A recent report published by KPMG International and HFS Research, titled ‘Enterprise Reboot’, states that Blockchain will be one of five emerging technology sectors which will witness increased investment from enterprises over the coming year. The findings are based on a survey of 900 executives belonging to organisations featuring on Forbes’ Global 2000 list of the largest public companies with over1 billion-dollar yearly revenue.
Blockchain and Evolving Enterprises
Combatting the contemporary challenges and making the most of cutting edge opportunities demand enterprises to rethink their vision and revamp approaches to make the most of today’s ever evolving technology landscape.
As per the report, 65% of executives believe the combined use of emerging technologies will generate a higher return than investing in a single technology alone. Executives also agreed that Blockchain investments are seen to offer enhanced ‘competitive positioning’, and will boost efficiency and overall operations to prepare the foundation for the modernisation of infrastructure.
The Covid-19 Effect
While figures revealed that investment in Blockchain has dipped by 63% due to Covid-19, the report also predicts that the sector, along with artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, 5G, and innovative forms of automation technologies could expect more investment in days ahead. The report found Blockchain funding to have witnessed a downturn due to COVID-19 lockdown, with Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) sliding from the largest emerging technology sector with a weighted average investment worth $18 million to the second-smallest worth $6.5 million.
‘Digitised version of Trust’
The picture ahead may not appear bleak for too long, as the KPMG report also found that 59% of executives think that the pandemic has given a boost to digitisation initiatives.
According to KPMG’s USA Blockchain Leader Arun Ghosh, in many businesses the interaction between inventory, suppliers, invoices, and other outputs of core processes aren’t well defined, leaving limited room for trust. That’s where Blockchain Technology has an edge, which is why he prefers to call it the ‘digitised version of trust’. Another reason Blockchain gaining acceptance is because companies are seeking to restore trust in the supply chain hit by the pandemic. When international business networks are disrupted, Blockchain acts as a catalyst in consolidating relationships, thanks to the readily available, transparent and reliable data it offers.
