In response to COVID-19, technology companies have ramped up collaborations on innovative technologies such as blockchain, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Charlotte Dunlap, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The industry can no longer afford to wait several years for new market segments such as blockchain to take off.”
The dire nature of COVID-19 demands the ability to fast-track solutions at a Netflix-like pace. With the forthcoming enabling technologies, reducing complexity and the need for technical expertise in order to usher in a broader set of stakeholders, ‘citizen solver’ could become the newest catchphrase.
Dunlap continues: “Most importantly at this critical juncture of a global pandemic, blockchain technology can provide researchers with a strong and reliable data platform in the form of a shared ledger, establishing an autonomous and decentralized peer-to-peer network.”
Recently, a potentially mega-blockchain initiative was launched by Oracle, IBM and others to integrate COVID-19 data from WHO (World Health Organization) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Start-up HACERA formed a blockchain platform called MiPasa, which aggregates and reconciles data from various sources to integrate data at scale for researchers and scientists. Separately, a number of blockchain-based monitoring systems are springing up, such as the Public Health Blockchain Consortium (PHBC) VirusBlockchain deployed to identify and monitor COVID-19 free zones.
Dunlap concludes: “The effects of unprecedented cooperation among technology rivals coming together to solve a global crisis will continue to linger long after the coronavirus is under control. Enterprises should become accustomed to new levels of industry collaboration. This expectation will be based on a critical need for industry giants to rally together to focus attention in 2021 and beyond on helping to get the economy back on track and ensuring customers are successful.”
