Blockchain deployment not matching the hype–so far. 34% of CIOs have ‘no interest’.

A Gartner study confirms blockchain’s Peak of Inflated Expectations position on the Hype Curve. Despite all the chatter, blockchain isn’t being deployed in a commensurate way. Among over 3,100 CIOs surveyed, only 1 percent reported “any kind of blockchain adoption” in their organization. On the other hand, 34 percent have ‘no interest.’ 8 percent said they were conducting short-term testing with blockchain, 14 percent had graduated to medium or long-term planning, and 43 percent said it was on the radar, but they had no plans to test or develop or deploy it. A major reason is a dearth of skills; 23 percent said the effort requires the “most new skills to implement” of any IT tool.

But spending on blockchain technology is geometrically increasing: estimates for 2018 are $2.1 bn, a 122 percent increase over 2017’s $945 million. More information in Gartner’s press release and blockchain page. Also Angus Loten in The Wall Street Journal.

As our Editor in Chief Emeritus Steve Hards explained in his recent must-read article on blockchain, especially in healthcare, “distributed ledger technologies are not just in their infancy, they are still at a baby stage. Many are still gestating. It may be worth waiting to see which ones thrive.” In healthcare, we have a far greater problem with interoperability and secure data exchange which blockchain can only partially address. 

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