Blockchain is a form of emerging technology under the Internet of Things umbrella term that is revolutionizing the way data is collected, stored, shared, and manipulated. It does so by creating a digital ledger of transactions that is copied and distributed across a network of computer systems that are interacting with the data to one degree or another. Interestingly, blockchain is also innovative because it gives us access to our first decentralized data base.
The most interesting aspect of our discussion was when we discussed the societal aspect of blockchain integration. This conversation was centered around the idea of censorship on centralized platforms like Twitter versus decentralized protocols like email. Prior to the lecture on blockchain, I had never considered the social implications of differences between the open protocol ad company model. In a company model, such as “short messaging” via Twitter is integrated as a service, which requires someone to to be held accountable and make decisions.
This transitioned us into a discussion about the benefits of blockchain on addressing adversarial issues between multiple parties when there is no clear answer. Continuing the discussion on speech-oriented issues, this eliminates the need for one company or person to make decisions on what books are good and what books are bad. Rather, blockchain would enable all books to be available in a decentralized system, just like how information is available in a decentralized fashion on the internet.
In regards to healthcare applications, the current political climate is forcing companies to take a more conservative approach in developing the infrastructure, regulations, and services necessary for the technology to be widely available. The growing need for blockchain in global transaction is reinforced by the story of their UNIC representative who fell off an elephant and was stepped on by it in Zimbabwe. She needed to be transported via Med Evac to South Africa, but the cost for the service was $10,000 and the company received to transport them without being paid. Even though UNIC was able to arrange the money to be delivered in time for the representative’s life to be saved, the situation could have had a much more negative ending.
Stemming from this line of thought, blockchain can be directly applied to healthcare to give patients more autonomy over their data. Blockchain could enable patients to create a centralized data base for greater continuity of care. This could revolutionize the medical sector by changing the way patient information is shared with doctors, researchers, and other stakeholders.
The other aspect of the day that I was really excited about was visiting the pharmaceutical labs at the UNIC Medical School. Although I was expecting to be able to design the drugs ourselves, I soon found it was more so a demonstration of their manufacturing, testing, and analysis technology. I was most fascinated to hear about how Dr. Pyrkotis is using venomous scorpions to create a diagnostic procedure to remove cancerous glioblastoma cells from a patient’s brain.