To preserve the world, we need to use blockchain and developing technology.
To preserve the world, we need to use blockchain and developing technology.
Technology has always had the ability to mould and assist positive causes. And, equally important, the ability to deconstruct them, argues IBM’s Financial Services and UKI Blockchain Practice Lead, Robert Steedman.
Data aggregation for virus tracking, financial inclusion, cryptography, high-speed networks, water cleansing, artificial intelligence, and education are all technologies that contribute to the case. The chance is determined by the interaction of business issues in a macroeconomic setting and the ability to maximise the potential of current and forthcoming technologies over a reasonable planning horizon.
The possibilities must be viewed in the context of a transformation in the nature of work and a new normal in terms of how we communicate, interact, and engage. Of course, there are numerous objectives and challenges to consider.
Investments in the fight against climate change
The sustainable infrastructure finance market is a relevant demonstration of ‘technology for good’ following the recent COP26 in Glasgow. For a 66 percent possibility of 20 ° c, a $103.5 trillion global infrastructure investment is anticipated to be required by 2030. The annual financial deficit is expected to be $3.5 trillion. Private capital isn’t flowing in large amounts to fund projects. Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and the public sector in general are important players in the sector, but their balance sheets are restricted.
Infrastructure must be designed, developed, and operated in a sustainable manner, or the world will be locked into a high-emissions trajectory and will be vulnerable to climate change.
A group of 80 public and private organisations has chosen to take on the issue of creating a deeper and more liquid asset class for sustainable infrastructure finance. HSBC, Standard Chartered, IBM, Source, EPPF, and Liquidnet are collaborating on an industry platform to reduce friction and increase the flow of funding to initiatives that will help us all make a more sustainable transition to a greener future.
The platform, which was announced at COP26, will use AI, blockchain, automation, IoT, and cloud technologies to alter how this critical process operates.
Emerging technology, innovation, and evolution
We’re also discovering that technology convergence has become the norm. We’re working with a number of big telecommunications firms to investigate proposal compatibility across various blockchain systems. Complex business challenges, on the other hand, necessitate the use of several technologies to solve and maximise economic advantage across the network.
At the February APPG Blockchain evidence conference, an example from Cambridge University was presented. A scenario of commodities optimisation was utilised to illustrate the concept. Due to incentivisation and logistical challenges, just 63 percent of heavy goods vans are currently full.
Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) could be utilised to detect where vehicles are, using AI modelling to optimise route allocation and Blockchain to underpin the ecosystem. In the future, as we move to a cleaner, more efficient future, these complicated optimisation problems may benefit as we migrate to quantum technologies to better optimise the ever more complex planning and logistical procedures throughout supply chains.
We will witness a move from the current materials, scientific, and financial services use cases to a far broader variety of use cases as these technologies mature and become both more powerful and accessible. In fact, it is this confluence of new technology that will have the greatest impact on how we work and live in the future.
The IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) and Oxford Economics questioned 1,958 executives from a variety of manufacturing-oriented companies to learn more about how they are approaching sustainability in general. While 86% of businesses have a sustainability strategy in place, only 35% have implemented it. 70% of transformation trailblazers are embracing hybrid cloud to help them achieve their sustainability goals.
Clearly, there is more work to be done to attain our collective goals; but, one thing is certain: technologies like blockchain, AI, cloud, and quantum will be the vehicle that will transport us to a more sustainable future alongside social and political will. According to IBM’s most recent CIO study, each of those technologies is on its own maturity and attractiveness path.
Those use cases that are most closely related to economic and political priorities will inevitably take precedence.
New approaches to doing business
Innovative technologies and platforms will place a strong emphasis on trade. The tremendous activity to develop new trade agreements, level the playing field among our regions, and implement measures like freeports and supply chain innovations will help the economy recover.
Many aspects of this commerce infrastructure have witnessed exciting blockchain advancements to reduce friction in critical activities.
Interoperability between these platforms, as well as the convergence of many technologies surrounding data, analytics, AI, IoT, blockchain, and cloud, are increasingly being focused on and invested in to optimise a much bigger ecosystem challenge, such as a port and its accompanying hinterland.
Changes in the pipeline of talent
We will also witness a significant growth in the need for talent in these new technologies, which will define our future generation’s talents and educational paths. Organisations will need to gain these abilities quickly as they migrate away from outdated and unsustainable technologies over a comparable time frame. While underpinning seismic shifts such as digital currencies, driverless automobiles, and the metaverse, these newer technologies will likely stay mostly unseen to the user.
It is not easy, however, to bring together cognitive business networks and ecosystems. Experienced professionals and consultants can bring significant value by guiding and overcoming these obstacles. These technologies exist in general, and they are growing easier to use and integrate. It’s never easy to persuade a large number of organisations, many of which are competitors, to align and act in unison toward a common goal.
To sum it up
Blockchain technology has the ability to reduce friction in our economy, increase trust, and radically alter the way we work and connect. They will disintermediate the unwary, destabilise many industries’ status quo, and disrupt people who are accustomed to current conventions and methods.
Many of us are looking forward to this new world and the opportunities it will provide to solve some of the world’s most difficult problems, such as sustainable infrastructure and finance, or even to influence the most basic of tasks, such as being confident that your weekly grocery shopping involves only a supply chain you approve of.
