“ElektraKing: I could have given you the world.
JamesBond: The world is not enough.
ElektraKing: Foolish sentiment!
JamesBond: Family motto.”
Classic dialogue from an iconic detective character, Isn’t it? Just like JB told, the world isn’t enough and blockchain has no limits. The blockchain is trending in most of the industries in various patterns and applications. Can Big Data find its way through by clubbing together with blockchain and form something extraordinary?
Even though there are certain speculations about blockchain being relentless, experts in the industry still consider it as a source of new transformation. Let’s see how things work with Big Data and blockchain for future upgrades and its scope.
Blockchain simple terms is a distributed ledger system where transactions are validated and added as blocks. These blocks are connected one after the other and form a blockchain. The validation is carried out using nodes that connect together to form a network.
IfA makes a transaction to B, a copy of the transaction information will be shared to all the nodes connected in the network. What happens if A changes the data? Unless the nodes connected in the network accept and validate the new data, the changes won’t be effective!
In short, a copy of the transaction data’s is available to all the nodes and there must not be any mismatch. If any mismatch found then the new change won’t be added up unless approved by other validating nodes. The security is thus strong and intruders cannot reach in to loot the money away!
BigData, as it sounds like is a big collection of data used to analyze and the data so-collected will be from various sources. With such a huge pile of data combining with other branches like data science, AI, etc. can predict the future phonetics and mould a unique model.
Mass-volume of data is valuable and correlating these data can discover more insights.
Consider a scenario where you’re an entrepreneur and the profit you earn is diminishing year after year. You need to go back all the way to the financial data over the years (past) and it’s a heavy task to perform. Big Data can fetch enough information to set things up and find the financial side easily.
So, how blockchain and Big Data can be connected?
Data security and data sharing – the two aspects of data management, managed by means of the combined efforts between blockchain and BigData! Just like the transaction validation (yes, it’s a type of data too) the data flow from various sources can be validated (might or might not be).
However, one must not misunderstand blockchain as an alternative data source. Blockchain essence can bring validation and similarly duplication of data in blockchain can be avoided using Big Data analysis. Both technologies complement each other and help to add easiness.
Data, this particular term is not limited to a small volume, when an enterprise business is considered then there will be plenty of data accumulated or stored from the beginning period itself. If the data is shared via permission blockchain, it can be accessed by the organization without any data breach. Big data helps to analyze the past data to predict the future.
It's a proposed model and speculations are being carried around by many of the big heads.
A proposed model from a source says,
On the contrary, there is a great dilemma about Big Data in the blockchain, Blockchain, as we know, is in the form of hashes i.e., encrypted data. How can one extract these data, won’t decryption cause damage to the immutability factor of blockchain?
Blockchain is said to be transparent but irreversible in nature, then how can one decrypt the data and use it for data analytics?
Yet another proposal is predicting the validation time, by checking the details of previous transaction data, it can predict how long it will take to add a new block? The blockchain transaction nature can be easily predicted.
These facts can be used for data analysis.
Blockchain for everything or a win-win situation?
Yes, blockchain is a familiar term since 2009 after the emergence of bitcoin and blockchain was the technology used to develop this particular digital coin. Later on, many real-time applications or platforms where developed using blockchain technology.
Still, the question that’s unsolved will be how far is this technology brilliant enough to become the best alternative to existing technology. Let’s give an answer to this situation with certain use cases.
Ethereumplatform is one among the group where the world has seen a new revolution and it introduced a positive phase in the digital world. Ethereum, a platform developed in 2015 where the platform gives the world an option to develop their decentralized application. Using theEthereum platform as the basic layer many DApp’s were launched in the market and the concept of two new terms was also familiarized to the world – Token and smart contracts.
It's a positive side, right?
Similarly, Kimberley Process (KP), a diamond certifying company announced that they were going to implement blockchain to their business and root away from the fake certification issues. Well, as per reports nothing got changed until the date and the business is still facing with the spam certifications.
The above case study shows one thing for clear – blockchain is not a solution for all!
There are certain limitations as well as the positive ground for this technology. Blockchain is going to bring a revolution in various real-time scenarios like banking and other financial sectors, real estate, logistics, and much more.
Ifblockchain is clubbed perfectly with another technology a smart system establishment can be developed easily. In Big Data, umm! We have to wait until perfect sync is found and equipped. There are vast opportunities and with real-brain can turn things around and come with a magic wand, after all, it is us – humans who have crafted such technology and so it’s going to be us to make maximum out of such opportunities.
The solution to this question is still unknown and nobody exactly knows its reality. It’s the possibilities that are discussed in this article and a clear picture is yet to discover.
The future is uncertain to predict and Big Data may or may not be a reliable source to depend in the blockchain.
When analyzed various sources that predict the clubbing of two, most of them speak about the advanced side of the blockchain. Well, these details don’t exactly give a concrete statement on its applicability using Big Data or else it will be focusing rather more on Big Data only.
That’s why I mentioned “the uncertainty” and we've to wait more time to know what exactly is going to happen.
Let's wait for the future then!
