How Blockchain Can Improve Canada’s Resource Industry
Written by Stefan Ateljevic, Head of Content and Community Manager at BitFortune
In terms of natural resources, Canada is indeed a treasure trove. It stands as one of the 10 most naturally plentiful countries in the world, resting on $33.2 trillion of precious metals, minerals, ores, water, and oil. Canada is the leader when it comes to supplying natural gas and phosphate, and the third largest timber exporter.
Then it should come as no surprise that the resource industry is this country’s bread and butter, with the forest sector alone accruing almost 25 billion Canadian dollars in 2017. Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Labrador Alberta, and Nova Scotia provide the bulk of these kinds of resources.
The resource industry, however, still leaves much to be desired in regard to technological innovation, and will often still function on a number of outdated practices. While the resource extraction tools themselves do the job admirably, the commercial and organizational aspects can be found sorely lacking in progress.
Blockchain has the power to vastly improve upon this the situation. As a digital ledger with transparent and immutable data shared throughout its users, blockchain is able to streamline many of the rough areas in the business, as you will find out in the following four examples.
More Efficient Transactions
Seeing that blockchain platforms provide a virtually instantaneous data transfer among all its participants, information can be sent much more efficiently than what is possible with current methods.
This system could potentially do away with a large chunk of the required paperwork and reconciliation because everyone is on the same platform, and will be informed of any changes immediately and simultaneously.
As a result, the industry could be able to enjoy far greater prevention of small asset losses suffered through all the red tape needed to confirm ownership, settlements, permits, and so on.
Inventory Visibility
Ports will typically receive shipments from a multitude of entities and, as such, keeping track of every item of cargo that is ordered and delivered requires a tremendous amount of time and organization. Blockchain has the potential to alleviate these efforts greatly. On a blockchain platform, however, all this information is sent across the network in but a moment.
As but one example, information concerning the amount of natural gas sent, the sender, the estimated delivery date, the inventory already in stock, and much more, can becomes immediately available in real time through the use of blockchain. And given that the data cannot be altered, removed, or manipulated in any way, every change can be accounted for with ease of mind.
More Manageable Reports
Mining and moving resources involve a great deal of data from various participants, all of which needs to be analyzed in order to detect any inconsistencies or non-compliance. These reports often take a while to compile and get a hold of and – even worse – sensitive data is always at potential risk of being lost or leaked.
With blockchain technology, full transparency enables every inconsistency to be swiftly spotted and honed in on, dramatically reducing the time normally needed to take care of these issues. And because all blockchain data is tamper-proof and secure, the chance of any information being corrupted or stolen is incredibly low.
Smart Contracts
Currently one of blockchain’s greatest innovations, smart contracts enable automatically enforced agreements to be generated between two or more parties, with no intermediary needed.
The use of smart contracts may bridge the gap between the producers and customers that usually exists in the form of traders and banks and enable faster deliveries by throwing out the middleman. Furthermore, overall expenditures would experience a sharp decrease, since the services of said intermediaries would cease to be required.
Looking ahead
As you have seen, Canada relies heavily on its natural wealth but is hampered by other practices that come with collecting the said wealth. The Canadian resource industry could see major growth upon enmeshing blockchain technology within its infrastructure. In doing so, it could greatly hasten the production process by enhancing the logistics side of things. Blockchain technology holds massive industry disrupting capabilities. The resource industry is but one that this technology could impact on a large scale.
To learn where blockchain can and will cause radical paradigm changes, feel free to explore the wonderful infographic accompanying this blog. You will see just as to what extent blockchain could one day improve many facets of our society, and how that may impact all Canadians directly in their day-to-day lives.
About the Author
Stefan Ateljevic, Head of Content and Community Manager at <BitFortune>. With an extensive background in content creation and love of all things regarding cryptocurrencies, Stefan passionately works to help people understand the benefits and potential of the crypto industry. Outside of work, Stefan enjoys learning about the new tech and innovations in the IT industry.
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