Blockchain today is still in its infancy, and its mainstream value is yet to be realised. While, it’s for sure that blockchain will disrupt the existing solutions, not only in industry and commerce but in almost all aspects of our day-to-day lives, it cannot do so just by itself. Same holds true for Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The underlying fact is that to get the real value new-age emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI and IoT have to work in tandem. As we begin to understand the new normal in the midst of the corona pandemic, it will be important to draw value from any digital transformation that firms undertake. Businesses will have to think beyond their domain and scope to provide services which are of actual value to consumers.

How can this happen? IoT has brought new and cheaper ways to communicate with ‘things’ which was not fathomable in the past. Blockchain, with promise of immutability, transparency, security, interoperability, etc., allows us to exploit otherwise unused resources, trade the un-tradable, and allow new ecosystems that were not possible before. The new entrant AI (inclusive of machine/deep learning, vision, NLP, robots or autonomous machines etc.) has already started to deliver great value to many industries, so much so as to reduce or even replace the human element. Further advancement in 5G communication is a positive catalyst to this ecosystem.

However, these technologies, with a disjointed ecosystem or industries’ siloed approach towards them, may not reach their full potential. In the above combination, ‘data’ becomes the common driving factor. While IoT is producing data from new sources and sensors, blockchain is safeguarding and ensuring immutability, and the AI layer on top is helping deliver new business meanings and outcomes in almost real-time. In summary, data value chain comes from new technologies enabling collection, sharing, security, immutability, analysis, and automation of decisions with minimal human involvement.

Let’s run this model on a practical consumer problem of provenance – the classic ‘Farm to Table’ use case. The big questions that need solutions are with respect to quality, credibility, genuineness, safety, increase in efficiency and warranting correct distribution of revenue. IoT takes care of conditions maintained in farms with respect to temperature, humidity, soil nutrients and growth progress, and also conditions at processing centres and logistics. All this information can be stored on blockchain-based smart contracts. AI-based engine on top of this, with feeds from weather systems, etc., can trigger and automatically execute smart contracts and take required action based on pre-agreed rules, including payments, etc. In an adverse event like an outbreak at any stage, the source could be easily traced and isolated. Next, this can be extended to insurance and forward commodity trading using a trade setup, thus bringing real value from agriculture, supply chain, financial services, insurance and other industries combined.

IoT has come a long way in improving the type of sensors, size and cost and even their usage in some industries; the real consumer centric benefits can be manifold. AI faces the challenge of accuracy, trust and confidence over replacement by the human cognitive mind. Building such ecosystems without regulatory pressure, is not easy if not impossible. This is one of the primary factors for blockchain and other similar transformative technologies not gaining mainstream acceptance or adoption.

Let’s also keep an eye on ‘Quantum Computing’ breakthroughs, as this not only threatens the key features of these emerging technologies, but will severely impact best of encryption, security and cryptography that exists today. Which means any industry, digital ecosystems, IT infrastructure will have to evolve at a rapid pace before they get negatively impacted.

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Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Digital Transmission Driving the Geospatial Services Market, 2020, covers eight industry use cases and their developments in terms of new technology disruptions, business models, application areas, and trends entering the market. It forecasts that the demand for enhanced and integrated imagery analytics intelligence will uncover new opportunities. Exploration of location data integrated with IoT systems will offer low-cost solutions and customized services. Location-based, real-time surveillance is the fastest-growing geospatial technology and expected to be the main driver of the earth observation industry in the future.

The rising demand for real-time surveillance and location-based intelligence services will pave the way for new companies to enter the geospatial services sector. Access to geospatial data will become simpler in the future, with government downstream operators expected to provide data without any regulation,” said Priyanka Gopalakrishnan, Research Analyst. “However, the entry of multiple drone players is likely to increase the pressure on satellite companies. Compared to satellite operators, drone operators use high-resolution cameras to capture images and can perform operations at much lower costs.”

Gopalakrishnan added: “Blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence will bring new value propositions into the market and promote innovative business models across various geospatial applications. Advanced geospatial technologies would allow the delivery of products and services at lower costs, which will bring new customers into the sector. Additionally, the geospatial imagery-based analytics market can perform operations on a small budget.”

Market participants should invest in the research and development of geospatial applications and their use cases in the following sectors:

Agriculture: There’s an increased need for real-time prospecting, analytics solutions for damage assessment and insurance estimation using AI. Fully automated drone operators will enable autonomous seeding, spraying and mapping, along with soil nutrient and moisture monitoring.

Automotive: Smart cities, autonomous driving, and business intelligence are expected to be the main growth fields in the future. Drone technology, IoT, AI and ground-based sensors will permit real-time traffic monitoring and control plus logistics tracking. Also, satellite-based tracking will be key for fleet management applications along with the use of GPS receivers attached to vehicles, providing real-time insights.

Energy: Location-based intelligence and AI will play a major role in leak and theft detection, power line distribution monitoring, automated fault inspection and identifying oil spills.
Defense: There will be extensive government use of satellite- and drone-based solutions for terrain mapping. Advanced technologies will also be leveraged for crime analysis and mine clearance.

Healthcare: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most private and government participants used geospatial intelligence to track patient details and identify containment zones. The demand for real-time surveillance across patient health monitoring and disease tracking will grow in the next 10 years.

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Digital Transmission Driving the Geospatial Services Market, 2020, covers eight industry use cases and their developments in terms of new technology disruptions, business models, application areas, and trends entering the market. It forecasts that the demand for enhanced and integrated imagery analytics intelligence will uncover new opportunities. Exploration of location data integrated with IoT systems will offer low-cost solutions and customized services. Location-based, real-time surveillance is the fastest-growing geospatial technology and expected to be the main driver of the earth observation industry in the future.

“The rising demand for real-time surveillance and location-based intelligence services will pave the way for new companies to enter the geospatial services sector. Access to geospatial data will become simpler in the future, with government downstream operators expected to provide data without any regulation,” said Priyanka Gopalakrishnan, Research Analyst. “However, the entry of multiple drone players is likely to increase the pressure on satellite companies. Compared to satellite operators, drone operators use high-resolution cameras to capture images and can perform operations at much lower costs.”

Gopalakrishnan added: “Blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence will bring new value propositions into the market and promote innovative business models across various geospatial applications. Advanced geospatial technologies would allow the delivery of products and services at lower costs, which will bring new customers into the sector. Additionally, the geospatial imagery-based analytics market can perform operations on a small budget.”

Market participants should invest in the research and development of geospatial applications and their use cases in the following sectors:

• Agriculture: There’s an increased need for real-time prospecting, analytics solutions for damage assessment and insurance estimation using AI. Fully automated drone operators will enable autonomous seeding, spraying and mapping, along with soil nutrient and moisture monitoring.
• Automotive: Smart cities, autonomous driving, and business intelligence are expected to be the main growth fields in the future. Drone technology, IoT, AI and ground-based sensors will permit real-time traffic monitoring and control plus logistics tracking. Also, satellite-based tracking will be key for fleet management applications along with the use of GPS receivers attached to vehicles, providing real-time insights.
• Energy: Location-based intelligence and AI will play a major role in leak and theft detection, power line distribution monitoring, automated fault inspection and identifying oil spills.
• Defense: There will be extensive government use of satellite- and drone-based solutions for terrain mapping. Advanced technologies will also be leveraged for crime analysis and mine clearance.
• Healthcare: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most private and government participants used geospatial intelligence to track patient details and identify containment zones. The demand for real-time surveillance across patient health monitoring and disease tracking will grow in the next 10 years.

Digital Transmission Driving the Geospatial Services Market, 2020 is part of Frost & Sullivan’s global Aerospace and Defense Growth Partnership Service program.

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Federal agencies have turned to blockchain for its transparency, efficiency, security and flexibility.

According to FedTech magazine, several federal agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and the Department of Treasury began using blockchain.

Officials in the US Food and Drug Administration needed an effective way to help them track data on the H1N1 swine flu virus that had begun to spread again in 2017. Of course, officials at the US Food and Drug Administration did not find a better way than adopting blockchain technology.

Henry Francis, associate director for data mining and informatics evaluation and research at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, has already successfully developed a blockchain-based application that automatically enables them to obtain encrypted data in real-time, from many sources. 

Francis explained that the real-time Application for Portable Interactive Devices (RAPID) program is one of the first full-blown implementations of blockchain in federal government, but interest in the technology is growing.

Blockchain and management

The Department of Treasury’s Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation, or FIT, also turned to blockchain. Its first application was for tracking mobile devices and its second application was for software licenses management. FIT also tested whether the use of blockchain could improve grant payment processes in cooperation with the National Science Foundation. 

Early blockchain trials showed promise but indicated that FIT needed to learn more about the technology to manage it more effectively and match it with best-use cases, said Craig Fischer, the FIT project director.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is also using distributed ledger technology to increase its bulk purchasing power, reduce its reporting burden, cut costs for industry partners and improve record-keeping for vendor transactions.

The FDA is also investigating how it can use blockchain to track and manage threats to food safety across the nation’s vast and decentralized food system and increase transparency in the pharmaceutical supply chain. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has already certified BeefChain, a blockchain company that traces the beef supply chain.

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Commodities Intelligence Centre (CIC) announced a launch of the international version of its web-based business intelligence suite, CIC Data Pro, and Leads Generation Service. CIC will offer the new packages in partnership with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) to eligible members under the Rising in Support of Enterprises (RISE) Programme. The SBF RISE Programme aims to help Singapore businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tide over the challenges following COVID-19, push on with digital transformation efforts and emerge stronger.

CIC Data Pro leverages big data analytics to drive insights from a collection of 1.5 billion records of customs and trade data in a broad range of industry verticals, from manufacturing, import-export, wholesale and logistics to financial services. The data will enable businesses to uncover new market opportunities and identify reliable partners and suppliers from more than 90 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas. It will provide customised market insights into the trading activities of global companies, and information on counterparties, production specifications and past shipment details.

CIC Data Pro is currently available on the CIC platform, and is part of the suite of solutions offered by CIC to help companies reduce transaction costs, optimise the efficiency of their supply chains across cross-border trading, financing, logistics, compliance and risk management, achieving greater trading synergies globally. More than 40 companies, including global leading supply chain financial company, Linklogis and renowned enterprises have subscribed to take advantage of CIC Data Pro’s data services.

Mr Peter Yu, Chief Executive Officer of CIC, said, “Every industry has been impacted by the global spread of Covid-19. Businesses around the world are facing greater risks and challenges with the disruption of production and supply chains coupled with increased uncertainties of customer demand. CIC Data Pro and Lead Generation Service will enable companies to diversify their revenue sources and extend the global reach of their supply chains, building business resilience against the pandemic.”

In an effort to double support for Singapore’s business community in the covid-19 aftermath, CIC will also on-board GeTS CALISTA Finance with a US$20 million (S$27.8 million) fund for B2B trade finance. This fund will enable businesses and SMEs of the option to use CALISTA Finance to address short-term liquidity challenges, and to fulfil trade financing needs seamlessly, securely, and smartly.

CIC is a joint venture by Singapore digital bank hopeful ZALL Smart Commerce Group, Global eTrade Services (GeTS) and Singapore Exchange (SGX). As Singapore’s first physical commodity B2B e-trading platform powered by blockchain technology, looks to build trade connectivity through digital marketplaces and create a vibrant trading ecosystem in Singapore and beyond. Since launching in October 2018, CIC has achieved a gross merchandise volume of US$12.7 billion (S$17.7 billion), with over 5,000 registered users covering markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and China, among other countries in Asia.

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Baidu, Inc. recently announced that it will increase its investments in cloud computing, AI education, AI platforms, chipsets, and data centers in the coming ten years as part of its efforts to construct “new infrastructure” for the smart economy of the future.

Under the plan, Baidu aims to have 5 million intelligent cloud servers by 2030 and train 5 million AI professionals within 5 years, which will help facilitate the widespread application of AI in transportation, city management, finance, energy, health care, and manufacturing to eventually achieve industrial intelligence.

“New infrastructure–which encompasses emerging technologies like AI, cloud computing, 5G, IoT, and blockchain–will be the driver for China’s economic development in the coming decades,” said Baidu Chief Technology Officer Haifeng Wang, underscoring the importance of the plan.

As a world-leading AI platform company, Baidu is well positioned to make large contributions to the development of new infrastructure in China, which will support the implementation of AI applications in different industries.”

The investment plan will see Baidu deploy 5 million intelligent cloud servers by 2030, an ambitious target that would create a combined computing capability equal to seven times the total calculable computing power of the world’s existing top 500 supercomputers.

Viewing human capital as a core component of new infrastructure, Baidu also intends to train 5 million AI professionals in the next five years. Baidu has been working with more than 200 leading universities in China to develop courses related to AI and deep learning and has already trained more than 1 million AI experts.

As a developer of both AI infrastructure and AI applications, Baidu is well-positioned to contribute to building new style infrastructure, which is at the core of China’s “New Infrastructure” policy to accelerate economic growth and industrial upgrade.

Baidu has more than 7,000 published AI patent applications in China, the highest in the country. The AI open platform Baidu Brain has made available more than 250 core AI capabilities to over 1.9 million developers, while PaddlePaddle, the largest open-source deep learning platform in China, services 84,000 enterprises. Baidu’s Kunlun and Honghu AI chips are among the highest preforming AI chips and are built for a wide range of scenarios. Baidu Cloud is China’s leader in public cloud and AI cloud services with more than ten data centers across the country.

This new infrastructure is already allowing Baidu to lead the intelligent transformation of different industries. Baidu’s smart finance products serve nearly 200 financial institutions, while Baidu’s intelligent healthcare prouducts are deployed at more than 300 hospitals and 1500 grassroots medical institutions. Baidu Brain for Cities is already in place in Chongqing, Suzhou, and other cities, supporting more intelligent city management. Baidu’s new investments will enhance its ability to rollout AI applications in these scenarios, as well as in manufacturing, energy, and transportation.

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The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has upended businesses around the world, forcing companies to retool their organizations to weather one of the worst disruptions to the global economy in decades. In the face of unpredictability, both decentralization in the workplace and system architectures have taken center stage as methods to combat ever-changing circumstances. While each company faces its own set of challenges, decentralized organizations are inherently better equipped to take on today’s inclement business environment.

Decentralization via microservices

Binance’s system architecture is a good case study when it comes to decentralization. Over the past two years, our core development team has devised a decentralized solution to Binance’s software platform, shifting from a more monolithic sub-architecture to a microservices-based solution.

While a monolithic architecture has its benefits, different components of its software applications are tightly coupled and built within the same software framework, presenting a problem when any singular component needs to be altered or updated.

A microservices-based architecture, on the other hand, decouples these software components so that they can work independently with fewer opportunities for inadvertent cross-interference.

This approach has enabled Binance developers to work from anywhere in the world, as various teams can work on different parts of the software independently while communicating via an application program interface, or API. A geographically diverse development team also allows Binance team members to react quickly and autonomously to achieve the highest degree of system security, resilience and reliability. Solutions can be built and executed rapidly, and when urgent updates need to be applied, there is always someone awake who can respond quickly during local working hours.

Transitioning to a microservices-based solution allows teams to work remotely as well as work independently, which side-steps the frictional costs of collaborating over different time zones and working hours.

Cloud-based server solutions

Binance has always been among the first to embrace innovative solutions that put security and users first. On the server side, Binance utilizes a cloud-based server solution that allows the team to deploy services closer to local users, thereby reducing latency and allowing users to enjoy a more responsive user experience.

While other organizations may rely on solutions based on traditional physical data centers or hybrid clouds, Binance is able to maintain an entirely cloud-based solution that allows for rapid server deployment to users around the world, meeting local users’ needs without having to establish a costly physical presence.

Built from the ground up on cloud-based infrastructure and with zero legacy infrastructure to contend with, the Binance DevOps team is able to manage thousands of servers around the world from consolidated interfaces. This means Binance is able to uphold the highest standards for security across all servers, with the same security standard applied to every operating server.

When it comes to compliance, cloud-based solutions allow the Binance team to quickly deploy local servers that meet local requirements. These local servers often have unique software integrations that are designed to maintain security and compliance in local markets.

Security-first innovation

The Binance development team:

“Security is always top priority. Internally, from product design to architecture implementations, security is always the ground rule we need to work with to keep user funds safe.”

The Binance internal system follows a zero-trust model to ensure maximum security when it comes to identity verification. This is especially important, as Binance developers need to access critical internal systems remotely. Every Binance employee needs to go through an authentication process before they are able to successfully login. No users — internal or external — are trusted until their identity is verified. These measures are applied to every single system.

Once users are verified, permissions to login to certain internal systems are granted on a least-privilege access model, depending on the roles and permissions assigned to a particular employee.

System stability and performance

In addition to security, Binance developers are continually seeking ways to improve the system architecture to achieve a high degree of resiliency. Resilient systems are configured to maintain a seamless user experience despite unpredictable external factors such as high traffic or demand.

Data-driven integrations continually monitor for incoming traffic system performance and respond to an influx in demand by adjusting the system architecture automatically, using a method called autoscaling to offer greater uptimes during periods of volatility. As trading activity has intensified during these recent months, Binance developers have been working diligently to ensure that the system maintains fast response times, creating “zero user perception” of system pressure.

Organizational decentralization

Finally, a decentralized organization needs to be decentralized by design. Binance employees are expected to execute tasks autonomously and serve as lead subject matter experts wherever possible to cut down on decision-making bottlenecks. Most employees own and lead their own projects, set their own goals, and continually find new ways to innovate upon existing solutions. This independence allows team members to execute quickly and work efficiently while connecting on an ad hoc-basis with team members. Collaboration is, of course, key, but projects move more quickly with a nimble team at the helm.

In addition to a decentralized organizational design philosophy, Binance has employed a remote workforce for most of its existence, with 1200+ team members in 50+ countries and regions collaborating together via voice and video calls, messaging apps and occasional face-to-face meetups whenever possible.

In the face of the global pandemic, tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook have all instituted mid-to-long-term remote work policies. Ultimately, a fully decentralized workplace provides opportunities for companies to weather challenging business environments while experiencing minimal operational disruptions. The current global pandemic will undoubtedly push companies to further decentralize where possible, serving as a bellwether for change in workplaces around the world.

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Few things evolve faster than technology. As a result, no article about where technology may go in the future can cover all possibilities or be complete. But businesses wrestling with strategy questions may find value in reviewing the following four topics.

AI as a Service

Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS) allows individuals and companies to use the Artificial Intelligence (AI) services of a third party. It lowers the barrier for experimenting with AI, which is commonly understood as using computers to replicate human intelligence, including the ability to learn from experiences and adapt to new information. Just a few years ago, doing anything with AI required enormous computing power and very specialized software. Now however AIaaS providers use the cloud to deliver solutions in ways not previously possible. In addition, creative software developers have made AI engines much easier to use.

Now that AIaaS has put AI more within reach economically, what will companies do with it? Having the tools at hand where computers can analyze an organization’s data in a matter of seconds is one thing. Knowing how to use the tool is something else. So initially, it might be a good idea to have a person comfortable with technology involved with information entry into the AIaaS tool, even though the interfaces generally do not require AI knowledge. But long term, deriving substantial business value from AI requires complex algorithms, models, and skilled individuals who can interpret the data correctly.

Blockchain as a data privacy tool

Data privacy concerns were already high before companies around the globe shifted to work-from-home strategies thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of sensitive, financial and private information transmitted online every hour increased exponentially as a result. Web hacking and phishing attacks have increased, creating additional risks for both companies and workers. But might a distributed workforce lend itself to a distributed approach to data privacy involving blockchain?

Increasing numbers of companies are turning to blockchain for data privacy, even though that was not its initial purpose. Blockchain is the technology that made cryptocurrency possible. Once information is written into various blocks within a blockchain, the data is immutable. Blockchains work by spreading data over many computers worldwide, so it cannot be altered or deleted. This lends itself to a distributed security approach, which eliminates the single point of failure that cybercriminals like to exploit. In blockchain, data access requires explicit permission, where two users essentially exchange digital keys. But they can only review the information; they cannot copy, change or move it. Blockchain enables storage of legal, health, payment and identify records more securely.

There is little doubt blockchain will become a significant part of the security landscape, but it is too early to say it will be the ultimate and final solution.

Mobile in the “new normal”

COVID-19 turned our extremely mobile society into a more stationary one. But our so-called mobile devices have more impact on our lives than ever before. Stay-at-home orders prompted people to look for safe and convenient ways to order and pay for necessities like groceries and medicine. Payments Journal reported 30 percent of consumers started using contactless payment methods since the pandemic started, when people began to reconsider the physical exchange of cash or using cards to pay for goods and services. In addition, the “new normal” prompted wireless carrier Verizon to report a 75 percent increase in video game traffic. People started experimenting with video calls to stay in touch with family and friends using a variety of free apps which offer a range of features and limitations.

The buzz about the fifth generation mobile network, 5G, will continue even though it will not be universally available for some time. And even then, typical users may not notice much difference. The previous jump from 3G to 4G networks was significant because it provided enough bandwidth to make mobile device video-on-demand a reality. But it is likely most smartphone users will not care about the large and fast downloads 5G promises in the way desktop or laptop users already do. 5G will help with battery life and network congestion, especially for crowded venues like concerts or sports stadiums.

Wearable technology – Nice or needed?

Wearable technology, electronic devices that can be worn or even implanted in users, continue to evolve. Imagine the T-shirt you wear that monitors your heartbeat, breathing and body temperature; a cap with built-in camera tracing your steps all day; the headband that wakes you up at your desired time; a pair of glasses that allows you to see, capture and live the world hands-free. The trend in wearable technology will be toward both boutique and mainstream products as markets are penetrated and demand grows.

As the sizes and prices of embeddable computing continues to drop, wearable technology becomes less and less noticeable. Expect to see more items like clothing and jewelry becoming smarter, including an item like a face mask, which surfaced after the coronavirus pandemic began. Many common devices will become smarter in ways users will not likely notice. Toilet seats, coffee mugs, doorknobs, chair armrests will start sensing our presence and monitoring our health.

The COVID-19 situation is only accelerating development and adoption of such items. Companies that make wearable technology are trying to figure out how their devices can help diagnose early infection along with other health concerns. These companies will need workers with a unique skill set that can be brought together: user experience designers, web designers, software developers, artists, and creative writers to tell stories.

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March 19, 2020 – Sentara Healthcare, one of the nation’s oldest not-for-profit health systems, recently announced that it partnered with CitiusTech to implement a next-gen enterprise data platform (EDP).

Using Microsoft Partner Citius’s H-Scale solution, Sentara completed the deployment of the EDP to provide a single, consolidated view of provider, payer, and enterprise information from Sentara and Optima Health Plan, a wholly-owned subsidiary.

“Sentara is committed to delivering high-quality healthcare and innovative services that meet the unique needs of the communities we serve,” Michael Reagin, Sentara Healthcare senior vice president and chief information and innovation officer, said in the announcement.

“We collaborated with CitiusTech to develop an EDP that provides us more flexibility and scale to continue meeting the changing demands of our patients, care teams, and partners across the care continuum.”

The end-to-end data management solution will ingest, curate, transform, and reconcile data from five different sources and create a 360-degree view of the patient record. Sentra ensured that the EDP leverages HIPAA compliant PaaS service offerings of Azure, which can scale large data volume to save nearly $1.5 million annually by moving away from an on-premise model, the announcement stated.

“Next-gen interoperability and real-time data access have become imperative for healthcare organizations to enhance quality of care and align with value-based models,” said Rizwan Koita, CEO of CitiusTech. “Sentra Healthcare with its cloud-first strategy has built an industry-leading data platform using CitiusTech’s H-Scale on Microsoft Azure to support its data-driven performance.”

Sentra is now able to aggregate information and generate insights by implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models, which may save $3 million a year through efficiency improvements across the organization.

“Microsoft Azure enabled CitiusTech to deliver a cloud-based enterprise-wide healthcare data management solution. This enabled Sentara to get a holistic view of patient information across their enterprise,” said Gareth Hall, director of business strategy for Worldwide Healthcare at Microsoft. “CitiusTech H-Scale, combined with Azure, helps customers achieve scale in the healthcare data management.”

Artificial intelligence and blockchain have become increasingly prominent in the healthcare space to improve data storage and interoperability.

Last year, Sentara partnered with Cigna Health to build, share, and deploy solutions using blockchain technology. The collaboration also involved Aetna, Anthem, Health Care ServiceCorporation (HCSC), PNC Bank, and IBM.

“We came together to create the health utility network realizing the need to improve transparency and interoperability in the industry in order to improve healthcare for all Americans,” said Rajeev Ronanki, chief digital officer of Anthem Inc. “Engaging additional members across partner levels and industry perspectives will increase the network’s reach and ability to deliver high-value solutions.”

Experts believe blockchain can transform healthcare by improving data access across networks and implement new patient-centered delivery models.

“By working together and joining health utility networks as a founding member, we have a significant opportunity to create new efficiencies that will lead to improved whole-person health and wellness outcomes for our customers and clients,” Mark Boxer, executive vice president and chief information officer at Cigna concluded.

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It is common knowledge that Robotics is powered by artificial intelligence delivering excellence and efficiency in well-known areas-  cryptocurrencies, chatbots, or voice-assisted technologies.

The field of robotics is immensely challenging, and to grow in this segment, companies need to offer reliable and affordable solutions to their clients and customers.

The exciting news is that RPA is also one of the most promising areas utilizing the convergence of Blockchain and AI. This convergence is now showing never before massive efficiencies in the field of robotics.

Robotics has gained massive popularity across industries over the years using artificial intelligence, making all processes more effective and error-free. Now, blockchain will keep the data decentralized and free from any central or concentrated control. By combining the decentralized power of blockchain with the agility of artificial intelligence, the field of robotics can be elevated and advanced in several ways.

The features offered by artificial intelligence will increase the efficiency of robots using automation multi-fold, while data immutability offered by blockchain will tamper-proof the processes. Leveraging these technologies simultaneously to the robotics, the operating mechanism is pre-set to achieve the desired objectives and business goals.

Swarm Robotics: The one to be benefitted the most?

The significance of artificial intelligence and blockchain is the most prominent in the case of Swarm Robotics. This is mainly because both these innovations can be applied collectively to control a group of robots. AI controls every Swarm Robot as it operates according to the pre-set principles and requirements. The collective response and behavior of the Robots can be significantly enhanced with the application of artificial intelligence and blockchain.

This convergence has enormous benefits on scalability with the enhanced scope of operations. Global enterprises have already started witnessing the application of blockchain and artificial intelligence with the Swarm robotics gaining popularity, specifically in the areas related to entertainment, healthcare, and farming. Although several stakeholders have explicitly expressed concerns about the security and safety of the features, there is hardly any negative view about the potential of applications to benefit the industry. Blockchain is a credible technology measure to alleviate the concerns of the stakeholders about the privacy and secrecy of the data. Using the secure cryptographic signatures and other advanced technologies available in the blockchain space, security, and safety concerns regarding robots can be easily handled.

Artificial intelligence will power the Robots while continuing to be the strength of this integration, while Blockchain technology will be playing a passive role by providing backup support to ensure data security and safety. Hence, with this convergence is applied to robotics in an integrated manner, robotics will transform and benefit the industry in an unbelievably positive way.

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