Records Management is one of four Blockchain business initiatives that can save money and ensure revenue generation, according to Gartner. This technology has the potential to impact and expand all records management processes. It also has broad implications for securing and validating intellectual property at lower costs and greater efficiency.
Blockchain is an important technology that Records Management Professionals need to understand because it has broad implications for securing and verifying intellectual property with lower costs and greater efficiency.
There are many ways to verify the authenticity of paper documents, including watermarks, signatures, and embossed seals. However, Digital Assets pose a problem. Documents in digital form can be edited and copied without anyone being the wiser. This makes it difficult for them to trust. Many products and services provide secure and authenticated document management, but they can be expensive and often require third-party involvement. So here’s a solution to that.
Blockchain is used to create and store a cryptographic hash that serves as a data reference check against a record, its workflow, and signatures. If any of the above changes, the hash no longer works. Blockchain is attractive to auditors and lawyers because it effectively certifies data without corruption.
Blockchain also uses a distributed record-keeping system called a ledger that tracks changes to assets on the chain. Unlike a banking or financial accounting system, the ledger is not centralized but distributed to all computers in the chain. As long as all documents have the same Blockchain signature, everything is fine. However, if a version of the document is introduced that does not match the Blockchain signatures of others (which are tracked in the ledger), it is rejected. This ensures safety against fraud or manipulation.
Blockchain has several unique advantages. One of them is anonymity. Parties that come onto the Blockchain can join trusted exchanges without revealing their identity, reducing time. Another is the distributed structure of the Blockchain. Any two or more people can create a Blockchain without going through a registration process with a central authority. They can even create private Blockchains that have different security definitions of their own that limit what chain participants can do. In all cases, the Blockchain parties decide what the rules are. Hence organisation can maintain their records / documents on their own private Blockchains as well.
It is important to note that Blockchain is not just about documents. It can be used with any digital assets such as images, video files, and email backups. Blockchain is becoming especially popular in intellectual property businesses. For example, professional photographers can use it to manage licensing rights to their creations and even pay royalties.
Here are a few reasons why records management professionals should familiarize themselves with Blockchain:
1. Cost savings
This is the most obvious advantage. Because Blockchain transactions do not require intermediaries, processes can be more efficient and cheaper. There is no need for auditors or legal professionals to verify the authenticity of the information, so this cost comes out of the process.
2. Efficiency
Fewer people mean faster turnaround. Transactions that might take days to wait for multiple checkouts can be closed in seconds.
3. Security
The fewer participants in a transaction, the lower the risk that something could go wrong. Handover points constitute a significant vulnerability and Blockchain effectively eliminates them.
4. Flexibility
Blockchain can be used to secure any digital asset, including hard-to-protect items like multimedia and email records.
5. Competitive Advantage
Intellectual property companies – such as Law Firms and Photography Agencies – may consider using Blockchain to offer new services that will benefit both buyers and content creators.
Blockchain is likely to bolster the recent move by a group of more than 70 of the world’s largest financial institutions to make their jointly developed Blockchain platform freely available under an open-source license. Banks hope the move will unleash a flurry of innovation around new products and services based on the technology.
At BigStep Technologies, our Blockchain experts have helped various companies with a successful support system. Contact us if you have any queries regarding Blockchain or are planning to implement it and our team will provide you with the best solution.
FAQs
Blockchain is used to create and store a cryptographic hash that serves as a data reference check against a record, its workflow, and signatures. If any of the above changes, the hash no longer works. Blockchain is attractive to auditors and lawyers because it effectively certifies data without corruption.
What is blockchain and why is it important? ›
Blockchain technology is an advanced database mechanism that allows transparent information sharing within a business network. A blockchain database stores data in blocks that are linked together in a chain.
What is blockchain and why should I care? ›
Blockchain technology is an alternative to records maintained on a central database. With blockchain, risk and management are shared among numerous participants, each of whom has a "node" on the network and works collectively to maintain a permanent list of transactions.
What is the blockchain technology for recordkeeping? ›
Blockchain recordkeeping solutions might also enable better privacy protection for citizens and governments by enabling more individual control over their personal data. With blockchain technology, they can determine who can access their data, for what purpose, and for how long.
What is the role of blockchain in medical record management system? ›
Blockchain is used for health record-keeping, clinical trial, patient monitoring, improves safety, display information and transparency. It maintains the financial statements in hospitals and minimises the data transformation time and cost.
What is a blockchain in simple words? ›
What is blockchain? Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding).
What are the three major benefits of blockchain? ›
What are the benefits of blockchain? The benefits of blockchain are increasing trust, security and transparency among member organizations by improving the traceability of data shared across a business network, plus delivering cost savings through new efficiencies.
What is blockchain actually useful for? ›
They are best known for their crucial role in cryptocurrency systems, maintaining a secure and decentralized record of transactions, but they are not limited to cryptocurrency uses. Blockchains can be used to make data in any industry immutable—meaning it cannot be altered.
Where is blockchain used in real life? ›
What are blockchain's applications across industries? Blockchain's potential use cases span across industries, including financial services, retail, marketing and advertising, and healthcare.
What is the primary purpose of blockchain technology? ›
The purpose of the blockchain is to share information amongst all parties that access it via an application. Access to this ledger in terms of reading and writing may be unrestricted ('permissionless'), or restricted ('permissioned').
Blockchain technology can offer several advantages for records management, such as ensuring the authenticity, integrity, and provenance of records, reducing the need for intermediaries or third-party verification, enabling the sharing of records across borders or sectors, and creating immutable backups and distributed ...
What type of records you can keep in a blockchain? ›
We can put any type of data on a blockchain such as Bank records, health records, images, Facebook messages, etc. Some of the common types of records which can be kept in the blockchain are: Records of medical transactions. Transaction processing.
What are the 3 technologies that form blockchain? ›
There are three key components to blockchain technology: The distributed ledger, the consensus mechanism, and the smart contracts. The distributed ledger is a database that is spread across a network of computers. The consensus mechanism is what allows the network of computers to agree on the state of the ledger.
What are the benefits of blockchain in EHR? ›
Blockchain-based EHR is a new system that replaces centralized servers with a decentralized network of computers called nodes. This makes the data more secure, as it is distributed across multiple computers and cannot be hacked or breached.
Why is blockchain needed in healthcare? ›
The key benefits of the blockchain system are: Faster credentialing for healthcare organisations during the hiring process. An opportunity for medical institutions, insurers, and healthcare providers to monetise their existing credentials data on past and existing staff.
What are record companies using blockchain to manage? ›
Expert-Verified Answer
Blockchain technology is being used by a record label to track the ownership of its copyrighted content. Record companies can simply track music streams and promptly compensate all artists who contributed to tracks or albums. Venues can stop selling fake tickets.
What are the purposes of blockchain? ›
Blockchain allows cryptoassets to be transferred quickly and securely. Blockchain-based protocols can be automated and decentralised, thus enabling the creation of cryptoassets without the need for controlling, supervisory or centralised bodies. Less fraud, financing of terrorism and money laundering.
What is blockchain the best explanation? ›
A blockchain is “a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records, called blocks.” These blocks “are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data.
What problems does blockchain solve? ›
Blockchain allows uses to control and monetize their own data, with increased privacy. Since blockchain entries cannot be easily tampered with, the potential for fraud from either the client or the company is markedly decreased.
