LEADERSHIP
46 see a strong parallel between what we saw in the 90s , when the internet came along , and there was also huge hype . Everyone was predicting this was going to change the world , but nobody really knew how ,” O ’ Sullivan says . “ I feel like that ’ s where we are with blockchain . I think the technology itself is relatively straightforward – it ’ s well described , there ’ s no mystery about it . But the real issues now are to figure out how it will work from a business perspective and a governance perspective .”
Naturally , such a radical and disruptive new technology draws huge questions about integration , governance , compliance and access . Can this technology step into a business ’ processes with minimal disruption ? With an open , collaborative platform , who is in charge ? Who conducts its maintenance ? Who has access to what data , and who makes that decision ? “ Blockchain is a collaboration technology , and there ’ s a promise that , by encouraging partners , suppliers and competitors to all collaborate effectively on the same technology , infrastructure , and data , we can eliminate friction in how we do business and improve trust across different stakeholders ,” O ’ Sullivan says . “ But it introduces significant problems from a regulation point of view because the legal primers of what a government expects companies to do from a compliance and auditing perspective doesn ’ t work across blockchain .”
With the promises of what blockchain can offer ,
DECEMBER 2018