The technology with the internet is continuously evolving which has brought significant changes in the lives of the people and it is even more fascinating to imagine what the future has in store for us. Living in the technological era we are surrounded by the technologies that are disruptive in nature still has the potential to transform our everyday lives. Blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) have been the most prominent advent till date.
According to Intel by 2020 there will be about 200 billion devices connected to each other. IoT has blown up creating a tremendous impact on devices like wearables, smart homes, cars, smart cities, manufacturing facilities, farms, healthcare devices. But there will always be a concern for security and safety when it comes to so many devices working on their own with the help of internet.
The current ecosystem of IoT is governed by centralized security model and data management model which is very common in the enterprise today. All the devices hence connected to the internet can overload the servers and make devices vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Decentralizing the data and improving the connectivity between the devices are the options to overcome the problems which can be seen feasible through BLOCKCHAIN.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain can be termed as a digital ledger or a distributed open database- a spreadsheet that can duplicate thousands of records across the network of computers. The data is stored in the form of blocks which are linked through chains from where the term Blockchain is derived. The biggest advantage of Blockchain is that it is secure and open, so when anyone tries to tamper the data, the consensus from all the active participants is necessary as each block is protected by a private key.
Blockchain- a missing link in IoT
Blockchain has begun to bring significant changes in the IoT by empowering incorporation of increasing number of devices getting connected to each other and enhance security. Adopting decentralized model, IoT will eliminate a single point of failure and evade threats that were pertaining to the centralized model. The cryptographic algorithm adopted by Blockchain will make the data more private and tamper-proof which was vulnerable by man-in-the-middle attacks in the central server model. Working edge devices and connecting servers of Blockchain when adopted by IoT, can reduce the expense and unpredictability of the functionality.
Integration of Blockchain with IoT helps in data exchanges from edge-devices like the barcode, QR code scan events, RFID based assets or device information. These IoT edge devices will have the capacity to convey, update and validate communication contracts through Blockchain records. For example, if IoT-connected assets like RFID records the sensitive information of the location and temperature of a particular warehouse, this information could be automatically logged or updated on a Blockchain.
Peer-to-peer communication is the fundamental element of Blockchain which removes bottleneck problems as well as inefficiencies. Blockchain enabled IoT devices not only simplify business processes but also achieve significant cost efficiencies as well as improves customer experience. It also answers all the queries of stability, record privacy, single point of failure, reliability and trust in a very consistent way.
This shows that the intersection of Blockchain and IoT can define the business scenario and industry from much broader perspective. Most of the organizations lack data structuring to implement Blockchain with IoT, however, it is just a matter of time that Blockchain will revolutionize the IoT landscape.
