Blockchain specifically helps data, which can be of any sort on a distributed ledger, with provisions that make it immutable, thus guaranteeing transparency and authenticity.
The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic ushered in a major need to employ a superior technology that can help manage the outbreak and blockchain technology received the long-sought opportunity to help heal the world.
Blockchain Technology and COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster that the entire world was not prepared for. The pandemic has killed millions of infected victims the world over and millions of more cases have been recorded all over the world. The role of blockchain technology in combating the pandemic was two-fold, and they include;
- The real-time sharing of data that is trusted and easily traceable, as the rate of spread of the virus in the early days resulted from the absence of defined means to get infection data across.
- The management of allocated funds equitably and transparently. The traceability framework of blockchain technology also makes it hard for the allocated funds to be mismanaged.
In the heat of the pandemic in 2020, many blockchain startups developed contact tracing applications that alert people if there is anyone with the virus nearby for those whose data were captured and registered on such apps.
Is Blockchain Technology Relevant In the Face of Other Disasters?
Recently, the Danish Red Red Cross launched a $3 million blockchain-backed Catastrophe Bond to provide timely, transparent, and secure humanitarian aid to victims of any volcanic eruption in any one of the ten most active volcanoes earmarked.
Amongst many other things, the catastrophe bond will utilize a blockchain-based bond settlement system to ensure funds are released as at when due.
