FEBRUARY 2019CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM8ccording to a recent report from Gartner, published in August 2018, Blockchain technology is currently at the edge of the `trough of disillusionment' phase in its lifecycle, although it is predicted that the technology could reach the `plateau of productivity' in the upcoming ten years.During 2018, many reports and articles have been written to highlight and list the major technical and conceptual limitations that prevent a massive adoption of this technology in real life, beyond `Proofs of concept', `Prototypes' and `Pilot applications'.Disputes such as Public vs. Private Blockchain, Permissionless vs. Permissioned, Degree of Decentralization, and reflections on current limitations connected to consensus mechanisms, speed, scalability and security, are obviously important. However, in my opinion, these discussions are not really hitting the spot, for two main technological reasons. First, from a technology adoption point of view, the success of blockchain is strictly connected to the real possibility to use it in combination with other emerging technologies such as Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, at least. Second, I believe--or I haven't found enough reasons to doubt--that Moore's Law will apply to Blockchain as well. If we simply compare the current Blockchain state of the art to that of the recent past (12 months ago), we cannot deny that the technology is `evolving' if not `continuing to show' signs of maturity.From a business perspective, those who are negative on Blockchain adoption are often defining this technology as a `solution in search of a problem'. To corroborate this statement, the classic argument is "blockchain does nothing different from what a central database can already do". Those using this argument are missing another important spot. Why? Let me try to explain: if we use blockchain to execute transactions involving pure and native digital assets, we could look at blockchain as a cheaper and more efficient way to provide the necessary trust to the transaction itself, in the absence of any kind of Trusted Third Party. Thus, we could look at blockchain as a kind of `substitute product'. According to the good old Porter's model, the threat of substitutes is one of the five forces able to redefine the industry terrain and reshape the competitive arena. Another good reason to consider Blockchain something interesting to explore.To understand the real potential of Blockchain, we should connect it to the areas in which existing business models and operating mechanisms are not able to provide a single picture of truth for a specific transaction. BLOCKCHAIN, WHERE IS THE BOTTLENECK?RENATO GROTTOLA, SVP & GLOBAL DIRECTOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND M&A, DNV GL BUSINESS ASSURANCE GROUPIN MYOPINIONA
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