Technology disrupts entire industries, lowering costs and increasing efficiency. Blockchain technology is no different in this regard. The same is true for digital currencies, as businesses adapt to the dictates of the market and the demands of consumers. Expect a similar shift in healthcare, where the most innovative applications reveal the good that conventional technology can achieve and the greater good that the newest platforms may offer.
Take, for example, the technology of saving lives. Consider how a mobile application can help more people than the fastest first responders by delivering the knowledge of lifesaving information like CPR and AED to a person in distress: a person whose survival depends on another’s ability to access the algorithms and follow the steps to administer CPR, because there is no time to delay and no time to wait for assistance to arrive.
Consider how none of this would be possible without advances in technology. Picture the same patient, alongside the same caregiver, in a world without smartphones and tablets. Consider how no one would be able to reach these two soon enough, and how no one would be able to keep this person alive long enough for a doctor or nurse to come. Technology, in other words, saves lives.
According to Mackenzie Thompson of the Disque Foundation:
The easier it is to save lives with the help of technology, the better. From apps to real-time communication, there are more platforms for developers to use and tools for communities to access regarding lifesaving procedures like CPR. Innovation is the hallmark of this effort at home and abroad.
I agree with that statement, particularly its emphasis on innovation. I agree, not because I am a technophile and believe all technology is good, but because the best technology can (does) serve the common good.
Think, then, of the lifesaving applications that may emerge from the blockchain. Think of the security the blockchain possesses, making it far less vulnerable to hackers and thieves than other platforms. Think of how our first responders may be the first to adopt blockchain, or the first to use it in conjunction with their existing tools, to transform healthcare.
To think of this scenario is, in part, to realize how close we are to bringing this suggestion to life. The individuals who will do so are, I believe, the men and women who have a reputation for championing innovation.
They are advocates. They are humanitarians. They are doctors and nurses. They are philanthropists and everyday people. They are leaders.
Look to them to lead the way toward positive change, because they look to be—they are, indeed—the ones who never cease to inspire us.
They work to advance lifesaving technology. The latest advancements in technology are often a result of their collaboration.
I welcome the chance to see what they have to show us. No doubt they will showcase technology as impressive as it is influential.
