((PKG)) BLOCKCHAIN
((Banner: Blockchain Technology))
((Reporter/Camera: Jill Craig))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Memphis, Tennessee))
((Blockchain is a digital ledger that aims to keep a permanent, unalterable record of all transactions.))
((CODY BEHLES, FED-EX INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY))
Blockchain is, in many respects, one of the most important emerging technologies that businesses are paying attention to today. It is frequently cast as the next Internet. And not because of the similarities to the technology itself, but to the potential for business and commerce and how we think about data exchanges globally.
((SAM BORICK, COMPUTER PROGRAMMER))
So, what we're doing is we're writing a piece of software that will leverage blockchain technology to make these records not able to be changed. So, when somebody writes, "I'm Officer Bob, I picked this up off the ground on Tuesday," that will go somewhere where it can never be changed. So, you can't go back and rewrite that.
((ELENA NADOLINSKI, SOFTWARE ENGINEER))
So, for example, let's say I pay to you, and then you pay to Sam, and then Sam pays to Carol, and then Carol pays to Bob. That entire history of transactions gets saved on this ledger that we call the blockchain. And every node, so basically, every computer in the world that decides to participate in hosting this blockchain, basically stores a copy of this ledger. And because there are countless of computers around the world, that are helping this network, there is no single point of failure.
((SAM BORICK, COMPUTER PROGRAMMER))
Imagine you have Twitter or group chat or some other social network and you have a bunch of people. Now, say, among that bunch of people you want to keep track of something. For simplicity, we’ll call it ‘Your Group Bucks.’ Instead of having a piece of paper or a coin that you actually trade around, what you do is you just know how much everyone else has. Okay, Sally has 2. Mindy has 5. And I have 5. And when you want to make a change, you just tell everyone else. You say, “Hey, everybody, I’m sending Bob 1 buck”. And everybody, OK, writes that down. And everyone keeps track of everyone else.
((ELENA NADOLINSKI, SOFTWARE ENGINEER))
You see exactly where the funds go to, from what organization, from what wallet to what wallet, so if there's ever a scenario, where, say, you donate some money and you don't know how the agency is actually using your money, then if you were to apply that to the blockchain, you could exactly see where your money is going.
((LUTHER "CHIP" HARRIS, CYBERSECURITY EXPERT))
So hopefully we're going to start looking at more security aspects of how to secure that data, secure that money, secure that funding, secure that medical records, hopefully within the next couple years.
((SAM BORICK, COMPUTER PROGRAMMER))
It’s public accountability. And that’s basically what blockchain does. That’s exactly how Bitcoin works. It’s everybody keeping track of everybody else, except everyone is a computer.
