Blockchain is said to be the biggest technological breakthrough since the internet, with an endless list of use cases, it is only natural it becomes the darling topic in the tech scene. Of the many blockchain applications, one of special interest is with big data.

For the sake of brevity, Don & Alex Tapscott, authors Blockchain Revolution defines blockchain as “an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

Oracle defines big data as a, more complex data sets, especially from new data sources. These data sets are so voluminous that traditional data processing software just can’t manage them. Big data is larger, more complex data sets, especially from new data sources. These data sets are so voluminous that traditional data processing software just can’t manage them.

The Combination of blockchain and big data

“Arguably the most significant development in information technology over the past few years, blockchain has the potential to change the way that the world approaches big data, with enhanced security and data quality just two of the benefits afforded to businesses using Satoshi Nakamoto’s landmark technology.”

Although Big data have several challenges, the potential use of blockchain proposes to provide the following.

Validated data

Data generated through blockchain requires less scrutiny as the likelihood of manipulating such a data is extremely low. Blockchain combines hashing and cryptography to create data stored in series of block which is almost immutable due to the tremendous amount of computing power that would be required to manipulate the original state of the block.

A good use case of data validation at an organizational level is, Lenovo’s use of blockchain to validate documents. According to Lenovo, a digital signature is encoded in physical documents, which can be processed by computers and other machines, to verify the legitimacy of a document.

This process serves as an effective fraud detection system for documents, asset registration and more.

Data security and privacy

The world biggest organisations are data companies making data the most traded commodity in the world. Centralized data is insecure with several reports of data hacks it is glaring that data in centralized storages are at the mercy of hackers and other malicious entities.

The good news is that blockchain intends to restore power back into the hands of the user, there are limitless opportunities that exist for big data with the application of blockchain. An ideal world is one where data can be managed by the individual generating the data. The possibility of users being able to manage their data provides a good reward, leading to more incentive for users to refine and control the data they generate.

Big data generated via blockchain will thrive over regular big data and will ultimately be the new way of generating data.

Blockchain adoption by big data organizations

Due to the impact of blockchain technology there have been more adoption from big organizations and some of these organizations are finding interesting ways to make blockchain work for them.

Some other interesting blockchain solutions to look at are, BigchainDB, blockcrypto, fluree, blockstack.io, blockchain foundry, Augur.

Opportunities

Outlier Ventures, data generation report estimates that about 180 zettabytes of data (one zettabyte is equal to one trillion gigabytes) would be generated annually by the year 2025 up from 4.4 zettabytes in 2013.

A VentureBeat report quotes “If there is a “sweet spot” for blockchain, it will likely be the ability to turn insights and questions into assets.”

Big data could easily become tradable assets, through the use of dedicated apps, meant to filter and refine data. This opportunity would birth more data mining companies.

We would also see more cryptocurrency activities that require analytic insights.

Conclusion

Blockchain with big data is set to be a powerful tool for both big and small businesses. Growing data and recent data hacks are strong indications that blockchain is a very important technology that compliments big data and will redefine the way we handle data. If life is time and time is money data is the new life.