Thanks Gary.  I have seen the flurry of Blockchain messages over the last week or two.  This was the first one I read, thinking I should probably spend a few minutes educating myself.

At the risk of being perceived a Luddite...

I realize the comments/questions I write here will have zero consequences on Blockchain use and technology nor should they.  But this sounds like an idea that is designed to speed up production while minimizing quality assurance, to use a manufacturing comparison.  Demming developed a similar model for production in the middle of the last century.  In it, he taught that by having each person in the production chain inspect his or her own work that overall quality would be enhanced.  It could be higher quality than the typical production-quality control model used by most of the industrial world.  And it worked very well in environments where workers were dedicated to producing a great product.  See Japanese products in the 80s.

Before I spin off too far from Blockchain let me tie it back in.  Using this technology to verify a transaction makes sense from a speed and verification perspective.  Using previously agreed upon rules, the consensus tool doesn't have bias or emotions.  It simply matches a numeric value to determine if what it found is what it expected.  This part of Blockchain seems to be a pretty solid concept.

My concerns are around Information Governance.  In this article posted by Gary, and the only one I have read on the technology, the writer illustrates how information is duplicated and distributed across the entire permitted environment.  Haven't we seen this before?

Think about paper in organizations that had no centralized Records policy.  Everyone made copies of anything they deemed important.  This was because they didn't trust the system.  Nor should they.  If I had a document and thought I might need it again I would make a copy before I sent the original on to the next stage in the process.

We hated these environments for good reason.  They were costly, duplicative, and impossible to manage from a Governance perspective.  It was a target-rich environment for discovery.  And now we are looking at a similar structure in digital format.

Another concern is for organizations that create their own documents/records as part of the greater process environment.  In the Blockchain structure, don't they release this product to everyone?  Won't multiple copies go out beyond their control?  Once it is out there that organization has no more say in what happens to their information.  Good luck with retention and disposition.

And finally, is Blockchain a product designed to enhance security and privacy?  I read that it is encrypted but there are many who have that key; everyone on the system.  And all of the content is everywhere, not just in a central control environment.  Does this enhance the data security or hurt it?  If it is possible to steal information from any location that would seem to increase the risk, not reduce it.

I also see benefits.  There is incredible redundancy which increases preservation ability.  It sounds like it improves the customer experience.  And it drives some costs down by not having the clearinghouse or central authority.  But are these benefits worth the exposure created by such a system?  Will the desire to make information cheap and easy once again defeat the responsibility to do things right?  I'm not saying that Blockchain won't work.  I am asking if the fundamental concerns I have listed can be addressed in a manner that makes it a logical choice to manage our information.  Beyond business transactions, what if this is seen as a good solution for health information, intellectual property, and personal financial details such as stock trades?

Thanks for any insight from the List.  Perhaps the entire discussion is moot as Blockchain might never take off beyond a few uses.  Maybe it will never be anything more than a transactional tool and very little content will be shared.  What is the potential?  What are the markets?  And what kind of information will be shared?

Thanks for any insight and learning provided on this topic.

David B. Steward, CRM IGP
Director of Records
 
HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP
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