PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has released the results of its latest 2018 Global Blockchain Survey with data across 600 technology executives across 15 countries. 31 per cent of the surveyed companies have accrued a total annual revenue of 1 billion or more.
According to the findings of the survey subtitled “Blockchain is here. What’s your next move?” trust and regulatory volatility are prominent barriers when it comes to blockchain adoption by businesses. The countries where the study has been conducted include China, Denmark, Australia, France, Hong Kong, Germany, the UAE, the UK, India, Japan, Singapore, The USA, Sweden, Netherlands, and Italy.
Across these economies, the top three barriers to the adoption of blockchain technology are considered to be regulatory uncertainty, an absence of trust among users and the potential to “bring the network together.”
At the same time, the survey by this big four audit firm revealed that 84 per cent of the executives’ organisations “have at least some involvement with blockchain technology.”
“Businesses tell us that they don’t want to be left behind by blockchain, even if at this early stage of its development, concerns on trust and regulation remain. Blockchain by its very definition should engender trust. But in reality, companies confront trust issues at nearly every turn,” said Steve Davies, Blockchain leader at PwC.
Of all the respondents whose companies have endeavoured into the blockchain space, 25 per cent already have fully operational or pilot project implementations. For organisations that haven’t been able to utilise the technology, cost, lack of governance and insufficient knowledge have been cited as critical factors for the same.
The financial sector has emerged as the most prominent sector for blockchain development in the coming years with votes from 46 per cent of the survey respondents. The other industries that have been identified as promising are healthcare with 14 per cent votes, energy and utilities at 14 per cent and industrial manufacturing at 12 per cent.
Region-wise, China and the USA are seen as leaders for blockchain development projects with 18 per cent and 29 per cent polls respectively. However, the respondents are also forecasting that this force of implementation will shift to China from the USA in the next three to five years.
