Recently, the UK decided to run a survey on its CIOs (Chief Information Officers) to determine whether or not the hype surrounding the blockchain tech is as real as it seems. The survey included almost 3,000 CIOs, and it was conducted by Gartner, the UK-based research outfit.
According to David Furlonger, Gartner’s Vice President, the goal of the recently-conducted survey was to provide facts regarding the blockchain excitement that seems to be spreading to all forms of business in the world. The central question was whether or not CIOs are planning to adopt and deploy blockchain into their business practices.
The potential of new technology seems to be nothing less than limitless, and Gartner wanted to know whether or not businesses understand blockchain’s capabilities and the possibilities that are coming with it.
The survey results
The results of the survey came as a surprise when measured against the hype. Around 77% of participants stated that they have no interest whatsoever when it comes to the technology, much less its implementation into their business practices. Approximately 8% reported that they are “looking into it”, or are planning to do so. Finally, only 1% of the participants indicated that they are actually willing to adopt blockchain, or are already working on doing it.
According to Furlonger, it is not only challenging for CIOs to find qualified engineers that would be able to deal with blockchain tech, but they also need to find enough of them to compensate for the growth in resources which is going up, together with the growth of blockchain-related development. Engineers are being cautious when it comes to the issue, due to the technology’s current unstable nature.
The adoption of blockchain is a very slow process
Mr. Furlonger believes that the future of blockchain acceptance depends heavily on the psychological acceptance of the technology, but also on the feeling of innovation necessity. Until the industry decides that change is needed, not much can be done in order to speed it up.
The survey brought up some insightful statistics regarding those who did decide to try out the new technology. Around 13% of them stated that restructuring their IT department is the only way to truly integrate blockchain.
There were also some (14%) who were worried that the acceptance of blockchain would change the culture of their companies, while 23% believe that the adoption of blockchain will require an entire spectrum of new skills. Finally, 18% stated that there is not enough knowledge of blockchain among their current or potential future employees for the whole thing to properly work.
Mr. Furlonger commented on this and stated that blockchain requires a deeper understanding, especially when it comes to decentralization, law, security, commercial architectures and value exchange. Because of that, it will be impossible for many businesses to operate in a traditional manner.
The majority of businesses that showed interest in blockchain included telecommunications, insurance, and financial services. Other interested parties came from government agencies, public utilities, and transportation sectors. Even so, it remains to be seen whether or not the interested companies will decide to make this step after their research of the technology is finished.
