Blockchain technology has completed its transition from geek tech to adoption. Blockchain applications in business are transforming the way data is transmitted, accessed and used. In this article, we delve into blockchain applications that help transform enterprises in a wide variety of industries. Enterprises are investing in blockchain technology to make all transactions more authentic, transparent, and trustworthy. 

The reason why business executives are excited about the blockchain is for its following three distinctive features:

·       Decentralization: None of the data in the blockchain is owned by one centralized entity. All the nodes in the blockchain’s network hold the data.

·       Immutability: After data has been entered in the blockchain, it cannot be tampered with. This happens because of cryptographic hash functions.

·       Transparency: All the nodes of the network can see all the data that has been entered into the blockchain.

Specific Types of Blockchain Applications in Businesses

The blockchain gives users the ability to create value and authenticates digital information. Here are some specific types of blockchain applications that are developed for and how that might change your business.

1)Asset Management

The security and resiliency of the transactional data are imperative in asset management. Blockchain technology allows businesses to create a system consisting of the technology and processes of third-party providers and internal systems, thereby revolving around a single source of truth for the asset management activities. As transactions performed on a blockchain are immutable, it creates an accurate, unchangeable record for asset managers to use and verify the transactions. Asset management organizations and financial institutions use these records to analyze their performance and risks as part of their planning cycles. Asset managers can share sensitive data such as asset history, with relevant providers and partners in a secure way.

The blockchain ledger also reduces error by encrypting the records and simplifies the process as well as cancel the need for intermediaries. Blockchain technology simplifies all processes and actions in managing assets, namely portfolio management, trading and transaction of cryptocurrencies.

2) Insurance claims processing

Claims processing can be a frustrating procedure and insurance processors wade through fragmented data sources. The blockchain provides a system for risk-free management and transparency. Through its use of public ledger, blockchain can potentially eliminate suspicious transactions by logging each transaction. Through its decentralized digital repository, it can verify the authenticity of customers, policies and transactions by providing historical records.

Blockchain can also handle the increase in third-party transactions and claims made through personal devices. Blockchain helps slash costs through automated verification of claims data from third parties. Insurance companies can swiftly check past claims transactions registered on blockchain. This has helped fostered higher degrees of trust and loyalty between insurers and customers.

3) Cross-border payments

The global payments sector is error-prone and time-consuming. It takes several days if not longer for money to cross the world. Cross-border payments supported by blockchain provide significant advantages to businesses and consumers. Blockchain-based payments are cost-effective, almost immediate, secure and transparent. Blockchain payments are completed in close to real time – in seconds rather than days. Instead of paying transfer fees to multiple parties, companies using blockchain only need to pay a single nominal fee or nothing at all. Cost savings will be substantial for organizations that make frequent international transactions.

Blockchain also eliminates the risk of discrepancies in record keeping. As a decentralized ledger, it holds an irreversible record of every transaction and distributes it for all authorized users to see. The ledger is maintained and updated communally by a group of connected computers, and all parties have an identical copy of the ledger. All transaction records are secured by cryptography, tied to previous transactions and distributed among participants in a ledger.

4) Smart contracts

Blockchain technology can power smart contracts to fulfill transactions. It is wise to perform due diligence on any company your company is considering doing business with.  A smart contract is an automated, self-fulfilling contract between two parties. Payment is not released from one party to the other until both parties have fulfilled their terms of the contract. Once this is done, payment is released automatically.

Smart contracts get rid of third parties overseeing the creation and completion of contracts. Parties can use pre-drafted contracts that can be modified and shared in one ledger.

5) Supply chain management

Blockchain technology also benefits supply chain management by providing a way to trace goods while being cost-effective. Enterprises can verify with certainty where items and goods are, thereby eliminating guesswork and inefficiencies.

Blockchain technology have an impact on the supply chain process. It has recorded the quantity and transfer of products as they change hands between supply chain nodes. It has helped track change orders, buy orders, shipment notifications, trade documents and receipts from the blockchain ledger. The blockchain also allows sharing information about processing or manufacturing process, delivery, assembly and maintenance of products with vendors and suppliers transparently.

6) Digital Identity

The traditional identity systems of today are fragmented, insecure, and exclusive. Blockchain enables more secure management and storage of digital identities by providing unified and tamper-proof infrastructure with key benefits to enterprises, users, and Internet of Things (IoT) management systems

The importance of digital identity is prominent than ever for some reasons. Without a proper ID, getting access to education, banking, or health is difficult for users. There is still no global cooperation with IDs, so digital identity can enable a digital-based identification. Blockchain technology can help in tracking and managing digital identities. It eliminates the need for physical identification and replaces it with digital IDs. It offers solutions for many digital identity issues where identity can be uniquely authenticated in an immutable, irrefutable, and secure manner.

7) Blockchain’s Internet of Things applications (IoT)

Gartner predicts that 20.4 billion IoT-connected devices will be active by the end of 2020, with some estimates showing the IoT market will reach US$3 trillion annually by 2026. Blockchain-enabled IoT devices would operate faster and more securely for businesses. As the blockchain is decentralized, it can do what IoT exactly requires. Using blockchain in IoT can help businesses track billions of connected devices in the network.

Integrating the blockchain in IoT devices can also reduce the costs of installing and managing servers for an IoT network. Blockchain uses cryptographic algorithms which ensures the confidentiality and security of the data on the IoT network.

Meanwhile, smart IoT-enabled devices play a crucial role in our day-to-day lives. IoT blockchain enables the home security system to be managed remotely from the smartphone. The traditional centralized approach to exchange information generated by IoT devices lacks the security standards and ownership of information. Blockchain could elevate the smart home to the next level by solving security issues and removing centralized infrastructure. Sensitive user data such as biometrics, voice recognition, and facial recognition are stored on the blockchain for improved security. Once the data is saved on the blockchain, it cannot be modified, and access is only provided to the right person.

Blockchain technology becomes tidal wave of innovation

With deep expertise across various industries, NDN Group has leveraged the Proof-of-Capacity algorithm to build a decentralized open source platform – a scalable, environmentally friendly and adaptable blockchain solution. Practical blockchain applications are becoming more mainstream. As blockchain adoption spreads, it can become a driving force for solving business problems and transforming how we live and work every day.

Explore the blockchain world with us. Drop us a line at info@ndngroup.com to learn more about how our blockchain solutions fit your business needs.

The online world has become quite the scary place. With a Cambridge Analytica whistleblower describing just how much personal information can be harvested from Facebook, the world is in a frenzy when it comes to the topic of data privacy.

What may come as another surprise to the majority of people is that data harvesting is not new, it is not against the law and people often give permission for it to happen.

This permission, which is often unknowingly given, is why online data has gotten so out of control. People start scrolling through a site and now they’ve signed their lives away, figuratively speaking… in most cases. So to prevent digital trackers from collecting personal information, here are some tips.

Strong Protection

The most secure solution is one that users likely aren’t willing to pursue because it seems too complicated, and that is the Tor browser.

To start, browsers are the access points that allow user devices to connect to the internet. The most popular browsers include: Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer. These browsers all have different rules and securities in place to prevent personal information from being collected, but these rules and securities, such as the “Do Not Track” feature, tend to be more of guidelines rather than concrete fixes. Thus, making it easy for web cookies to still collect personal information.

The Tor browser, however, “protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.” Unfortunately though, even Tor has come under attack by trackers, so it is important that if users opt for the Tor solution, they need to not install any extensions or plugins.

Combine Tor with a virtual private network (VPN), which bounces your IP address (location) around the globe, and users will feel what it means to be digitally secure.

Mild Protection

Users can also opt to install extensions or plugins on their browsers.

Adblock Plus is among the most downloaded extensions; it prevents annoying and unwanted ads from being displayed to users as they surf the web.

Ghostery is another extension users should have; it displays all of the tracking cookies on every webpage a user visits, giving the user the option to select which tracking cookies are allowed and which are not. The downside of blocking tracking cookies though, is the user will likely run into problems on major sites that require users to agree to a cookie policy.

Privacy Badger and Disconnect are more extension options users can use to keep websites from tracking them across the web.

The only problem with taking the extension approach though, is it helps websites using device fingerprinting more easily identify a browser as being unique. Thus, making it easier for sites with fingerprinting code to identify a user’s device.

Recommendation

If a user really wants to be off the grid, going dark is the best route. Using the Tor browser in its default settings combined with VPN, is the best way to secure online demographic information (location, age, gender).

If a user doesn’t mind some sites obtaining information about him or her, the mild protection option is the way to go.

It is important to keep in mind, any site a user logs into, regardless of browser or extensions, will get the user’s personal data that is shared within the site. Tor and extensions do prevent such sites from tracking user data across multiple web pages though.

The ultimate method for protecting online data is for users to actually read the Terms & Services Agreements and Cookie Policies. As these are lengthy legal documents, it’s unlikely this will happen, so perhaps, websites and apps should take the higher ground and make their Terms & Services Agreements / Cookie Policies more user friendly while also providing options to users to agree to rather than forcing them to agree to the entire document.

Here’s another friendly extension that helps determine the trustworthiness of a Terms & Services agreement: Terms of Service; Didn’t Read.

Good luck out there; stay safe!

The desire to understand customer journey can lead marketers and business owners to search for more effective methods in their marketing strategies to increase in sales and customer satisfaction.

In accordance to Thunderhead Blog and some researches, Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) will be the one of the main focus for marketers in 2017. Why is that? In our previous blog post, Integrated Marketing Stack ( IMC) has introduced the benefits for setting up Customer Journey profiles, highlighting ways of data implementation and process methods. Bearing the common motive with the previous post, this article will aim to run through ways of integrating the customer journey analytics with their marketing plans.

Customer Journey Analytics refers using a CRM and marketing system data to find out a group or individual customer journey over time.

Firstly, by understanding the basis of a customer’s journey, marketers will be able to predict an individual customer journey patterns, so the marketers can tailor specific marketing campaigns or promotions to what may appeal to the targeted customers.

Communications with customers always comes as priority for business owners and our society becomes more driven by the web and social media, so it drives the marketers to reach out to bigger audience group by placing their brand/business on the web. The web has become competitive as the real world, and by making your services/products available online simply isn’t enough. Marketing campaigns and advertisements remains essential, yet to stand out from different competitors, marketers need to have some effective strategies in maximizing the business’ exposure. Social media marketing have proved to be a major factor in boosting brand exposure and sales, and many marketers aim to reach out to more potential consumers by adapting social media.

Marketers will need to pinpoint their consumers’ thought process prior the purchase decision, i.e. what made the customer search for this particular service/product, what are their alternative choices and considerations? In many cases, longer customer journey usually revolves around products with a higher price point, whereas shorter customer journey belongs to single purchases usually with a lower price point. Through comparison, customers who are motivated by desires instead of needs tend to spend a lot more.

For example, Ben wants a new car, his current one is rather old but still fully functional. At this point, what motivates Ben of his purchase decision as his car is still fully function. At this point, what motivates Ben of his purchase decision even his car is still fully function. Before making the purchase decision, he began to research what are available on the market. Thought the process of the research, he needs to consider whether he wants to go for something different that will suit his lifestyle or go for his regular choices. He will weigh in the pros and cons of whether to go for electronic or petrol, hybrid or regular, finance, rent or lease etc. Every time he sees a pro, he will weigh in the con to see which is the best cost for his money, and as natural consumers we all go through that. With CJA mapping out customer profiles, marketers can appeal to consumers like Ben before he even begin his research.

Based on the previous example, from mapping out individual customer journeys like Ben’s marketers are able to predict future interests and patterns of Ben’s life cycle as customer. For instance, marketers may be able to predict when is the best time to appeal to Ben, based on the information of when he had purchased it. This prediction depends entirely on the product, therefore when applied to other products such as mobile phones, the life expectancy of the product is much shorter.

Through identify segment groups and gathering more customer profiles, marketers can set up dashboards that not only summarized groups of individual customer journeys, but also with insights and comments that allow marketers to customise and generate solutions that appeals to individual customers. Based on these touchpoints, marketers will be able to get an update and further understanding of their target audience, allowing them to re-position themselves in the market to appeal more.

Consequently, with all the information gathered through CJA, marketers can adapt the appropriate methods to their customer groups. These insights are pivotal to future marketing activities, and the more you gathered the more connected you customers will be. At the end of the day, all marketers have same goals in maintaining and strengthening customer relationship in maintaining customer bonding and their loyalty.

In the coming year, an increasing number of businesses are looking at new integrated marketing automation system – Integrated Marketing Stack in order to look into “customer journeys” in order to understand their customers’ needs, allowing possibilities for their businesses to re-position themselves in the market. By understanding their customers’ needs, business owners can offer better services to their customers through a series of strategy based on their researches. A study by Gartner showed that 89% of marketers expect the knowledge of customer journey in 2017 to be the main differentiator for their businesses.

Integrated Marketing Stack is a Customer Experience Journey Management (CEM) system for tracking, organizing, and managing all interactions between the business to groups or individual customers. By tracking and maintaining this valuable information, the marketers will be able to customize and generate solutions that feels authentic to individual customers.

By mapping the customer’s  journey allows you to predict how the consumer may travel through their life-cycle as a customer. In initial stages, through identifying the segment groups the marketers can create multiple customers’ journeys, and based on these touchpoints, the marketers can therefore identify their target audience groups.  The more customer journeys gathered and defined,  signifies that more content can be discovered. Essentially, mapping out the gathered journeys will allow you to detect any gaps in engagements, pain points, and other potential breakdowns within communications at an earlier stage.

Integrated Marketing Stack is a combination of Target Architecture and Agile Transition process.  To deploy an Integrated Marketing Stack for business, we can have multiple suites and can redistribute it all over a period of time starting with the highest impact system, so that we can strategically progress towards the ultimate goal.

The deliverable shall be provided according to the following methodology, as we would want this project to maximize the benefits of the system, as well as minimizing the cost of deployment.

Target Architecture is a process of defining of our needs and here are the following procedures:

After defining our needs, we can then follow the SCRUM Model – Agile Transition method to consolidate and filter the data.

SCRUM Model – Agile Transition

After those process, the system will be segment a group of customers’ or even a single customer views. Multiple APIs from different platforms will all be connected into this data infrastructure system.  This component is what allows the system to remain agile, by permitting individual platform solutions to be replaced, as marketing needs change over time.

After gathering the data into a central database system, the next step is to analyse the results of the customers’ journeys. The mapped insights allow the marketers to make effective adjustments to their customer journey strategies, which could also maximize their time and costs with a higher efficiency.

Thus,creating loyal customers who are willing to make sales continuously will always take time and commitments. As marketers are running long term businesses, you must know how to build trust and confidence between your brands and your consumers. This type of relationship require you to engage with consumers at various touchpoints from social media and digital platforms, through to the login journeys to their purchases.

Creating some level of responsiveness can mean the difference between making a purchase decision or not, and most importantly  it can turn loyal customers into ‘die-hard fans’ for your business.

Do keep in mind that as marketer, your main goals are to foster customer relationships and to construct brand confidence which will lead to an increase in loyal customer following.

Get in contact today if you want us to help building a right ‘customer journey’ by using Integrated Marketing Stack.