The Potential of the Blockchain

The virtual currency, bitcoin, which has been popular among investors does not seem prevalent in Japanese society. However, blockchain, the fundamental technology of bitcoin is expected to affect our lives at large. We are going to see examples of how influential the technology is.

The technology allows all participants in the system of bitcoin to share information recorded on every block and to make sure that it is properly saved. The information on every block is encrypted, which greatly decreases the risk of manipulation and guarantees the reliability of records. Some companies have already started dealing with applications of the technology to various fields, making the most of its virtue.

Companies in South Korea, for example, have started applying this great technology to medical areas. It has begun managing electronic medical records with some medical institutions using the technology, which is expected to prevent overlapping, excessive prescription and to lead to prompt investigations of causes of medical accidents.

The presence of the blockchain is more and more remarkable in Japan. FiNC, which specializes in preventative healthcare and technology, announced in June 2018 that they will set up a project applying the blockchain to a popular application that they have developed (the number of downloads on July 2018 is more than 2,800,000), cooperating with Blockchain Technologies, which specializes in blockchains.

The application helps users stay safe with the advice from AI, based on lifelogs put into the application such as diet, the number of steps taken, and sleeping hours.

“The use of the blockchain decreases the risk of manipulations more effectively and make proper data management possible,” said Kenji Suzuki, the senior technical lead manager. “We will record how users’ behavior affects their health as well as their lifelogs on blocks. That enables them to increase the reliability of data and encourages users to get more exercise effectively. We plan to progress the development with the aim to share and manage collective data with medical institutions, sports gyms, and other companies.”

Though the application is targeted at young women who take more care of their own health and appearances, they have a plan to develop an application for the elderly. They hope taking good care of their health will lead to a reduction in medical expenses.

Written by Yusuke Kazamaki, Masaki Sako

Edited by Takeru Suzuki