Decentralization Can Be Your Friend We've all been forced to tele-everything, but the best solution is to embrace it.
By Jennifer Spencer •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
This may be a time of major disruption and fear, but we have the tools we need to make it through. The best way to mitigate current medical-supply shortages and the spread of infection is through making better use of advancements in technology that are already in place. We may even be able to use the shift to transform our current infrastructure into a more functional and efficient vehicle toward serving our needs in the future.
Health professionals are relying on telemedicine more than ever. Factories that would be shut down during this time — like auto manufacturers — are investigating ways to repurpose their production capabilities so they can make the lifesaving medical necessities we desperately need.
In addition to the major adjustments required to handle the outbreak on a public-health level, havoc has been wrought on most businesses large and small, all over the United States. With supply chains disrupted and Chinese factories having been closed for weeks, Apple was one of the first major retailers to close stores worldwide. Disney halted the filming and release of major upcoming productions and shut down its theme parks and cruise lines. Planes are flying empty, major events are canceled, and restaurants, bars, health clubs and movie theaters are closed indefinitely.
With one in four American citizens asked to shelter in place for an amount of time that seems to keep stretching out ahead of us, developers are pressed to find ways to accommodate a massive increase in data access, and people are using the internet for entertainment, work, education and even medical exams.
Social distancing requires us to find entirely new ways of doing business, and blockchain-based services are positioned for success. Blockchain research and development is a priority for more than half of the organizations questioned in a major 2019 survey. Industries across the board have discovered its value in practical everyday solutions, and that value is now being underscored by a pandemic.
Related: How to Deal With the Economic Impact of the Coronavirus
Employees in all areas of business — including at Google — have been asked to work from home, and even the NYSE trading floor has shut down indefinitely. People in several industries can no longer meet face to face with investors and venture capitalists to pitch their concepts, and handling the cash or checks they may be given is an iffy prospect due to the potential for spreading germs. At a time when we most need scientific and cultural innovation, ideas are getting tabled because collaboration is stunted. However, blockchain can solve these problems.
The Filmio Decentralized Platform (FDP) is using its blockchain as a solution to the barriers created by social distancing by giving content creators, audiences and investors a digital space to connect with one and another. And that's just one example of how blockchain's peer-to-peer exchanges, as well as its transparent, immutable and secure ledger, makes it one of the most robust solutions to the challenges we face.
Even though many people have been referring to the age we live in as the "digital era," this is the first time in history that our society has truly made a transition to being fully digital. Face-to-face interactions made up the bulk of our collaborative and transactional exchanges only yesterday, and now we must rely on web-based interactions to stop the spread of sickness around the world.
Just as innovations during the Industrial Revolution improved our quality of life through extending our life expectancy, raising our wages and providing access to conveniences never before imagined, innovations made during this digital era will hopefully carry us through a new age of adaptation.
