Industrial revolutions lead to visible changes in the world: mechanization, electricity, the assembly line, computers and automation have all been conducive to the advancements of modern civilization.
Next up in the industrial pipeline are ‘cyber physical systems’ which refer to technological fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), nanotechnology, 3D Printing, biotechnology, material science, energy storage, robotics and quantum computing.
The fourth industrial age presents new challenges and opportunities for the evolving world, and blockchain technology appears to be vital in seeing the revolution come to fruition.
Five keys to the future
BitcoinNews recently reported that Wall Street bull Steve Chiavarone believes that blockchain will be one of five key technologies that will ignite the next industrial revolution.
In an interview with CNBC on 11 May, the Wall Street portfolio manager and VP of US financial service company Federated Investors, revealed his bullish predictions for blockchain technology, despite the growing pains that the cryptocurrency markets were going through.
He ranked blockchain in the top five key technologies that would “drive this next industrial revolution” alongside robotics, AI, automation and the IoT.
Blockchain goes beyond Bitcoin
His predictions reflect a present truth; blockchain startups are already venturing into the other four revolutionary catalyst technologies, making blockchain an integral part of the envisioned future.
Blockchain is proving to be transformative in the artificial intelligence industry, opening up new and exciting possibilities for AI companies who are scrambling to implement blockchain protocols into their businesses. Furthermore, the IoT industry which is expected to explode by 2020, is finding itself being paired harmoniously with blockchain technology, even IBM believes they are “best friends” thanks to the distributed architecture of the blockchain.
Robotics and automation will also be benefiting from the blockchain as it provides new mechanisms for the emerging field to utilize; robotics expert Eduardo Castello Ferrer wrote a 2016 paper evaluating how the blockchain could unify robotic operations.
He wrote, “The combination of blockchain with other distributed systems, such as robotic swarm systems, can provide the necessary capabilities to make robotic swarm operations more secure, autonomous, flexible and even profitable.”
The ‘fad’ of the future
Blockchain is the underlying technology that supports Bitcoin, and while it has been acknowledged for its financial capabilities, it was only in the wake of the December 2017 USD 20,000 bull run that serious discussions surrounding the far-reaching benefits of the blockchain began to take shape.
As a part of the fourth industrial revolution, it is clear that blockchain technology and its accompanying cryptocurrencies will guide the other future-shaping industries to their desired destinations.
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