IOT and Blockchain – A Brave New World

The world as we know it is about to change. From banking, to government, to grocery shopping. The next leap forward, while we do not understand it yet, is one that will leave its mark on history.

The change has been brewing for some time now. A bit of personal history, I have been in the hosted communications and wireless sector for nearly 20 years. Let me tell you, 20 years ago if I had told you that your company’s PBX system would be replaced entirely by VoIP you would have laughed. VoIP at the time was still highly unreliable and run in a mostly unregulated market by small communications companies – oddly familiar to blockchain and cryptocurrency when you think of it. More impressive is the advancement of wireless devices, I remember when the first phone barring a camera on the front was launched. Let me tell you, not only did consumers not understand why this was done, no one understood this was the beginning of a massive launch and shift from cell phones as commodities to necessities. All birthed by simple, small additions to your favorite flip phone.

But I lived this change. I and those in these industries watched as people, not even aware of this, naturally switched. Viewing these features from cute and niche to standard and basic. Questions of reliability were answered and fixed. All while the consumer demand steadily rose. History repeats itself, and when reviewing history, we can see that as we as humans have evolved and become more intelligent as the speed in which we respond to technology increases. Well, I believe that with the merger of IOT and Blockchain this next leap will be profound.

Most of us know what IOT is, for those that do not – the short answer is these are automated devices that are connected to the internet. A good example is a hotel that has upgraded its security and access systems – this allows the property owners to track and monitor just about every aspect of the building. From rooms being accessed to climate control, everything you can think of would be managed and monitored quickly, easily and at a fraction of the cost of our current non-IOT solutions. Now, IOT is really starting to gain momentum. Some estimations have major developed cities spending at least $20 billion on sensor networks alone, bridging the future to connected IOT cities. This train has left the station, and there is no stopping it.

So where does blockchain come in and why do we even need it? Well, for me that is simple. Security of decentralized vs centralized network. If we launch fully connected cities on a centralized network, what makes us honestly think no one would be tempted to hack that network? Think of the damage that could be done and potential ransom that could be realized with a few strokes from a keyboard. Scary.

Enter blockchain. Moving these connected cities to a decentralized network run off a public blockchain solves for a great deal of concerns. Sure, there is much we can debate over…but the concept is sound. This vision is why I believe the likes of Microsoft, IBM, Intel, BP, Cisco and so many others have begun devoting large amount of resources to blockchain development. The main argument I have sought to answer is ‘why would a public blockchain be preferred over a private blockchain’? Here is the simple answer I found after days of researching – private blockchains will in fact exist. However, they fundamentally cannot and will not solve for the larger world demand. What I mean is this, if Microsoft and Intel each want to build their own private blockchain, how will I or my connected devices interact with each? Maybe there is a different answer, but the solution I found is the public blockchain. A single massive freeway connecting everything and everyone. One that is not governed by a single entity and runs worldwide connecting Africa to Bolivia in seconds.

In closing, this is why the likes of Ethereum and NEO have bright futures. There is a reason why so many large organizations from the banking industry to even governments have joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. They are seeing that the technology and systems they use today is what PBX was to your office building yesterday. Difficult to upgrade, limited in capabilities, expensive to maintain and slow – without blockchain, we will not advance as a civilization. Without blockchain our connected cities will be vulnerable to attacks. And without a public decentralized blockchain we will not be connected as one.

On to our Brave New World!

~CryptoJayson~

Follow me on twitter @crypto_jayson
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