Survey: Most professionals don't have experience using blockchain, but many see its potential
Blockchain is still an emerging technology, so it wasn't a surprise that in a recent survey by ZDNet's sister site, Tech Pro Research, 70 percent of professionals who responded said they hadn't used it. However, 64 percent said that they expect blockchain to affect their industry in some way, with most of that group predicting a positive impact.
Overall, respondents said that blockchain would be most likely to cause changes in the IT/technology and finance/banking/insurance sectors. This was expected, since technology professionals are going to be the ones enabling the use of blockchain, and finance, banking, and insurance industries may be working with cryptocurrencies and smart contracts.
Two open-ended questions generated a lot of chatter among the survey's 443 respondents. Opinions about blockchain's impact on daily life over the next five years was divided. Some said the technology would be revolutionary, while others dismissed it entirely. When asked what needs to happen in order for blockchain to gain more widespread use, two main themes emerged: education and usability. Many respondents pointed out that the public needs more education about what blockchain is, and what it does, while others felt that a major use case needs to emerge.
This infographic contains more details from the research. For all the findings, download the full report: Blockchain in business: The current state and predictions for the future (available to Tech Pro Research subscribers).
Also see:
- Blockchain: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
- 28% of businesses experimenting with blockchain, but almost none run it in production (TechRepublic)
- The 6 best blockchain jobs of the future (TechRepublic)
- The enterprise shows little interest in blockchain technology: Gartner (ZDNet)
- 9 reasons to be cautious with blockchain (ZDNet)
- Google is experimenting with blockchain technology for use in the cloud: report (ZDNet)