What does blockchain mean to the Internet of Value?

Don Tapscott, one of the original authors of this article, has written 15 books on the digital revolution in business and society and is also the president of Trent University. Alex Tapscott, another author, is the CEO of Northwest Passage Ventures, a company that focuses on providing consulting services to early-stage blockchain startups.

They are about to publish a new book called "Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing the World of Money and Business."

The Internet is entering its second era, which will give us another shot in the arm to achieve a prosperous future.

Yes, the digital revolution has brought countless miracles. The Internet, the World Wide Web, social media, mobile computing, big data, and cloud computing are driving every aspect of human life.

But when it comes to business, the changes so far are only scratching the surface, according to analysis.

The basic institution of capitalism, the corporation, has remained relatively unchanged. Hierarchy, still vertical and bureaucratic, the hallmarks of the industrial age, still reign supreme.

When looking at the economy as a whole, the digital revolution has not had a positive impact on prosperity for the majority of people. Real creativity is happening, but paradoxically, social inequality is growing.

The economies of many developed countries are growing, but for the first time in history, this growth is not being matched by job creation.

Privacy is the foundation of a free society, but due to government interference, the Internet is being used to create a surveillance society.

Two billion people around the world do not have a bank account or are unable to participate in the global economy.

An incomplete internet

Technology has always been a bigger part of the problem than the solution, and not just because a new round of automation brought on by robots or disruptive business models has eliminated the need for some labor.

The old model for technology and media, whether it was broadcast, print or mainframe computing, was to centralize things and then control them through great power, with the recipients being passive.

The new model is distributed, which means that everyone can control it independently and everyone can actively participate.

Wealth, prosperity and freedom have arrived, but only to a select few.

Because the Internet does not have an economic layer, we cannot determine each other's identity or trust each other without verification from third parties such as banks and governments.

Quite the contrary, it allows people to commit fraud, collect our data, and invade our privacy…

What if the next generation of the Internet can be used not only for the communication of information, but also for the direct communication of value and money? What if we can build businesses that can achieve p2p transactions without the need for powerful intermediaries?

Entering the blockchain era

Yes, it is happening, and the digital revolution is bringing a completely new and radically different development platform to businesses and other organizations that will drive human progress over the next 25 years.

Its core innovation is the technology behind the digital currency Bitcoin, blockchain.

This technology platform is open and programmable, and therefore has the potential to unlock countless new applications that can change everything and enable capabilities that are yet to be realized in the next 25 years.

At its core, blockchain is a global distributed database that can record not only financial transactions, but almost everything of value: birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, education levels, financial accounts, medical procedures, insurance claims, voting... anything that can be represented by code.

Implementing the Vision

Today, new platforms enable the reconciliation of digital records, a process we call Digital Reconciliation.

The Internet of Everything needs a Ledger of Everything. Enterprises, commerce, and the economy need a digital ledger. Get ready for the World Wide Ledger.

We believe that truth, which enables trust to be free and distributed, will profoundly impact people from all walks of life.

Maybe you're a music lover who wants artists to make a living away from their art. Or maybe you're a customer who wants to know where hamburger meat comes from. Maybe you're an immigrant who wants to send a large sum of money back to your family back home after you got sick. Or maybe you're just a Saudi woman who wants to buy fashion magazines.

Maybe you're an aid worker who wants to identify land owners and help them rebuild after an earthquake. Or maybe you're a citizen fed up with a lack of transparency from political leadership. Or maybe you're a social media user who thinks all the data you produce could be valuable to you, i.e., your privacy.

As we write, innovators are building blockchain applications that serve these target users, and this is just the beginning.

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/blockchain-new-age-prosperity/
By Don & Alex Tapscott
Compilation: Overnight porridge
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/blockchain-new-age-prosperity)