Living Smart

020 021 I ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY Get over mental block for this technology Prof. HUI Kai-Lung Elman Family Professor of Business Associate Dean (Research) of Business and Management, Deputy Head and Chair Professor, Department of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management L ately, online renovation platform HKDecoman and fintech platform MoneySQ have teamed up to help homeowners monitor the progress of their home renovation projects through the use of smart contracts and blockchain technology. This is only a small example of how blockchain technology can be utilized in our daily lives. The world first became aware of the blockchain system in 2009, when the cryptocurrency Bitcoin was released. Blockchain refers to a way of storing data in a “chain” of blocks. These data blocks are connected in a sequential “chain” structure using their cryptographic summary called hashes. A hash value is a number generated from some data that is uniquely associated with it; this function is one way and irreversible. As two different objects are unlikely to provide the same hash value and any change in one block will lead to changes in all other hash values and alert all parties involved, blockchain technology is difficult to manipulate and provides enhanced security. Because of its power to facilitate trustworthy transactions without a trusted central party, blockchain technology could see plenty of applications outside the financial world. For example, medical records can be stored in blockchain and shared with clinics/hospitals worldwide securely as an ample pool of data for research and service improvement for patients. In fact, many companies and even some governments are planning to migrate or have migrated their services to blockchain, such as the e-residency program launched in Estonia. In Hong Kong, the Monetary Authority launched a blockchain-based trade finance platform, eTradeConnect, developed by a consortium of 12 major banks last year for the trade industry. But why haven’ t we seen more applications for the public to date, aside from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?