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It is the beginning of 2019 and still we turn our heads back to 2018 and recap tech trends, fresh innovations and continuous development of AI and blockchain. Last year was all about the digital transformation and IoT – a trend that will continue at full speed during 2019 as well.

AI system integration and development has received new levels of adoption. And, of course, there was also blockchain.

Considered among the most promising digital technologies in service for current and future generations, but still in an infant state. It was a year marked by demise of the crypto craze, which escalated at the end of 2017 with bitcoin skyrocketing well above 20 000 USD.

Investors’ hands were untied.

Both tech enthusiast and non-tech people were ready to put their life savings into a freshly introduced ICOs, as web and social media ads were hitting the like mini-tsunamis every time they went online.

More than 95% of the business that introduced initial coin offerings (ICOs) failed to deliver the product that was promised or simply ceased to exist. The main crypto currencies have shown a huge decline for the period of 12 months and in January 2019 the crypto market is merely a shadow of its former self.

Bitter aftertaste was probably expected but hope for blockchain is to remain.

As people suffered losses from investments, many have gradually become aware of the essential benefits of decentralised networks and how they can improve on digital asset management and user experience. There were many ambitious startup concepts, which involved blockchain as the key element. From tracking down the full history of second-hand vehicle to e-wallets intended to pay porn websites subscriptions.

But one niche remained consistent throughout the entire period – the one related to the management of documentation and secure file management.

Businesses in 2018 were introduced to the updated version of the 1995 Data Protection Directive – the GDPR. A great deal of the businesses weren’t ready for the new regulations and had to quickly adapt.  

The new law treats personal information and documentation handling with extreme care and after a brief clash with blockchain (“The right to be forgotten”) it turned out GDRP can actually benefit from the innovative technology.

Since blockchain stores information in a decentralised manner it doesn’t suffer from the disadvantages of a central storage to keep records in one place and vulnerable to attacks. We need to add the additional layers of cryptography the technology uses in order to ensure a secure environment for data handling and immutable file transfer.

Pseudonymisation now becomes an option for users operating on such networks. Functionalities like multi-validation of documents by selected individuals within the network are backed with cryptographic signatures and timestamp logs for maximum authenticity.

But perhaps the greatest value in long run is the fact that users can now be true owners of their data. No mediums.

Real and tamper-proof content generated and solely managed by the original creators. Companies like ReCheck and their product ReCheck Documents have already introduced their working solutions with such functionalities, which are yet to be explored along with the benefits they have for both businesses and users.

Digital transformation will not spare 2019 and will continue its course.

Innovation has enough content to keep us busy throughout the whole year. People are already getting excited for quantum computing, Ethereum 2.0, 5G, chat bots, connected clouds, etc.

We will stay tuned for more of the exciting things the world of technology has to offer.

 

Check this also: Blockchain beyond the cryptocurrencies

Author of the article: Emiliyan Enev

Емилиян ЕневEmiliyan Enev is the President of Startup Factory and a mobile technology entrepreneur.

He manages his own product – a blockchain startup Recheck that adapts itself as a ready technical solution for the needs of different businesses.

Emiliyan has several online projects and digital products behind him, his strengths being related to business process management, online marketing, content creation, validation of ideas, customer engagement and monetisation strategies.