- More and more IT applications are using blockchain technology
- Blockchain could present alternatives to platform monopolies
- Asset tokenization is a focal point for 2019
- Experts met and discussed ways of getting into the blockchain society
“The blockchain hype is luckily over – meanwhile, we can see an unwavering trust in blockchain-based developments.” These were the words of Stephan Zimprich, Leader of the Competence Group Blockchain at eco – Association of the Internet Industry, in his opening speech at the Blockchain Masters in Cologne. Around 100 Blockchain experts came together for the event on 11th December at the Alte Pfandhaus in Cologne. “Standardization makes it possible to represent more and more business processes via blockchain”. Asset tokenization is a focal point for 2019. This means representing ownership shares in objects or other assets as “tokens” in a blockchain.
Blockchain in ever more application areas
The participants expect that the technology will therefore become more and more a given aspect of the digital instruments for implementing concrete IT projects, an expectation mirrored in a survey of experts undertaken by the eco Association. 41 percent of the respondents concurred with the statement: “Blockchain solutions will expand into more and more areas of application in the long term.” A similarly large group of experts, on the other hand, expects the technology to be limited to a few special areas. 42 percent agreed with the statement, “Blockchain solutions will, in the long-term, find their place in some particularly suitable application areas.”
Does blockchain make markets more transparent?
The experts also debated the question of whether blockchain could ultimately replace the classic platforms of the world’s largest Internet companies. “Blockchain-supported Web 3.0 has the potential to replace platform monopolies with more efficient systems,” was the view shared by Dr. Sebastian Schmittner, Senior Specialist New Technologies at EECC, European EPC Competence Center GmbH, during a panel discussion. “While the dice for building monopolies in Web 2.0 have more or less been cast, in Web 3.0 there is renewed hope for new models for cross-company platforms and solutions for a more transparent and efficient market.”
