THE RECORD
BLOCKCHAIN , EXPLAINED
BY JARRETT HALEY
Jim Short Director , BlockLAB ; Lead scientist and co-founder of the Center for Large Scale Data Systems at the San Diego Supercomputer Center
Maybe you ’ ve seen it in your newsfeed : mysterious buzzwords with alluring stock images that even this magazine can ’ t get away from . But there ’ s much more to blockchain than the buzz of Bitcoin or the intrigue of crypto . It is computer science with a lot to be examined . The newly launched BlockLAB at the San Diego Supercomputer Center is exploring applications of this technology , backed by industry leaders like IBM , Dell and Intel . We spoke to BlockLAB ’ s director , Jim Short , to cut through the hype and get insight into the tech .
Firstly , what is blockchain ? A blockchain is a public electronic ledger that can be shared among users and creates a verifiable record of every transaction made in the system , each one time-stamped and linked to the previous transaction . Each digital transaction in the thread is called a block — hence the name — and the system allows either an open or controlled set of users to participate in the electronic ledger . The blockchain can only be updated by consensus between participants , and when a new transaction is entered , it cannot be erased . Blockchain is not a single technology . Rather , it is an architecture that creates a store of transaction records that are cryptographically secured , distributed across users , and decentralized in form . Blockchains are referred to as write-once , append-many electronic ledgers .
How is blockchain different than Bitcoin ? The Bitcoin system uses blockchain technology , but blockchain is the much bigger architecture — a distributed ledger where transactions are secured by cryptographic signatures among a network of users . Bitcoin is just one system that uses this type of distributed ledger . The two are definitely not the same thing .
Where is there potential in blockchain ? Any technology introduces new ways of doing things . When it comes to using blockchain , one way to think about it is whether its use creates something that is truly new , or is it a substitute for a current process , or is it something that is parallel and could work alongside something currently in effect ?
Some examples for these use-cases : as a genuinely new application , there is talk about how blockchain could apply to control of personal information — you could perhaps put your genome or health data into a blockchain and have some transparency as to the use of that data , and better understand how that data is being used . There is current market activity in that space , but it ’ s very much a new area .
An example of where the technology could be a substitute is within supply chains . In fact , one of the biggest experiments currently underway is a hyperledger that IBM is implementing with Maersk in global shipping logistics . Supply chain logistics is certainly not a new field — it ’ s a complex process with a very large number of intermediaries in that process , which is why they ’ re looking into that area .
16 TRITON | WINTER 2019