Study: SMEs discover blockchain


Cost reduction, counterfeit protection and data security: in recent months, the huge potential of blockchain has led to explosive development. Prof. Kai Buehler and Ricardo Klapperich from the Rheinische FH Cologne asked medium-sized industrial companies in Germany about the opportunities and challenges of blockchain.
85 percent of respondents have already heard of blockchain. 40 percent have already acquired extensive know-how and are working with the new technology. The survey participants see the greatest application potential in process optimization in the area of automation through smart contracts and in the secure execution of transactions.
The respondents see the greatest challenge as being integration into the existing IT infrastructure and standardization in order to enable data exchange with other systems. According to the researchers, it makes sense to build up expertise and trust at an early stage so that market opportunities are not missed.