The new I-COM initiative , the Blockchain and Advanced Research Subcommittee , launched last August, has met for the second time to discuss the possibilities of blockchain technology with the brightest experts in the field.
The topic during the last meeting was about the potential applications and changes of blockchain technology within the industry. As we know, blockchain technology is an open digital ledger that can record transactions between two parties, using encryption to ensure security and promising transparency in the execution of online markets. But despite the potential benefits of this and other related technologies, the working group agrees that there are also challenges to consider.
As Dr. Kajal Mukhopadhyay Ph.D. – Managing Partner, Mindshare, US , said during the meeting: “The engineering, computation, technology, and mathematics of the chain and the network will be solved fairly soon, probably by the ukraine phone number end of next year. And we will have very robotic platforms where transactions will happen super fast. But there is another point regarding what it means to radically change the way our systems behave. We can develop smart contracts, which are process-oriented, and leave no room for error or moral hazard in terms of misleading people.” Furthermore, Andy Fisher, Chief Analytics Officer at Merkle , noted that “We need to talk more about applying blockchain to data, especially data provisioning, within programmatic media. There is a huge opportunity there. And it also provides a really clear example that can explain to advertisers the value of blockchain.”
One of the possible uses of blockchain technology is with the Lightning Network instant micropayment protocol , which was also reviewed during the meeting. This protocol enables lightning-fast blockchain payments in a scalable, low-cost (or even free) and more secure way, allowing millions of transactions per second across the network. In this case, the blockchain is just an arbiter (or a security cut-off system) as it is possible to make transactions off-blockchain without limitations.
Regardless of the many advantages for the advertising industry, there are also some risks with using this protocol. Firstly, to make a transaction, a person needs a private key available in an online environment, which can be easily stolen . Secondly, the transaction must be supervised by someone who can ensure that the payment is made within a specific time frame or else the money will be lost. And thirdly, as the network is completely dependent on an online system, it is vulnerable to malicious attacks.
If you would like to contribute to the discussion, you can still join the I-COM Blockchain and Advanced Research Subcommittee. Upcoming meetings will cover topics such as ecosystem benefits and challenges in workflow, real-time tiers and user privacy, and Blockchain as a solution to stop ad fraud and increase transparency, with presentations from Brave Software, NYIAX, and others.