What Challenges Must the Blockchain and IoT Convergence Overcome?
It can be said without a doubt that the technologies of blockchain and IoT are revolutionary in isolation from one another. But what is extremely breathtaking is when one imagines the kind of effects these revolutionary technologies can have if they converge. There has been a lot of talk happening between investors, business professionals, and technical experts regarding how these technologies can be merged together. However, it doesn’t seem likely that we would get to see that convergence anytime soon. This is simply because of the fact that there are currently six main challenges which need to be solved before the convergence of blockchain and IoT can happen successfully. In this article, we will be looking at what exactly those challenges are.
The biggest challenge which the blockchain and IoT convergence need to overcome is that of its ability to scale and successfully meet the requirements across a range of networks of devices. This is not just a precaution but is foundational for running critical, high data, and high-risk environments. The silver lining in this entire scenario is that the architectural design and development of blockchain is being heavily influenced to deal with this issue. When it comes to this challenge, it is vital to remember that blockchain is not the solution to the scalability issues of IoT but instead it is this property of scalability which will determine when and how blockchain and IoT converge.
While DLT architectures offer promising security benefits, security remains a significant challenge in the design and deployment of shared architectures. Businesses must not only protect data, contracts, files, devices and networks, but also maintain privacy, authenticate identity, prevent theft/spoofing, and develop governance for autonomous device coordination and settlement. Adding IoT into the equation merely extends these decisions across the topology of the network, whether a large-scale factory environment, a remote field with low bandwidth for connectivity, or within a smart home or retail context.
