouk et al.
, 2020). It dates back to the data structure
field and is the most popular topic in cryptocurrency in current times. All these are primitive
forms of blockchain technology which has been tagged as the hash tree. It is also known as
Merkle Tree. The data structure gained patents from Ralph Merkle in 1979 and has been
deployed to handle and verify the data between the vast networking system of computers.
The technology is advanced and has an extensive application in peer-to-peer networking of
computing for data validation and ensures that the data transfer does not lead to any major
changes. This technology is a safeguard to ensure that there is no presence of false data
transfer. Blockchain technology, in simple terms, can be explained as the record-keeping technology
and has gained immense popularity after the Bitcoin advent (Bashir, 2018). The technology
has links to banking and investment firms. The users note the information about the varied
transactions and the credit card and debit card details as records. It is the process that
manually maintains records, and records are stated as part of the ledger. The process which
maintains a record of information and data as databased are stated in electronic forms on
the computing system known as Blockchain. From the perspective of a business, blockchain technology is a next-generation process in a
business that aids improvement and collaboration to primate business procedures (Vaher,
2020). Bitcoin is one of the earliest cryptocurrencies that utilizes blockchain technology to
facilitate the peer-to-peer payment system. Through the decentralized networking system,
bitcoin offers low transactions fee in comparison to popular gateways in payments.
The essay will explore Blockchain technology and explore it from the perspective of
Anderson & Tushman's technological cycle to assess the periods of firms and changes in the
present technological phase. Blockchain technology will be explored through the S-curve
technology to explain the performances and measures. It will also explore the different
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adopter categories and innovations of Blockchain. Lastly, the future uses and scope of
Blockchain Technology will be explored.
DISCUSSION Figure 1: Tushman and Anderson Technology cycle
Source: Maxwell and Metz, 2021
The evolution of technology is stylized as a long lifecycle. Anderson and Tushman propose
the cyclical model of the technology lifecycle. The model has four distinct phases, which are
the era of fermentation. The dominance design, the era of incremental changes and
discontinuities which restarts the cycle. The Tushman Technology cycle is widely utilized
around the globe to perform analyses of technological development and extends into varied
dimensions. The figure above graphically illustrates the Tusham and Anderson cycle, which has relevant
knowledge in each phase. The era of ferments- This era of ferments starts with the development of new technologies
and follows the discovery of new technological principles and scientific discoveries. This new
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technology has certain uncertainties attached to the Technology characteristics and the
applications (Wang et al.,
2017). The knowledge base is unstructured in nature and
exploration, and experimentation is the main activities that are involved in it. With high
uncertainties in technologies, failures are very much evident in this phase. Dominance in design- This is the second phase in the Technology cycle and presents
economies of scale and network externalities. The Knowledge base is broad and structured,
which supports emerging deigns. Several factors are [present which plays a role in the
formation of the knowledge base. Special knowledge is necessary to increment
performances and enhance the application of the new technologies. The era of incremental change
After the emergence of the design of the technology, incremental changes take place by
solving small issues and improving the performance of the technologies. Anderson and
Tushman propose that in this phase, the knowledge base is very broad and technological
principles help in improving it. Incremental change needs special knowledge and
experiences to resolve issues. Technological discontinuity- Technological discontinuities is a result of disruption of the
technology and establishing new trajectories. The stage provides new scope for
improvements and leads to a shift in consumer preferences. The other model applicable in the technology lifecycle is the Abernathy – Utterback Model.
It defines and describes three phases in the life of technology (Nagano et al., 2017). The fluid phase- This is the first phase of uncertainties and experimentations. It represents
the phase pertaining to experimentations and uncertainties (Ishii et al.,
2021). No firms have
assurance which market niche technology is suitable and the outcomes that it brings for
change. These results lack of clarity in potential applications for the technology, and
competition is not high in these cases. Transitional phases- The firms and experts need to grasp more knowledge of the specific
attributes of technologies and the needs of customers. The experimentation leads or
consensus on the specifications of the products and architectural process. Specific phases- The dominant designs have been established, and companies can focus on
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attaining effectiveness and efficiency in the production process. It also leads to stiffer
competition. Specific phase- This implies that dormant designing of technology is set, and companies
must now focus on the effectiveness of productions. Blockchain technology and the application is at an early stage of the technology lifecycle and
improvements. As per Abernathy – Utterback Model the blockchain technology is still
present in the fluid phase, which indicates that a clear idea pertaining to the application of
the technology is missing. The more the people are educated, the quickest is the diffusion. In
terms of the technology lifecycle by Anderson and Cushman, the new technology first
emerges then evolves in terms of performance improvements, and it is adopted by one of
the firms in terms of diffusion rate. It becomes obsolete and then gets replaced by other
technologies, and this pathway is regarded as a technology trajectory. The S curve in technological improvements focuses on new technologies and the
enhancement in the improvements of these technologies (Sarkodie and Strezov, 2018). It is
pitted against the efforts and investment in technology. Figure 2: S curve technology Source: (Dannana, 2021)
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The technology lifecycle presents the S curve into four distinct phases which are Ferment,
Take-off, Maturity, and Discontinuity. Figure 3: Technology Lifecyle in S-curve Source: (
Galsinsights.com. 2021)
The Era of Ferments- This phase starts the S-curve patterns in innovations, and as a result of
the dominant designs, it is not yet established. Take-off- In this S-curve development phase, the technical obstacles need to be overcome
where the industry needs to adopt the new products. Maturity- This refers to the adoption of the product by society and major players in the
environment. Discontinuously- This refers to the innovations where new S-curve patterns take place. The
previous era of products reaches maximum maturity, and new products need to appeal. 5 | P a g e
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After the emergence of any technology, the performance is low while efforts and the time
invested in them is quite high and rapidly growing. After complete embracement of the
technology, first assess the technologies before investing more time and effort. In this
regard, blockchain technology is still at an early stage and will take time when more
investments and R&D are done to enhance it. Globalisation ands competition along firms
would be valuable tools to hasten the process where forms want to be the pioneers to adopt
the new technology. With immense development in technology, the Blockchain has gained immense adoption
around the globe. Bitcoin, which is one of the first firms of Blockchain technology, has
experienced immense adoption over the years (Woodside et al.,
2017). Blockchain is a digital decentralised ledger that permits record-keeping of the different
technologies and applications. Blockchain allows recording peer transactions without a
centralised authority. The diffusion of innovations theory explains the products and ideas and the different
services and ways they are adopted over a period of time (Dearing and Cox, 2018). The
adoption of innovations occurs at different rates in Organisations which range from early
innovators to late laggards. There are five main categories: adopters, innovators, early
adoption, early majority, late majority, and laggards. These five categories follow normal
distributions. The innovators are these to try the new technologies and have significant
expertise in the domain. The innovators can accept the potential failures as well when they
adopt the new technologies. The Early adopters are integrated into the social system and act
as leaders in the local social system based upon previous knowledge. Early adopters are
changing agents who improve the technologies, and the Early majority uses the technology
to adopt later on in the future fully. The late majority are those sceptical of new
technologies and only accept them after pressure from social systems. The Laggards are the
last adopters of the new technology and suspicious of the new technology and innovations
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and focus on the past decisions.
From the theoretical viewpoints, it is not easy to determine the exact locations of the
blockchain technologies and the diffusion of innovations in the adaptive curve for
Blockchain. Blockchain, especially the Bitcoin implementation, has been widely adopted, and
data suggests that ten million Bitcoin wallets have millions of transacts with continuous
growth. Though the adoption is positive globally, the rate of adoption varies from every
country. For instance, blockchain technology is slow in certain areas due to regulations and
mitigatory risks, but some countries present major investments in countries like the United
Kingdom. The National government of the United Kingdom has pledged fundings to build the
research centres in fir digital economy adoption and has also lowered the taxation on new
start-ups.
The major reason for the success of Blockchain technology is the advanced technology
system. The Blockchain is opined of the most advanced applications initiated and has
complex and sacred hashing algorithms and distributed nature in processing and sharing.
The Blockchain techno hardware’s are not very special, and the software is open-source in
nature. In addition, to this, the technology of transactions is quite safe (Dattani and Sheth,
2019). The nodes that transact on the network have no central servers. The new
transactions in Blockchain are added to the Blockchain through the process of complex
procedure where all nodal on the network have new transactions. It gives way to fewer
fraudulent transactions and more success. Another vital reason for the wide adoption of Blockchain technology is the distributed
database system. The data is transparent on the network in Blockchain, and it permits users
to control the entire process of the transactions. However, once information is stored on
these systems, it is almost not possible to remove them. These restrictions in Blockchain
restricts its wide application. Having said that, IBM is working towards creating an effective
open-source which has privately-centred blockchains, and it will keep the private
information encrypted and secured. 7 | P a g e
Figure 4: Bitcon growth stage
Source: (Chainalysis.com, 2021)
The S curve presents the adoption of the most popular Blockchain technology adoption
which is Bitcoin technology. Bitcoin growth shows a maximum rise in the Early and Late
Majority, followed by Laggards. Bitcoin is in the Early Majority phase, and marginal dollars
are added to the adoption of bitcoin along the carves. The Adoption S-curve phase shows
the demand force behind the return and adoption of Bitcoin. Blockchain technology is an indestructible ledger that records economic transactions and is
programmed for maintaining financial transactions (Sivarethinamohan and Sujatha, 2021). It
is a ledger that is decentralised and not controlled by an institution or a third party. It is
essential to note that no new technology adopted is perfect. Blockchain technology has
several pros and cons related to it as well, which is essential to know to understand its
significant ruse in adoptions. Firstly, the advantage that Blockchain brings is the high level of security in its system. Since
the ledger transactions are based on open0source software, it leaves less scope for
fraudulent activities as all node transactions are transparent. The other advantage of Blockchain technology is the record-keeping abilities where all
transactions cannot be manipulated or edited (Demir et al.,
2019). The Blockchain
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technologies are fast and instant in nature, where transactions are completed in a few
minutes. In addition to the pros, Blockchain technology has disadvantaged related to it as well. Firstly,
the application of blockchain technology needs to be upgraded on every node of the
network. It makes amendments a lengthy process. Another bigger disadvantage of
Blockchain technology is development difficulties. Most people find the Blockchain a tech-
savvy application, and it dies not to permit easy amendments, which makes it prone to
human errors. Blockchain in the current era has wide adoption and application in varied sectors. The money transfers and processing of the payments is the first most widely applied
concept. Blockchain technology uses it as an effective means to accelerate the funds transfer
from one party to the other. Supply chain monitoring is another widely used application of Blockchain technology (Tian,
2017). Eradicating paper base trails have led to enterprises enabling blockchains to monitor
the supply chain. Management of the supply chain is one of the big challenges posed to
modern global multinational companies. Hence, with forwarding integrated thinking in
place, the companies have adopted the blockchain technology to revolutionise the supply
chain. Blockchain gas helped in the improvement of the supply chain structures and
increased supply chain trust, efficiency, and transparency. Though there is no clarity on blockchain ability to revolutionise the supply chain, bitcoin can
be the currency in the near future. Several multinational companies have prominently
shown the usage of Blockchain in the supply chain and usage of the bitcoin currency. Blockchain company Ever ledger has partnered with IBM to create blockchain solutions to
ensure that diamonds are sourced ethically. It has also branched to varied other industries
by developing blockchain solutions for fashion and electric vehicles manufacturers. Walmart, Nestle partner with IBM on a trial blockchains system, which tracks the food
products through the supply chain (Kamath, 2018). Amazon boosts the blockchain solutions for supply chain and other applications in business
to integrate the Hyperledger Fabrics. 9 | P a g e
Blockchain has the potential to excel in financial sectors as well. IBM survey reports have
stated that more than 91% of the banks globally have switched to transacts via blockchain
technology. For instance, the Bank Hapoalim has collaborated with Microsoft to bring
together the system powered by Blockchain for the smooth management of transactions in
the bank. Another example is Barclays, which uses blockchain technology for varied
purposes such as financial transaction tracking and collaborating with different software
companies to make it more secure. CONCLUSION Many Organisations across the different domains have been drawn to Blockchain technology
and its future use. Blockchain technology has become an integral part of several studies as
disruptive technologies. Blockchain technology advantages are fast expanding, though its
adoption is still in early stages, it was a matter of time that several businesses adopted this
technology. Blockchain technology has made significant developments and achieved in development
ands widespread adoption of the technology in recent years. There seems to be no sign
which indicates its downfall. As per reports of Delloite 2021, Global Blockchain development
had a survey where 76% of executives report that digital assets will be the alternative to fiat
currencies in the global financial domain. Blockchain seems to have a promising future, and the possibilities of the technology are
truly vast. It seems to be showing promising nature in the varied sectors and domains. Firstly, in Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are one of the most relevant sectors using Blockchain.
These are revolutionary ways of bringing digital collectables, and the future seems to be
promising the use of cryptocurrencies. With the more secured and decentralised transactions that Blockchain technology offers, it
makes it difficult to be used by frauds to tamper the transactions. Blockchain is highly
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trustworthy and secured, and hence the banking and financial sectors seem to be moving
towards complete adoption of digital landscapes. Scholars predict that blockchain
technologies are expected to boom in financial transactions in the banking sector, with more
than 66% of the multinational banks choosing blockchain solutions. Blockchain look o
replace the system with digital identifies, making the transactions safer and more secure. Blockchain technologies also look promising in the healthcare sector, where more and more
healthcare corporations are adopting them. Blockchain is highly secured and can be applied
to the medical industry in varied ways leading to an immense reduction in costs and new
access to healthcare faculties festering innovations and growth. The medical industries have
suffered from the inadequacies to secure and share the sensitive data of the patients.
Blockchain facilitates the security standards and permits the health information systems to
work in collaboration with each other to deliver healthcare. For instance, chronicled has
been using blockchain technology in Medi ledger network to bring medical institutions
together with trading partners. It enables automations and the new world of collaborations.
These are examples of just the creative solutions in the Blockchain being utilised by
pioneering companies, but the Blockchain promises a bright future with foundations of data-
driven medical breakthroughs. Cryptocurrencies have become a global phenomenon in recent years, and much more is left
to be explored in this technology. Over the years the cryptocurrencies have become volatile
in nature and especially Bitcoin. The increase in popularity shows that Bitcoin users can be
increased by 94% in the next 3 years. A forecast also reveals that many companies and
individuals around the globe are favouring the use of cryptocurrencies and bitcoin, and it
indicates to be the future in the financial transaction sector. In a nutshell, we can conclude that the future of Blockchain looks very bright. The firms,
investors, developers, and varied sectors, including healthcare and finance, have shown
immense interest in the usage of blockchain technology and are moving towards complete
adoption of the technology in their operations. The technology is very fruitful as it facilitates
advantage to different industries around the globe. The application of Blockchain technology
is not limited to only the finance sector but holds a fantastic future in different sectors like
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supply chains, digital advertisements, cybersecurity, and networks. It provides a huge
prospective for a new opening in the occupations in the industry as well. Blockchain
technology also seems to be promising the government in bringing effective operations in
place that are smooth, faster, efficient, and more secured. This makes the future of
Blockchain even brighter in its scope. It will bring immense changes to the entire scenario of
the different industries around the globe as well.
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