The interesting aspect about blockchain technology is that it allows us to conceptualize new forms of distributed organization.
So far in this video series, we have been talking largely about blockchain’s technology, but technologies are just tools that enable us to do things.
The interesting part is really what blockchain allows us to do with new forms of distributed organization.
As one commentator noted, the “blockchain is an institutional technology, not an information technology.”
There is an enormous difference between the two.
Institutional revolutions are things that don’t happen very often.
Yet, blockchain technology enables new forms of networked distributed organizations, something that runs very much contrary to our existing organizational paradigm.
This is what makes it somewhat difficult for us to understand.
The organizational model of the Industrial Age that we inherit today is one of centralization to achieve economies of scale through mass production, thus reducing unit cost and providing for a mass society.
The technologies of the Industrial Age selectively favoured centralization of production within closed hierarchical organizations.
Manufacturing is in centralized factories, transport systems are centralized around transport hubs, education is within schools and universities, entertainment is centralized within mass media organizations, and governance is centralized within state-run organizations, and so on.
The information revolution is in the process of taking us into a new world of distributed networks.
It is the organizational paradigm of the Information Age.
The combination of telecommunications networks and computerized coordination enables us to replace centralized management within enclosed hierarchies with open networks.
As the underlining technology matures, we are able to convert more and more systems that were previously closed and centralized and have them managed through automated networks via blockchain technology.
We saw this with the rise of online platforms like eBay, Uber or Alibaba, social networks, blogging and so many more that built massive networks of users exchanging goods and services, peer-to-peer.
But these platforms were still dependent upon the centralized organization to manage the shared database, the computing infrastructure, the algorithms, the financial transactions, and to enable trust and authentication within the network.
The decentralized web takes these platforms a step further by offering a shared open and secure database that can be trusted by all parties and a set of protocols for the secure exchange of value between organisations and individuals, peer-to-peer.
Follow along with our accompanying blog post here:
Learn everything you need to know about the blockchain here:
• Blockchain Introduction:
• Blockchain Overview:
• How Blockchain Works:
• Blockchain Evolution:
• The Decentralized Web:
• Distributed Organizations:
• Distributed Ledgers:
• Smart Contracts:
• Distributed Applications:
• The Internet of Value:
• Token Economies:
• Decentralized Autonomous Organizations:
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