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Businesses’ adoption of the blockchain technology could change the structure of jobs, eliminating some lower- and mid-level professional roles, replacing them with more high-level employment opportunities, blockchain experts have said.
Blockchain is a digital record which processes and settles financial and data dealings within minutes using computer algorithms that don’t need third-party verification. Such processes could substitute some routine tasks currently undertaken by professional employees.
“Blockchain is decentralised. So, in the past before blockchain, a single process could take a lot of people, a lot of intermediaries,” said Andrea Tinianow, a blockchain expert who was involved in the Delaware Blockchain Initiative in the United States.
“Say you are doing a deal and everybody needs to see a contract - nearly five parties, so the contract will go from (one) party to (another) party to (another) party to approve it,” Tinianow said.
“With blockchain, everybody sees the information at the same time.”
Tinianow, who led the Delaware Blockchain Initiative that was set up by a local governor to help private sector firms in the US get to grips with the technology, told Zawya on the sidelines of the Unlock Blockchain conference in Dubai on Sunday that the technology “eliminates the need for intermediaries - and those are people - and it means it has potential to eliminate jobs because the process will be more efficient”.
“So when we are thinking of putting blockchain projects together, there will be people who could be pushing back because of concerns that jobs could be eliminated,” Tinianow added.
Tinianow said she believes that the intermediaries’ jobs will be replaced by new “high-level” positions.
“The people who are actually doing work, are going to do high level work, instead of passing paper from one party to another,” Tinianow said.
The Dubai government has been an early adopter of blockchain, with several government entities attempting to introduce the technology to help meet the emirate’s ambitious goal to become paperless by the year 2020.
In the conference’s opening session on Sunday, Aisha bint Butti bin Bishr, director-general of the Smart Dubai office, told the event’s attendees that the Dubai government is working hard to implement the blockchain across different sectors.
“I am proud to announce that we have almost 20 public sector blockchain cases,” bin Bishr said. Smart Dubai is a government entity dedicated to implementing new technology and innovations.
Blockchain expert Jason Cooper, who had previously worked with the US government but now works for Dubai-based IT security firm Darkmatter, said he does not expect blockchain or any other technology to have a “devastating” effect on people and jobs.
“I remember when PCs (personal computers) first became popular and they (people) were saying, ‘Oh, no one will need all those office jobs anymore, we are going to have the paperless office’. I am still waiting,” Cooper told Zawya on the sidelines of Unlock Blockchain.
“The world will evolve. When there is need for people to work and there are people who need jobs, the ecosystem has a way of balancing it out,” he added.
The two-day Unlock Blockchain Conference at the Ritz Carlton DIFC hotel at Dubai International Financial Centre concludes on Monday.
Further reading:
(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Editing by Michael Fahy)
(Yasmine.saleh@thomsonreuters.com)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.
© ZAWYA 2018
Blockchain is a digital record which processes and settles financial and data dealings within minutes using computer algorithms that don’t need third-party verification. Such processes could substitute some routine tasks currently undertaken by professional employees.
“Blockchain is decentralised. So, in the past before blockchain, a single process could take a lot of people, a lot of intermediaries,” said Andrea Tinianow, a blockchain expert who was involved in the Delaware Blockchain Initiative in the United States.
“Say you are doing a deal and everybody needs to see a contract - nearly five parties, so the contract will go from (one) party to (another) party to (another) party to approve it,” Tinianow said.
“With blockchain, everybody sees the information at the same time.”
Tinianow, who led the Delaware Blockchain Initiative that was set up by a local governor to help private sector firms in the US get to grips with the technology, told Zawya on the sidelines of the Unlock Blockchain conference in Dubai on Sunday that the technology “eliminates the need for intermediaries - and those are people - and it means it has potential to eliminate jobs because the process will be more efficient”.
“So when we are thinking of putting blockchain projects together, there will be people who could be pushing back because of concerns that jobs could be eliminated,” Tinianow added.
Tinianow said she believes that the intermediaries’ jobs will be replaced by new “high-level” positions.
“The people who are actually doing work, are going to do high level work, instead of passing paper from one party to another,” Tinianow said.
The Dubai government has been an early adopter of blockchain, with several government entities attempting to introduce the technology to help meet the emirate’s ambitious goal to become paperless by the year 2020.
In the conference’s opening session on Sunday, Aisha bint Butti bin Bishr, director-general of the Smart Dubai office, told the event’s attendees that the Dubai government is working hard to implement the blockchain across different sectors.
“I am proud to announce that we have almost 20 public sector blockchain cases,” bin Bishr said. Smart Dubai is a government entity dedicated to implementing new technology and innovations.
Blockchain expert Jason Cooper, who had previously worked with the US government but now works for Dubai-based IT security firm Darkmatter, said he does not expect blockchain or any other technology to have a “devastating” effect on people and jobs.
“I remember when PCs (personal computers) first became popular and they (people) were saying, ‘Oh, no one will need all those office jobs anymore, we are going to have the paperless office’. I am still waiting,” Cooper told Zawya on the sidelines of Unlock Blockchain.
“The world will evolve. When there is need for people to work and there are people who need jobs, the ecosystem has a way of balancing it out,” he added.
The two-day Unlock Blockchain Conference at the Ritz Carlton DIFC hotel at Dubai International Financial Centre concludes on Monday.
Further reading:
- Blockchain, the law and Dubai's grand plan
- Why do UAE and Saudi Arabia want to use blockchain?
- The blockchain that wouldn't die
- Microsoft participates as Digital Key Partner at regional blockchain event
- Blockchain can pave the way for safe transactions
- Career in UAE: More than 700 jobs up for grabs
(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Editing by Michael Fahy)
(Yasmine.saleh@thomsonreuters.com)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.
© ZAWYA 2018
