Page 25 - GCN, March and April 2017

CYBEREYE
BY BRIAN ROBINSON
Government agencies jump on the blockchain bandwagon
IT’S ALWAYS AN INVITA- TION for hype to declare “the year of” anything. However, 2017 could well be the year blockchain takes off.
Given that the crypto- graphic ledger technol- ogy behind bitcoin digital currency has already been widely touted as a new way of solving a multitude of cybersecurity issues, one could say blockchain has already been hyped. But it has also gained firm adherents in some areas of government.
The Department of Health and Human Ser- vices is one supporter. Last year, HHS issued a series of public challenges for ideas about how blockchain could be used to address privacy, security and scalability challenges in managing electronic health records. It announced the 15 winners of the contest in September, with several chosen to give presentations at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Blockchain and Healthcare Workshop.
ONC planned to con- solidate that interest by sponsoring the Blockchain in Healthcare Code-A-Thon — likely the first block- chain hackathon hosted by a government entity. The Chamber of Digital Com- merce co-hosted the event, and the results were sched-
uled to be announced at the organization’s DC Block- chain Summit in March.
The fact that HHS has put its name behind a cybersecurity hackathon, in which contestants compete to produce solutions to problems, signals the de- partment’s intention to use blockchain.
Other government agen- cies have also recognized the importance of block- chain. Officials at the U.S.
“These findings reveal that blockchain adoption
is accelerating faster than originally anticipated, with government executives identifying key areas and benefits to explore,” the IBM report states.
Blockchain might be ramping up quickly, but plenty of people are still on the sidelines, at least according to a Deloitte Consulting survey in which about 40 percent of indus-
“helps globalization work for everybody.” In January, the forum announced the formation of the Global Futures Council on Blockchain.
But does all that activity translate into an inten- tion to adopt and exploit blockchain for real-world security problems?
The technology is not a silver bullet by any means. For one thing, there are still many questions about the
This could be the year when blockchain hype dissipates and the technology becomes a major, if still early-stage, cybersecurity tool.
Postal Service, for example, believe the technology could disrupt many of the industries USPS serves and is therefore worthy of clos- er study. The technology
is also seen as potentially having a major transforma- tive impact on cities.
Furthermore, IBM surveyed some 200 gov- ernment organizations worldwide and found that nine in 10 plan to invest in blockchain technology for projects such as manag-
ing financial transactions, assets and contracts. About 14 percent — a group IBM labels as trailblazers — said they plan to have block- chain in place in 2017.
try respondents said they have little or no knowledge of blockchain. Of those that do, however, more than one-quarter list it as one of their top five priorities for 2017, and more than half believe they’ll be less com- petitive if they don’t adopt the technology.
An article by the World Economic Forum offers another indication of how far blockchain fever has spread. The article ex- plains what blockchain is, its history and its possible value to the forum’s global business, government and industry audience and states that blockchain could be the technology that
security of blockchains, at least as they are now being used.
But the technology offers too tempting a solution to a range of pressing problems for it to be held back for long, as the Department of Homeland Security indicat- ed last year in a solicitation for the use of blockchain
in identity management solutions.
Although calling 2017 “the year of blockchain” might be pushing it, this seems to be the year when blockchain hype will dis- sipate and the technology will become a major, if still early-stage, cybersecurity tool. •
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