Are You Ready for Blockchain? Collaboration Could be Key

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It’s undeniable that blockchain is a complicated and, at times, daunting technological development. Having said this, the opportunities proposed are as exciting as they are complex. From reshaping business transactions to the secure and accurate exchange of data - blockchain has the potential to improve nearly every financial service industry.

This poses an issue of great internal debate for businesses in markets which could truly benefit from the traceability, security and wider potential presented by blockchain.

As a business, should you invest in tech that could ultimately revolutionise your capabilities at the risk of encountering stumbling blocks? Or, do you sit back and watch while others in your sector pick up the early adopter mantel?

Collaboration could be the answer.

Here, we delve deeper into this dilemma faced by businesses considering incorporating blockchain technology into their wider strategy, and help answer the question; is your business ready for blockchain?

What is the impact of blockchain?

Blockchain is far more than just a channel for cryptocurrency and can offer far reaching business applications. Here are some of the key impacts blockchain could have on your business:

• Automation
• Transparency
• Autonomy
• Security
• Reduced error handling
• Member accountability

How can blockchain help businesses?

When considering whether blockchain is a worthy investment for your business, it’s important to consider what its wider applications could be. This technology can provide clear solutions to challenges in wide-ranging sectors. However, as a business owner, you need to be sure that the investment will benefit your company.

Here are just a few ways blockchain could benefit your business:

• Shared data across several participants or external parties
• Access to edit or update information needed by multiple participants
• Recorded verification and security of participants and users
• Reduction of cost through decentralised record keeping
• Time sensitive information sharing and updates
• Instant, interactive transactions between different participants
• Improved capital optimisation

Should you consider blockchain for your business?

No one is disputing that blockchain is going to become increasingly influential over time. Having said this, it simply isn’t needed by everyone at this stage. If you’re sitting on the fence, there are many points to consider.

Blockchain shouldn’t be considered as an aspiration to achieve for your company. It’s an enabler to aid in the efficiency or cost reduction of your existing processes. Don’t position this technology as a capability which validates your business’ proposition. Instead, it’s a tool to improve your business models and dealings with other companies. If it’s not addressing a current issue or opportunity, it simply isn’t for you at this stage.

Finding your opportunity

Monitoring the way distributed ledger or blockchain technology is used in similar industries is a great place to start when seeking potential opportunities. It’s important to be aware of any competitors who attempt to leverage this tech before you as it may leave you at a serious disadvantage later on.

Consider whether your business could ‘work smarter’ using blockchain and whether you can leverage enough influence to truly benefit from doing so.

What Can EEN Offer Your Business in Terms of Collaboration?

Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provides a network of specialist support to help companies do business in Europe and beyond. From helping with access to funding to finding trusted partners, EEN can help your business grow internationally.

Here’s how EEN can help:

• Improve the way you manage innovation
• Track down long-term finance from public and private sectors
• Provide a network of world-wide advisers
• Help you find trusted partnerships
• Help you expand into new markets and countries with help from local experts
• Expand and scale-up your business

With hundreds of collaborative partnership opportunities available, EEN allows you to search for SME and academic business partners to develop your products, ideas and services.

Current Opportunities with EEN

Here are some examples of live opportunities available through EEN:

• A UK business is offering a blockchain based employee background checking toolkit to make employee checks more efficient.
  • They are looking for organisations that are seeking improvements using automation, candidate experience, candidate privacy and modernising employment checks.
• A London company has developed a next generation private, permissioned blockchain development platform. The platform enables businesses to take advantage of the benefits of the blockchain and apply them to business solutions and applications.
  • They are seeking partners to sign commercial agency and license agreements across a wide range of industries to pilot test their built platform.
• A London based start-up is seeking a software developer with relevant technical skills in AI, ML and Blockchain to develop a professional social media and communication cost centre management platform.
  • The business wishes to develop service agreements with businesses possessing the technical expertise that will help the company to realise its vision of disrupting technology in the healthcare industry.
• A Portuguese SME specialising in software as a service (SaaS) solutions for fintech and business communication is looking for partners to cooperate under a commercial agency agreement.
  • This SME is interested in commercial agency agreements with international partners to pursue their scale-up strategy in European and non-European markets.

How to ensure you’re ready for the implementation of blockchain

Is your business ready to begin blockchain implementation?

There are several factors to consider;

• Commercial gain - is there a value to be taken from this technology?
• Compliance - will this technology comply with the regulations your business is required to meet?
• Execution - do you have the right skills and resources to actually make this work?
• Technical capabilities - can the technology be seamlessly integrated?
• Transparent operations - have you planned a fair and transparent way of governing the wider operational aspects of integrating this technology?

Partnership Opportunities in Blockchain

Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) helps businesses to find global partnership opportunities with SMEs or academia to help manufacture, develop and supply their products, ideas and services. If you’re considering implementing this technology into your business, explore EEN’s blockchain partnership opportunities.