This presentation makes an overview of the blockchain technology. It must serve as a kind of introduction.

1. Blockchain in a nutshell
Dr. Jose María Alvarez Rodríguez
Business Applications of Big data Analytics
MASTER IN BIG DATA ANALYTICS
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
1st of March, 2018
1

2. 2
What is blockchain?

3. True or false?
“Blockchain” is a solution looking for a problem.
3

4. True or false?
Domain
4
Too much “Hype”
Too many evangelists Enough technology

5. The concept

6. What is…
A distributed
database
Inmutable
Trust
Accountable
Transparent
Consensus
Capabilities
•Smart
contracts
•Digital Assets
6

7. Blockchain evolution
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Source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammadg

8. Yet another network of networks…
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Source: https://www.slideshare.net/SamWouters/why-how-what-the-blockchain

9. Blockchain in two explanatory videos…
9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSo_EIwHSd4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD9KAnkZUjU

10. Reference Architecture by IBM
10

11. 11
Foundations

12. Why “decentralized” and “distributed”?
Users have the
control
Fault tolerant Persistence
No
intermediaries
High-
throughput
(transactions)
Authenticity Security Integrity
12

13. Quote
“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of
economic transactions that can be programmed to
record not just financial transactions but virtually
everything of value.”,
Don & Alex Tapscott, authors Blockchain Revolution (2016)
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14. Deloitte vision
14

15. 15
Application
SMART
CONTRACTS

16. SMART Contract
http://www.snabogados.com/blog/e-commerce-y-smart-
contracts-smart-contract-internacional-2-3/
Requirements/Rules •Conditions
Programming
environment
•Ej: Solidity
Trigger or action of
a transaction
•If
requirements
are met
16

17. Smart Contract video
17
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE2HxTmxfrI

18. Where data is stored?
• Basically, it is a database of type:
• Write once, Read Many
• Technological possibilities
• Data storage in the network
• P2P distributed system, E.g.: IPFS
• Cloud-based storage, E.g.: Storj, Sia, Ethereum Swarm, etc.
• Distributed databases, E.g.: MongoDB, Cassandra
• Other possibilities: BigChainDB,
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19. IPFS: “A peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol
to make the web faster, safer, and more open.”
https://ipfs.io/ 19
Use Cases

21. Non-financial
Use cases
https://gomedici.com/30-non-financial-use-
cases-of-blockchain-technology-infographic/
21

22. Criteria to select a blockchain…
Verify information
• Intermediaries
Bureaucracy
• Time and cost
Security
• Privacy
• Integrity
• Digital identity
Transparency
Transaction
monitoring
Digital asset
exchange
….
22

23. 23
Insurance sector

24. EY Use cases
Fraud detection &
risk prevention
• Reducción
Claims prevention
and management
• Speed up
management
IoT and Product
Development
Payment models
• Supervision Reinsurance
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-blockhain-in-insurance/$FILE/EY-blockhain-in-insurance.pdf 24

25. IBM Use Cases
Catastrophe Swap
and Catastrophe
Bonds
Claim Settlement
https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=IUW03053USEN 25

26. IBM Claim Settlement (now)
26

27. IBM Claim Settlement (future)
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28. McKinsey Use cases
Fraud
detection &
pricing
Administrative
costs
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Financial%20Services/Our%20Insights/Blockchain%20in%20insur
ance%20opportunity%20or%20threat/Blockchain-in-insurance-opportunity-or-threat.ashx 28

29. 29
Technology

30. Blockchain ecosystem
https://medium.com/@josh_nussbaum/blockchain-project-ecosystem-8940ababaf27 30

31. Criteria for making decision…
Networkuse
Permissioned
Permissionless Dataaccess
Private
Public
Consensus
Proof-of-Work
(PoW)
• E.g.: bitcoin
Proof-of-Stake
• E.g.: Ethereum, status
of validators
Practical
Byzantine Fault
Tolerance (PBFT)
• 2/3 consensus
Scalability
Nodes
Transactions
Other
Govern
Scripts
…
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32. Comparison between main network providers
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33. General-purpose criteria
In-house
• Create nodes to validate transactions
• Master node + validator nodes
• E.g. virtual machines
• Use of technology and IDEs
• E.g. Ethereum
Cloud-based
• Existing solutions of IBM, Amazon or
Microsoft Azure
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34. Hyperledger IBM
34https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/platform/

35. Amazon blockchain
• Open to proposals
• https://aws.amazon.com/es/partners/blockchain/
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36. Microsoft Azure
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https://azure.microsoft.com/es-es/solutions/blockchain/

37. Adoption process…
Identify a business
case
Define needs
and
requirements
Align the
problem to
blockchain
capabilities
Define system
requirements
Implementation
•Proof of Concept
System
verification
Validation
•Critical Success
Factors
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38. 38
The White Rabbit put on his
spectacles.
“Where shall I begin, please your
Majesty?” he asked.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King
said gravely, “and go on till you come
to the end: then stop.”
"Think Big,
Start Small,
Learn Fast”
Source: Devil's Advocate Group

39. Time to adoption…Realistic? (too generic)
https://www.accenture.com/t20171128T112403Z__w__/ca-en/_acnmedia/PDF-67/Accenture-Insurance-Blockchain.pdf 39
3-6 months to POC

40. How to test?
40
https://remix.ethereum.org/#optimize=false&version=soljson-v0.4.20+commit.3155dd80.js

41. How to test SMART Contracts?
41
https://testnet.etherscan.io/

42. What about blockchain in Spain?
• Leadership:
• Bankia, Banco Santander, BBVA,
Sabadell
• Repsol, Endesa, Gas Natural
• Everis, ICADE, Garrigues, etc..
• More tan 70 members
• Working groups
• Organization
• Getting things done…
• https://www.criptonoticias.com/entre
vistas/carmen-chicharro-bankia-
creado-stockmind-tokenizar-activos-
sin-saber-blockchain/
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43. What is missing…
• Certification paths and profiles
• Blockchain Spain
• Alastria
Skills
• ISO Group is on that
Legal
environment
• Mature
• Selection criteria
• Successful stories
Technology
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44. 44
Evaluation

45. Some “no” advantages…
Energy and
resources
Transaction
time
Scalability
Real problem
solution
New type of
network
Interoperability Hype …
45

46. 46
Blockchain
is about
Business & legal aspects
Technology as a mean not an end

47. 47
Task: Debate

48. Rules
Create groups
(4-5 people)
Two groups
debate about
a use case
•Blockchain
•No blockchain
Prepare your
position about
the use of
blockchain
Try to
convince
others to join
your group
Wrap-up of
the debate
48

49. Use case I
EHR management
and Insurance
sector
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50. Use case II
Certification of
complex systems
(e.g. car, aircraft)
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51. Use case III
Autonomous
driving, wearables
and Insurance
sector
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52. Use case IV
Traffic Management
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53. Web links
• https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Proof-of-Stake-FAQ
• https://medium.com/fluree/blockchain-for-2018-and-beyond-a-
growing-list-of-blockchain-use-cases-37db7c19fb99
• https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/bitcoin-blockchain-issues/18019/
• https://medium.com/@billsoftnet/the-pitfalls-and-limitations-of-
blockchain-eba7424c0cf9
• https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain
• https://steemit.com/blockchain/@blockrush/comprehensive-
analysis-of-the-five-main-pitfalls-of-blockchain-technology-blockrush
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