Applications of Blockchain in Healthcare: Current Landscape & Challenges

Several problems in healthcare stem from the complex network of intermediaries and the lack of traceability of transactions. To mention a few: healthcare data is fragmented across several silos negatively affecting research and services, about half of the clinical trials are never reported, the cost of drug discovery is ever increasing, and substandard and fake medicines are still a huge problem. Blockchain has the potential to solve these problems as it provides trust without any intermediaries, has traceability as a default feature, and promises new business models by enabling novel incentive structures. Due to its potential, blockchain has gathered significant interest in the healthcare industry. In this paper, we review major use cases of blockchain in healthcare: patient data management, pharmaceutical research, supply chain management of medical goods, prescription management, billing claims management, analytics, and telemedicine alongside the related projects. We found that most of the blockchain projects are limited as white-papers, proof of concepts, and products with a limited user base. However, we observed that the quantity, quality, and maturity of the projects are increasing. We also discuss technical, regulatory, and business challenges to the adoption of blockchain in the healthcare industryComment: 17 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables, white pape

A Critical Investigation into Identifying Key Focus Areas for the Implementation of Blockchain Technology in the Mining Industry

Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2023.The value of digital information is ever-increasing as more companies utilize digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to gain deeper insight into their business operations and drive productivity gains. It is therefore important to safeguard and ensure the integrity of digital information exchange. Blockchain technology (BCT) was identified as potentially providing the mining industry with a trusted system for securely exchanging digital value. However, there is little evidence or understanding of how/where BCT can be implemented and what benefits the industry could obtain. This research study provides a fundamental understanding of what the technology is in order to identify the associated capabilities and potential application benefits for the mining industry. From a technology push perspective, blockchain capabilities are used to evaluate how the technology’s value drivers map to the mining industries core value chain processes. This was done to identify potential focus areas within the mining enterprise for further research and development of blockchain applications.ARMMining EngineeringMEngUnrestricte