Just as we access services that search public databases, we will search a new class of services that will check blockchains to confirm the veracity of information.

From a software development point of view, one of the biggest paradigm shifts that the blockchain claims is in challenging the function and monopoly of the traditional database as we currently know it. Therefore we need to deeply understand how the blockchain makes us rethink the existing database constructs.

Using Guardtime’s large scale keyless data authentication, in combination with a distributed ledger, citizens carry their ID credentials which unlock access to their healthcare records in real-time.

But the blockchain is a different construct. It is more of a new protocol that sits on top of the Internet, just as the World Wide Web sits on top of the Internet via its own technology standards.

A decentralized scheme (which blockchain protocols are based on), transfers authority and trust to a decentralized virtual network, and enables its nodes to continuously and sequentially record transactions on a public “block,” creating a unique “chain,” the blockchain. Each successive block contains a “hash” (a unique fingerprint) of the previous

Verifying provenance on medications, to

Blockchains also enable assets and value to be exchanged, providing a new, speedy rail for moving value of all kinds without unnecessary intermediaries.

The blockchain is a meta technology because it affects other technologies, and it is made up of several technologies itself.

Old intermediaries that are threatened by technology always die hard. They do not simply roll over. They keep fighting while they are shrinking. Newspapers, cable television providers, and travel agents are some examples.