Energy tops the list of industries that blockchains are set to disrupt

Blockchain technology, which enables information to be exchanged securely between peers, could over time disrupt very different industries and services, says the MIT in its Tech Review. The energy sector, highly dependent on real-time data to manage load and optimise purchase and sales prices, is first in line. The personal data sales industry, dominated by Facebook, Google and others, could be forced to adapt to a scenario in which people take back control of their data, encrypted in a blockchain. Food systems, offering full traceability, would no longer be able to deceive consumers about the composition or origin of products. Control over highly sensitive medical data is a further blockchain promise, but implementation is complex. The last, non-commercial, area to be virtually challenged by the technology is electronic voting, which would become as tamper-proof as a ballot paper placed in a ballot box.