![](\"https:\/\/images.idgesg.net\/images\/article\/2019\/08\/cio_future_technology_disruption_by_metamorworks_gettyimages-1019164310_2400x1600-100809081-large.3x2.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Credit to Author: Michelle Davidson| Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2020 09:46:00 -0800<\/strong><\/p>\n If blockchain felt more like hype than reality in 2019, prepare for that to change. Industry watchers expect 2020 to be the year the distributed ledger technology matures and we see use cases that go beyond cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n Areas where experts envision growth include data security, the supply chain and electronic health records.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone’s gonna hit me, but I think blockchain as it relates to data security (think access management) is going to have some landmark use cases in 2020,\u201d\u00a0Siobhan Climer<\/a>, science and technology writer at Mindsight<\/em>, said during a recent IDG TECH(talk)<\/a> Twitter chat.<\/p>\n Ed Featherston<\/a>, a technologist at Cloud Technology Partners whose expertise includes blockchain, big data, machine learning, IoT and cloud computing, agreed, saying he still believes in the potential of blockchain and predicts its use will grow in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest areas in which blockchain is growing is supply chain and provenance,\u201d he said during the Twitter chat. \u201cPharma (and healthcare in general) are also looking and investing heavily in blockchain options: drug supply chain \u2014 opiates especially \u2014 clinical trial data, electronic health records. Chain of custody\/chain of events is always a potential use.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement <\/p>\n Climer concurred: \u201cAnything that involves tracking of a noun \u2013 person (law enforcement\/government\/travel), things (medicine, products, packages), ideas (patents, perhaps) \u2013 so much potential there.\u201d<\/p>\n In writing about the expectations for blockchain in 2020<\/a>, Computerworld<\/em>‘s\u00a0Lucas Mearian<\/a> said that while the technology \u201chas not lived up to expectations to drive new societal and business models\u201d \u2013 and most projects remain in experimental mode \u2013 it is far from being a failure.<\/p>\n \u201cIts promise to deliver a single version of data truth over a secure, distributed and immutable ledger remains compelling, and as it matures, many see it becoming a ubiquitous platform for financial services, ecommerce and other markets,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n As blockchain begins climbing out of the hype cycle, pragmatic use cases will arise. Some of those include payment processing, data sharing, equity trading, and contract\/document keeping and tracking, Mearian wrote. We can also expect the technology to be used to thwart fake news, for digital securities exchanges, and to manage consumer identities<\/a>.<\/p>\n