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Blockchain in Europe:
Closing the Strategy Gap
Business leaders in Europe are fully aware of the potential
introduced by blockchain, according to our recent research.
To fully harness blockchain possibilities, however, they need to
break through old mental models of company boundaries and
markets, and grasp how blockchain could truly change the game
by shifting entrenched views of institutional power.
DIGITAL SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY
COGNIZANT REPORTS
January 2018
2 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap
Digital Systems & Technology
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The breakthrough impact of blockchain on business has roiled industries throughout the
world. From financial services, to manufacturing, to insurance, the distributed ledger
technology underlying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is poised to fundamentally redesign
value chains, unlock our dependence on trusted intermediaries and forever alter our
understanding of the function and role of institutions and markets.
The opportunities and disruptions of blockchain have now reached the executive floor of
European corporates, with business decision makers fully aware of the technology’s major
impact on their processes and industry. In our recent global study of organizations
throughout the world and their attitudes and progress toward blockchain, however,
European business decision-makers appear to be more conservative than those in other
regions relative to judging the significance of blockchain (see study methodology, page 24,
and the blockchain section of our website for more on our study findings across industries
and in Asia-Pacific).
While European companies have identified breakthrough ideas on how blockchain could
solve some of the most pressing problems in business and society today, according to our
study, there is a huge gap in their progress toward turning those ideas into reality,
particularly from a strategic viewpoint. Job one for business leaders in Europe is to break
through their old mental models of company boundaries, markets, business models and
competition, and begin opening their minds to how blockchain could truly change the game
by shifting entrenched views of institutional power.
In other words, businesses need to look at the rules shaping their industry or company, as
well as their habitualized practices of executing business processes that can be disrupted
by blockchain. They need to dismantle old conceptions of using or valuing products, services
and assets – and the purpose and value of institutions themselves.
3Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
Job one for business leaders in Europe is
to break through their old mental models
of company boundaries, markets, business
models and competition, and begin opening
their minds to how blockchain could truly
change the game by shifting entrenched views
of institutional power.
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap4
Key insights from our study, which surveyed 1,570 business decision makers in Europe, include the
following:
•	 Blockchain strategies are being created but must evolve. An overwhelming majority of respon-
dents in Europe have either already defined (50%) their blockchain strategy or are in the process
of doing so (47%). At the same time, however, blockchain is being treated like any other technol-
ogy innovation rather than for its breakthrough potential.
•	 Competitive advantage is a top driver for adopting blockchain, with 70% of respondents indi-
cating that competitive differentiation is a major factor for pursuing blockchain initiatives. In
order to truly harness blockchain as way to reinvent business, however, businesses need to move
past traditional ideas of competition and markets and see blockchain’s key features – privacy,
security, immutability, transparency, reliability, process integrity – as design elements for a
whole new way of doing business that disrupts institutional power and invites open participation
and collaboration.
•	 Traditional business opportunities are being pursued. The top business opportunities named by
respondents include the creation of new service lines (62%), customer segments (60%) and mar-
kets (58%). Fewer respondents, however, recognize the further reaching capability of blockchain
to open up their internal assets to extract greater value, integrate themselves more directly into a
network of business (i.e., by putting smart contracts on the blockchain), enable more customer
autonomy or create and securely share “digital twins” and digital product memories to establish
entirely new levels of transparency (see Quick Take, page 15).
•	 Interest in collaboration is limited, with only 2% of respondents saying they planned to join a
consortium of start-ups and competitors as part of their blockchain pursuit. Most companies are
working on blockchain opportunities internally, with only a few collaborating with external stake-
holders or joining consortiums. This desire to drive their own blockchain agenda exemplifies the
problem of older, legacy-based thinking.
Businesses need to move past traditional
ideas of competition and markets and
see blockchain’s key features – privacy,
security, immutability, transparency,
reliability, process integrity – as design
elements for a whole new way of doing
business that disrupts institutional
power and invites open participation and
collaboration.
5Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
THE BLOCKCHAIN STRATEGY GAP
There is no doubt that European business decision-makers see blockchain as a strategic imperative,
with 83% of respondents expecting blockchain to have an important or very important impact on
their industry, and most respondents (97%) claiming to have a blockchain strategy. Respondents’
blockchain strategies, furthermore, comprise the familiar elements of many digital initiatives today:
identifying use cases and developing prototypes and minimal viable products (MVP), following an
agile innovation process, mostly in a lab environment. This has led to an abundance of use cases
addressing various, sometimes very significant, known problems in the areas of international pay-
ments, trade finance, insurance, supply chain, healthcare and taxes, among others.
For these businesses, however, blockchain is primarily being pursued in the same way that previous
technology innovations have: as a new way of doing old things. Consider, for example, that nearly half
of respondents (49%) said blockchain would add to current operating models, without drastically
changing them (see Figure 1). However, in a blockchain-driven world, this response indicates a mindset
locked in the past. Unlike most technology innovations before it, blockchain is an institutional innova-
tion. As such, it is about open participation, collaboration and disrupting institutional power – not
conducting business as usual.
Additionally, many companies (70% of respondents) consider competitive advantage to be a top ben-
efit of blockchain (see Figure 2, next page). Blockchain, however, challenges traditional notions of
competitive advantage in ways that many businesses may not be prepared to embrace. For example,
if a company’s competitive advantage lies in its ability to run a particular process very efficiently (e.g.,
Li & Fung’s orchestration of global supply chains),
1
and if these processes could now be run on a
“self-organizing” open blockchain protocol, then the entire business model of that company would
have to change dramatically.
Unlike most technology innovations before
it, blockchain is an institutional innovation.
As such, it is about open participation,
collaboration and disrupting institutional
power – not conducting business as usual.
Expected Impact of Blockchain
Respondents were asked how blockchain would impact their current operating models.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
1%
2%
15%
33%
49%
Not sure
Blockchain will not fuel new operating models
It will open our business to more open participation by
other partners/ customers
It will replace current operating models
with entirely new models
It will add to current operating models without
drastically changing them
Figure 1
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap6
The fundamental question is, what would the competitive advantage be for companies effectively
using blockchain solutions at scale in the future? It takes entrepreneurial courage to ask that question
– and most companies are looking away, just as many European businesses are underplaying the
impact of the digital revolution on their companies (as found in our recent survey).
2
Companies are more apt to ask questions such as, “What’s the business case?” or, specifically, “How
can I use blockchain technology to cut costs or drive growth in my existing business?” After all, with-
out a business case, there will be no funding.
This, however, is where things usually get stuck. The fact is, with blockchain, businesses can no longer
pursue competitive advantage by building a castle, putting a moat around it and defending it to the
death, as Columbia Business School Professor Rita Gunther McGrath explains in her book The End of
Competitive Advantage.
3
The reason this type of thinking is still predominant with most businesses
today is that company success is measured by stock performance, which is assessed by the investor
community; for value investors such as Warren Buffet, a “moat” is a highly desirable element when
making an investment decision and protects a company from its competition over a long period of
time (e.g., 10 years).
Blockchain, however, doesn’t strengthen the moat or solve problems for individual companies; instead,
it addresses problems at the market level. Rather than a castle and moat mindset, in fact, businesses
should view blockchain as the opposite of an exterior fortification, as it will ultimately open up the
inside of a company
4
and establish what we call a “trust zone” that goes well beyond traditional com-
pany boundaries (see Quick Take, next page).
This is because the technology allows the tracking and recording of assets and transactions without
the presence of a central trust authority, and creates an immutable record of ownership. Complex
algorithms drive consensus among users, ensuring that transaction data cannot be tampered with
after verification. Only 15% of respondents, however, see blockchain opening the business to more
open participation by other partners and customers.
Top Drivers for Pursuing Blockchain
Competitive advantage is a top driver for pursuing blockchain intitiatives.
(Percent of respondents naming each driver as a major factor for pursuing blockchain.)
16%
35%
56%
70%
72%
Because other players can disrupt our
business model using blockchain-based models
Competition
We usually test new technologies
To use a blockchain as differentiator
to gain competitive advantage
Perceived benefits of blockchain
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 70%60%50%
Note: Multiple responses allowed.
Figure 2
QUICK TAKE
The Trust Zone
The way companies conduct business and behave as organizations is driven by markets
and competition. This has been very successful, especially in countries where markets
are governed by effective institutions. (Markets and competition don’t work well in coun-
tries with weak institutions or rampant corruption). This reality drives the reason why
companies exist. Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize winner in economics, has described this in
his work “The Nature of the Firm.”5
In short, work inside the walls of a company can be
organized effectively because people can trust each other. Think of it as operating in a
“trust zone.”
Outside the walls of the company, i.e., outside of the trust zone, there is less or no trust.
That’s why here, trust is established through contracts and institutions (banks, govern-
ments, lawyers, insurances, intermediaries). Such trust comes at a cost, which we call the
“trust tax.” (For more on this topic, see our white paper “How Blockchain Can Slash the
Manufacturing ’Trust Tax.”)
The trust tax, for example, is a severe problem in global supply chains, where a great
deal of liquidity in terms of debt is tied up, and the cost of debt is driven by credit scores
in favor of trusted large corporations. The trust tax inherent in the cost of debt raises
the barriers to entry for global supply chains, crowding out many companies that are
less trusted by current institutions – with a huge impact on global economic growth.
Because blockchain establishes trust among market players that don’t trust or know
each other, it reduces risk and establishes a trust zone that extends beyond the walls
of a company, covering whole markets or industries. The new blockchain-enabled trust
zone is like “a company of strangers,” with no authority in charge.6
7Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
The Role of Smart Contracts
Furthermore, the contracts used to establish trust between businesses and/or consum-
ers are often complex, long term and incomplete, serving more as a reference point than
a detailed map.7
The availability of data – e.g., through IoT and sensor data, combined
with blockchain technologies – can be used to design trust into these contractual rela-
tionships through mechanisms such as smart contracts, dramatically slashing the trust
tax. However, this approach cannot fully automate or replace some of the fuzziness that
is required in contracts to incentivize the right long-term behaviors of the parties in a
contractual relationship. That’s why blockchain-based business models usually require
some “off-chain” governance and cannot be operated as a pure “decentralized autono-
mous organization” (DAO).
A good way to exemplify a trust zone is Airbnb. As Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb,
explains in his TED Talk, the company uses design to build trust between hosts and
guests.8
In this case, however, the trust tax is collected by Airbnb, while in a true peer-
to-peer blockchain-based trust zone, there is no intermediary, and the hosts and guests
would keep the trust tax.
It’s feasible to consider the development of blockchain-based platforms arising to com-
petewithAirbnb–already,adecentralized,peer-to-peerblockchain-basedcompetitorhas
emerged for Uber.9
However, contracts between hosts and guests on a blockchain-based
version of Airbnb are also incomplete, as not all aspects of dispute resolution could be
handled on the platform. Also, there is limited proof of authenticity of the reputational
data on Airbnb. Hence, Airbnb could also not operate as a DAO.
8 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap
Digital Systems & Technology
9Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
BREAKING DOWN OLD MODELS AND INVENTING NEW ONES
The open ecosystem approach required by blockchain will require a dramatic mindset shift, including
the need to collaborate with external partners in a way that few traditional businesses have done
before. As reflected in our study, most companies work on blockchain opportunities internally, with
less than one-third of respondents reporting that they have started to work with external stakehold-
ers, such as industry partners or competitors (see Figure 3).
At the same time, multiple industry consortia have been formed in Europe to collaborate on use cases.
One example is the European Digital Trade Chain project, founded by a consortium of banks to build a
blockchain-based platform for trade finance, to address the liquidity problem in global supply chains
and enable small- and medium-size companies to have better access to European markets.
10
(For more
on this topic, see our series “How Blockchain Can Revitalize Trade Finance.”) Another example is B3i,
a consortium of European insurers working to apply distributed ledger technology to improve back-of-
fice efficiencies.
11
However, insiders report that progress has been slow in some consortia, as many
participants want to drive their own agenda.
Adopting a collaborative approach will be a challenge for most companies. Business leaders need to
get comfortable with the idea of platform-based business models, the industrial sharing economy
(e.g., sharing assets, resources and knowledge), data-driven business models and placing more trust
in security and cryptography.
This mindset shift can be achieved by engaging business and IT leaders in jointly learning and collab-
orating, using a design thinking-based innovation process to get some hands-on experience in how
blockchain technology can address a well-defined, substantial and real business problem in an ecosys-
tem or market. For example, the European Commission is doing this in its #Blockchain4EU initiative,
whose stated mission is to identify, discuss and communicate possible blockchain uses and impacts,
mainly through stakeholder engagement and co-creation workshops
12
to influence policy making in
the European Union.
Internal Partners Pursued over External Partners
Respondents were asked to indicate the current status of their blockchain efforts with regards to
key stakeholders/partners (percent saying they had already completed the task).
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
21%
28%
32%
49%
50%
Working with other industry partners/competitors
Working with external partners
Identifying external partners
Identifying internal stakeholders/partners
Working with stakeholders
Multiple responses allowed.
Figure 3
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap10
As the European Commission says, “it is crucial to understand which actions can or will be necessary
to prepare for the potential transformations and possible disruptions brought by them to existing or
future EU sociotechnical landscapes.“
13
Currently, the initiative includes five prototypes: supply chains,
authentication and certification, intellectual property, energy and advanced manufacturing.
Discovering a Purpose for Blockchain
Another challenge is to uncover these systemic problems and the “massive transformative purpose”
14
behind solving them, and to design a market, platform or trust zone addressing the problem (see
Quick Take, next page). Many blockchain use cases or start-ups are lacking this razor-sharp focus on
identifying a specific problem to be solved and assessing the wider implications. Many start-ups, for
example, have ideas that “sound great” or claim to address a huge global problem, but they lack spec-
ificity on the problem to be solved and a deep understanding of the market and incentive mechanisms,
including areas of competition for the market players and where they collaborate and why. In our
study, respondents said a top challenge of working with external partners and stakeholders was iden-
tifying and finalizing the purpose for blockchain, in the form of use cases (see Figure 4).
Many start-ups have ideas that “sound great”
or claim to address a huge global problem,
but they lack specificity on the problem to be
solved and a deep understanding of the market
and incentive mechanisms, including areas of
competition for the market players and where
they collaborate and why.
Top Challenges of Working with Partners on Blockchain
Respondents were asked to rate the following challenges of working with partners on blockchain
(percent rating “high difficulty”).
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
39%
40%
40%
41%
47%
50%
Agreeing to a shared data model between
parties for use in the blockchain
Choosing which blockchain platform to work on
Developing monetization approaches
Convincing partners to share experiment data
Establishing connectivity with partner systems
Identifying and finalizing blockchain use cases
Figure 4
QUICK TAKE
Blockchain-based Solutions to
Entrenched Problems in Healthcare
The healthcare industry offers many opportunities for resolving substantial, systemic
problems. Globally, spending on healthcare is at about 10% of the global GDP even as
chronic disease continues to rise and elderly populations grow.15
The challenge of reduc-
ing costs and improving outcomes is bedeviled by a highly regulated environment and
conflicting interests of various stakeholder groups, including pharmaceuticals com-
panies, health insurers, practitioners, patients and researchers. With these diverging
interests, there is a significant lack of transparency in the system, which – combined
with increased patient empowerment – has led the call for evidence-based medicine and
better measured outcomes.16
With their key characteristics of immutability of information, transparency and open par-
ticipation, blockchain-based trust zones could help provide such proof of evidence. While
many blockchain projects deal with such areas as clinical trials,17
many other questions
remain, such as an understanding of the incentives that drive particular research projects,
and whether these motivations stem from a desire to improve health or make money on
expensive therapies. A lack of transparency, openness and neutrality in this area of health-
care often leads to “sponsored content” supporting the most profitable therapeutic areas.18
These and other issues have led to initiatives like citizen science and open science,19
which focus on open participation, collaboration, transparency and sharing of research
assets and knowledge, all of which are key design elements of a trust zone that could be
established through blockchain thinking and distributed ledger technology.
In Berlin, a key blockchain hub in Europe, the think tank Blockchain for Science is exploring
how blockchain can be used as a platform for open science.20
Other projects are address-
ing the need for more transparency in medical research publications, such as PEvO21
and
Blockchain for Independent and Transparent Science (BITS)’s Project Zille, which is intro-
ducing a “transparency token” on blockchain as a tokenized proof of neutrality to the
market of scientific research publishing, with a vision to take the ideas of OpenTrials22
on the blockchain. According to Professor Tim Niehues, pediatrician and clinical immu-
nologist at Children’s Hospital Krefeld, Germany, if this is widely adopted, it will have
“a massive impact on global healthcare budgets and the value of science for humanity.”23
11Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
Rather than focusing on the
existing business, companies
should envision scenarios of
how blockchain will change
global value chains, markets
and institutions and derive
the potential longer term
fundamental change on their
operations.
12 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap
Digital Systems & Technology
13Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
To make progress on identifying blockchain use cases and strategies, European businesses will need
to overcome years of entrenched individual and collective conventional wisdom. Rather than focusing
on the existing business, companies should envision scenarios of how blockchain will change global
value chains, markets and institutions and derive the potential longer term fundamental change on
their operations.
They can do this by using a scenario-based planning approach, sometimes called “future mapping”:
thinking about the future as if it has already happened and considering the major possible future
events that could lead to these futures. This approach can help companies and their ecosystem part-
ners develop a scenario-based blockchain strategy in the context of possible futures, especially with
respect to ecosystems, platforms and how blockchain technologies could enable these and create new
market opportunities and address significant problems to be solved. The outcome of such a scenar-
io-based blockchain strategy should be a prioritized list of use cases.
DEVELOPING A BLOCKCHAIN USE CASE AND PROTOTYPE
Many companies in Europe are already working on various blockchain use cases in a wide range of
areas, with the greatest emphasis on operations, finance and IT (see Figure 5). Compared with their
counterparts in the U.S., European businesses report an overall lower impact of blockchain on busi-
ness functions overall, with a marked disparity in the areas of supply chain and procurement.
Blockchain’s Functional Impact
Respondents were asked to rate the impact of blockchain on key business functions (percent rating
“high impact”).
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
U.S.
Europe
43%
43%
45%
47%
48%
49%
Customer service
Supply chain
Marketing
Finance
HR
45%Data management
50%IT
Operations
44%Procurement
Figure 5
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap14
From our observations, both supply chain and procurement will be highly impacted, however, particu-
larly with some of the most appealing early-stage blockchain use cases in Europe being in the
following areas:
•	 Digital twin/asset tracking (see Quick Take, next page).
•	 3-D printing.
•	 Electrical vehicle charging/digital wallet on a car.
•	 Supply chain finance.
•	 Decentralized data exchange protocol/data marketplace.
•	 Shared services organizations.
•	 Pooled inventory management.
•	 Legal contract execution.
•	 Medical science/clinical trials.
•	 Internet of Things (IoT)
•	 Content curation.
•	 Reputation.
•	 Blockchain platform interoperability.
The financial services sector is still the most advanced when it comes to putting blockchain solutions
into practice. Most large European banks are field-testing blockchain solutions in various areas, includ-
ing BNP Paribas, which has already processed some live payments on blockchain and is testing
international treasury operations to improve internal cash management efficiency between busi-
nesses.24
This solution improved the bank’s interoperability of its legacy systems by using software
robots and application programming interfaces (API) to integrate a private blockchain with the exist-
ing IT environment.
The list of attractive use cases for banks is long, including international payments, interbank settle-
ments, smart bonds, equity issuance, OTC derivatives and mortgage lending.25
Banks are also currently
the most advanced in adopting collaborative approaches to blockchain use cases. One recent example
includes the multi-firm implementation of equity swaps on blockchain, with the participation of BNP
Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and industry ser-
vice providers IHS Markit and Thomson Reuters.26
(For more information on the use of blockchain
among financial services organizations, see our report “Financial Services: Building Blockchain One
Block at a Time.”)
15Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
QUICK TAKE
Digital Twins : Sharing Information in a
Trusted Way
The IoT, the Fourth Industrial Revolution,27
cyber-physical systems and the circular econ-
omy28
are all ideas that will significantly shape the future of our economy – with significant
impact on manufacturing companies, but also for telcos, logistics companies, banks, insur-
ers and leasing companies to offer pay-per-use models, micro-transactions, etc.
The fundamental concept underlying all these ideas is an open network for sharing
trusted information and value among players that don’t necessarily know or trust each
other. A key element of the information share is the digital representation of the physi-
cal world, or a digital twin.
A digital twin can include any information on any thing: a product, a service, a machine
a building, a person (e.g., an athlete) or even a digital “thing” like a satellite picture.29
  It
can contain information such as the design specification, bill of material, bill of process,
ownership, service manual, warranties and even digital tokens. If connected to sensors,
it can also include important data on location, availability, status and other elements, to
enable IoT-based platform business models.
Adigitaltwinisavaluabledataassetthatcanbeusedforamultitudeofpurposes,especially
for asset-less, data-driven business models, open innovation, distributed manufacturing,
personal fabrication and to enable the circular economy, which is an alternative to the
linear “take-make-dispose” model. Blockchain is the keystone technology for a digital twin
to make all of the above concepts possible, as it would add some unique properties:
•	 Security: Data can be entirely or partially encrypted. Certain parts of the data can be
locked (i.e., restricted to use by owners of a key), while other areas can be open.
•	 Proof of authenticity: A user of a digital twin can authenticate the origin and integ-
rity of the data.
15Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
•	 Monetization: Usage can be monetized using smart contracts.
•	 Trusted history of usage: A trusted record can be established for who has used the
digital twin and for what purpose.

Spherity, a new start-up from Germany, is developing a blockchain platform called Twin
of Things.30
First use cases have been realized for large industrial companies in Germany
and beyond, including a trusted record of vehicle usage. Among other things, this would
enable a more transparent secondary market or new business models for the leasing
industry.
In an effort to decentralize and digitize all information about a car to a shared and
immutable database, immune to fraud or tampering, BigchainDB is developing a car
vehicle telemetry system called CarPass, alongside Spherity.31
The first phase of this
“machine identity” initiative registered a car’s title, prior damage, service providers,
maintenance history and inspection history to a ledger. The second phase includes
telematics and sensor data, mileage, environmental data, financial services data and
other third-party data streams.
“Our objective is to extend trust into the vehicle’s infrastructure down to the sensor
level and to distribute vehicle data with a full audit trail across the parties involved in a
car’s value chain,” says Carsten Stöcker, founder of Spherity GmbH.32
Shared visibility into a trusted ledger benefits all parties. Governments can better audit
car safety and enforce environmental laws; consumers gain transparency into the integ-
rity of parts and wear and tear, and avoid lemons; technicians can assess maintenance
history and user interactions; manufacturers and service centers can offer value-added
data services such as replacing parts before they wear out.
16 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap
Digital Systems & Technology
17Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
The top internal barriers to adopting blockchain, according to respondents, were all related to simply
understanding blockchain and the potential use cases, assessing the cost-benefits of use cases, and
communicating all of this to senior-level staff (see Figure 6). Many companies and consortia working on
blockchain use cases have not yet embraced “the art of the blockchain use case.”
Too often, the focus is on assessing the technology’s feasibility or comparing different blockchains
(e.g., Hyperledger vs. Ethereum vs. Corda/R3, and public vs. private) and developing a small proof of
concept and prototype for the use case to demonstrate how it could work. While this is an important
step in the learning process, it often takes attention away from the need to focus on platform mech-
anisms and the governance of the trust zone that would emerge from the use case. As our study
shows, most respondents are experimenting with private, or permissioned, blockchain use cases
rather than open, or public, blockchains, as companies see a bigger risk of exposing critical data and
have security concerns (see Figure 7, next page).
Regardless of whether private or public blockchain frameworks are the preferred solutions for a use
case, the business model is usually still a platform-based one that requires design and governance.
However, designing platform-based blockchain use cases requires organizations to work jointly with
ecosystem partners to design the trust zone and its governance mechanisms rather than focusing
only on the technology questions.
The Mindset Shift for Blockchain Use Cases
Developing blockchain use cases requires a mindset shift; key questions would change from, for
example, “How can I use blockchain to improve the efficiency in my supply chain operations,” to
“What is the root cause of problems in the supply chain in my industry,” or, ”What are the truths and
givens that are usually not challenged?”
In developing a blockchain use case, the following guidelines can help organizations begin to move in
the right direction:
33
Top Internal Barriers to Blockchain
Issues around use cases top the list of internal barriers named by respondents
(percent rating “high difficulty”).
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
40%
41%
43%
46%
46%
50%
51%
Understanding legal and compliance issues
Reengineering business processes
Other technology investments
are taking priority
Communicating blockchain to
key decision makers
Uncertainty around time needed to
start reaping benefits
Understanding blockchain and use cases
Evaluating cost-benefits of use cases
Figure 6
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap18
•	 Set the overall transformative purpose and goals. Companies can start the blockchain journey
by identifying problems they want to solve and quantifying the impact of solving them. The next
key question is how the unique features of blockchain can help to solve at least part of the prob-
lem. This requires a deep understanding of how cryptoeconomics work.
34
As stated above, a proven
approach is scenario planning to help ecosystem participants think outside the box and break with
existing mental models.
•	 Draw the boundaries of the ecosystem. A deep understanding of the problems to be solved will
draw a clear picture of the opportunity space and its boundaries, i.e., the key players to be included
in the trust zone.
Some specific steps are:
»» Identify new possibilities of working with new organizations, and shape a new ecosystem.
»» Consider the benefits of the new ways of collaborating and innovating in the ecosystem.
»» Determine the target ecosystem members and rules to determine who can and cannot join.
»» Determine how the ecosystem should be controlled and by whom.
•	 Assess potential risks, barriers and pitfalls. Regulatory issues are a key area for overcoming
risks and barriers. This is particularly true when cryptocurrencies and utility tokens are involved in
the use case, but even the business model setup will need to get some sort of regulatory approval.
Specialized blockchain law firms should be involved in the process.
Further risks are related to antitrust laws. The governance of the consortium would need to incor-
porate appropriate compliance and enforcement measures. This may prevent the need to go
through a public authorization process.
•	 Define rules and governance and incentive mechanisms. The main business innovation is that
rules and incentives are encoded on the blockchain. Most real-world implementations of blockchain
solutions, however, require hybrid solutions, where part of the rules and incentives are “on-chain,”
and parts are “off-chain.” These are critical design considerations in the ecosystem. Key rules to be
defined include how to share assets, IP, risks and returns, collective choice rules (e.g., defining voting
rights) and defining governance mechanisms on how to monitor compliance.
Permissioned, Private Blockchains Prevail
Respondents were asked to name the type of blockchain they planned to adopt.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
17%
39%
40%
Not sure
(Percentages do not total to 100% due to rounding.)
Private blockchain for use within
the organizational firewall
Open blockchain (public)
Permissioned blockchain
(only for trusted participants)
5%
Figure 7
19Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Another critical element is to define resolution mechanisms for disputes that require off-chain
human intervention. On-chain and off-chain incentive models will drive the right behaviors of the
participants, and hence should minimize disputes. However, disputes can still occur and will need to
be addressed in a jointly agreed-upon way (e.g., by choosing a court where they would be settled).
•	 Define requirements. The requirements definition should be exploratory, using an iterative design
process, potentially using prototyping and various blockchain technology components. The set of
requirements identified in this process should drive the decision on the platform to choose. Key
requirements considerations include:
»» Identifying business processes in scope.
»» Determining how business processes will be reconstructed on the blockchain and in smart
contracts.
»» Designing the smart contracts to automate the processes in scope and the governance
mechanism that will be on-chain.
»» Detailing how governance mechanisms and incentives will be designed as part of the solu-
tion vs. what will be done off-chain.
»» Defining security and confidentiality requirements, including the permission design in terms
of who can access which data (read/write), and who can validate data.
»» Designing the security and encryption solution (e.g., how the public/private encryption keys
will be managed, who will hold those keys, and where the keys will be held).
»» Defining scalability requirements.
»» Designing the protocols related to permissions and consensus on the blockchain.
»» Considering how smart contracts are linked to real-world contracts.
»» Figuring out how to feed data from the off-chain world through so-called “oracles.”
35
»» Considering how to achieve interoperability with other blockchains.
•	 Choose the blockchain platform and enterprise integration approach. Based on the require-
ments, the appropriate blockchain architecture should be chosen and designed, using various
technology components. Based on this, a more detailed design can be produced, based on the
features of the chosen framework. According to our study, 40% of respondents currently face
difficulties in jointly selecting the right blockchain platform with external partners.
Further, it is critical to think through how to operate and maintain a blockchain solution in the long
run; whether “blockchain as a service” (BaaS) providers should be used (as well as which providers
should be selected); and how to integrate the solution with other enterprise systems.
On-chain and off-chain incentive models will drive the right
behaviors of the participants, and hence should minimize
disputes. However, disputes can still occur and will need to be
addressed in a jointly agreed-upon way.
Digital Systems & Technology
Large software companies such as Microsoft and SAP already provide BaaS platforms to signifi-
cantly facilitate blockchain use case development and enterprise integration. For example, SAP
launched its ready-to-use blockchain technology as part of its Leonardo product line, to be fully
integrated with SAP applications. The solution also enables immutable data exchanges between
enterprise processes that may not be hosted on an SAP cloud. SAP has already piloted some prom-
ising use cases (e.g., for product and asset tracking) that leverage blockchain technologies as part
of its Asset Intelligence Network and Global Track and Trace solutions.
As many organizations trust large software providers such as SAP to run their core processes on
their software, such BaaS offerings will significantly drive blockchain adoption beyond financial
services into the corporate world. Most importantly, these offerings will significantly lower the
entry barriers of small and midsize companies to adopt blockchain, as many of these are using
standard ERP software. For example, the German SAP User Group (DSAG) alone has over 3,300
member companies and is planning to evangelize the benefits of blockchain throughout its
member base.
QUICK TAKE
GDPR: The Tipping Point of
Widespread Blockchain Adoption?
By May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union will
become enforceable. The regulation intends to give data privacy rights to the consumer,
the owner of the data, with the right to know, upon inquiry, what data an organization is
using, as well as the right “to be forgotten.”
For example, Article 15 of the regulation specifically mentions the right for individuals to
obtain meaningful information about the logic involved in certain automatic decisions
concerning them, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such
processing for that individual. Furthermore, Article 22 establishes the right of individ-
uals to not be subject to an automated decision-making process when those decisions
have “a legal effect” or “a similar, significant effect” on the individual.
While some say this new regulation is a major advancement toward data security reg-
ulation and can drive significant improvements in building customer relationships,
20 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap
streamlining IT and improving data management, others say it is not easily enforced
and will significantly slow down research and innovation on AI in Europe.
The GDPR has also generated controversy in the blockchain ecosystem. The biggest
problem is that the “right to be forgotten” is contradictory to the blockchain property
of immutable information.36
Further, blockchains run on nodes, which can reside any-
where in the world and, hence, are not compliant with the GDPR’s requirement to track
what data is leaving the boundaries of the EU.
On the other hand, blockchain does enable what the GDPR is trying to achieve: data
privacy protection. However, it does so by different means, such as data encryption
and self-owned data stewardship rather than relying on a controller, an issuer or pro-
cessor to adhere to regulations to obtain, copy, move, transmit or secure the data.
At the same time, the European Commission has initiated a project called DECODE to
explore and pilot blockchain-based technologies to enable personal data sovereignty,
giving people more control over how they store, manage and use their personal data.
Further, there are blockchain-based platforms offering GDPR compliance. For exam-
ple, LuxTrust and Cambridge Blockchain are working together to create a platform
designed to use “privacy by design” principles outlined in the GDPR to offer compa-
nies quick onboarding, consent management and compliance services for individuals,
legal entities and devices.37
Further, Guardtime, the company enabling many block-
chain-based services of the e-Residency program of the Estonian government, has
developed a solution called Volta for GDPR compliance.38
It remains to be seen how the GDPR will take effect, how enforcement will be realized
and how companies will react. It will raise the overall public awareness of data privacy
issues, also beyond the EU. The effort for companies to comply with the GDPR, as well
as the effort to enforce it, could turn out to be much more significant than envisioned.
This could create a wave of demand for blockchain-based identity solutions, which
could potentially be designed to comply with the GDPR and would require less effort
to implement/enforce.
21Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap22
Further, the GDPR could raise the public awareness of blockchain overall and trigger a
public discussion on how regulatory bodies and governments deal with data security
and identity overall and the associated cost to the taxpayer. A public opinion could
form around why governments should use blockchain solutions to deal with identity-
and personal data-related services to save costs (i.e., taxpayers’ money). The Estonian
e-Residency program, which already does this, may receive much more attention as a
“best practice.”
THE WAY FORWARD
European leaders need to embrace the potential of blockchain rather than protecting themselves
from the potential disruptions that blockchain can bring. Some guiding principles include:
•	 Adopt a blockchain mindset: Blockchain should not be seen as a technology but as a market
mechanism, a new dimension of doing business, enabling market participants to engage in trusted
value transactions and trusted information sharing, establishing new ways of collaboration with
new partners. The often stated “you can’t do everything with blockchain” is missing the point. You
can’t do everything with electricity either, yet the introduction of electricity changed everything.
The implications of blockchain will go far beyond what you can do with blockchain.
•	 Develop use cases, prototypes and MVPs: Blockchain use cases are a completely different game
compared with the “traditional” digital innovation types of use cases. On top of testing and show-
casing how the technology works, they involve working with ecosystem partners engaging in
markets or multi-party processes to unravel the truths and givens of existing market mechanisms
and institutions.
•	 Dive deeply into the problem to be solved with blockchain: This requires a blockchain design
thinking approach that goes beyond the typical design thinking activities. In addition to industry
experts, technologist and designers, it also requires people who understand economics and game
theory, legal and social science – especially when thinking about how to scale up a use case to an
industry-grade solution, i.e., “designing a market.”
•	 Develop blockchain-based business scenarios: In addition to use cases, companies should con-
sider adopting blockchain thinking in their strategy development process. This requires breaking
with the traditional mental models of how a company and an industry works. This can best be
achieved using a scenario-based planning approach, with a multi-disciplinary team engaging in a
strategic dialogue about possible future scenarios and future events that will lead to the scenarios.
Digital Systems & Technology
23Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
A FINAL NOTE
In a very short time, blockchain has escalated from a technology with narrow applications related to
cryptocurrencies, to one meriting attention from many highly respected and successful business lead-
ers. Of course, skepticism still exists, most prominently by value investor Warren Buffett and others
who still promote “castles with moats” thinking. But others, such as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd
Blankfein or Citigroup John Gerspach, are more positive. Interestingly, Fidelity Investments CEO
Abigaile Johnson, a blockchain enthusiast, recently said: “What we’ve realized is that if you only look
at this technology through the lens of the problems that exist today, you will not find many compelling
use cases – at least not that can be implemented at scale.”
39
It’s true that blockchain doesn’t fit into our current mental models and many strategic and implemen-
tation challenges remain, including scalability, latency and integration with enterprise applications.
As a result, while most large European corporations are already working on blockchain use cases, the
journey to more widespread adoption from an enterprise computing perspective could be slow. Mean-
while, other geographic regions, such as Asia-Pacific, are investing heavily into blockchain and are
quietly buying up assets and natural resources around the world.
40
Can European companies lose
their competitive edge? Are new forms of collaboration among European players required to stay
competitive? How can governments, the EU and other organizations help by setting the right policies
and standards? All of these are very difficult but important questions to answer.
On the bright side, corporate Europe is a powerhouse when it comes to know-how, infrastructure and
smart people. This asset can, however, quickly turn into a liability as Europe has a “legacy problem;”
for example, many manufacturing assets will soon be outdated and require significant investment to
be up to par in terms of efficiencies and degree of automation. Knowledge is also quickly outdated.
The root cause of the problem is probably cultural – many companies are locked into the mindsets and
ways of working that made them successful over the past 50 years. To some extent, the cultural
dogma inherent in many European companies when facing change aligns with the three somewhat
Kafkaesque arguments of the bureaucrats: “This will not work; we’ve always done it this way; if we do
this, then everybody will want it.”
With respect to blockchain thinking, these three phrases need to be turned on their head: “This will
work; we will do everything completely different now; and everybody can participate without asking.“
In a very short time, blockchain has
escalated from a technology with narrow
applications related to cryptocurrencies to
one meriting attention from many highly
respected and successful business leaders.
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap24
We conducted an online survey among 1,570 senior executives in Europe across the banking and finan-
cial services (719), manufacturing (201), retail (201), healthcare (166) and insurance (283) industries
from January through August 2017. When asked to describe their level of understanding blockchain,
26% described themselves as expert, 42% as proficient, 23% as competent and 9% as beginner or
novice.
The objectives of this research were:
•	 To understand the perspectives of senior executives on their blockchain strategy.
•	 To understand the major factors affecting the adoption of a blockchain strategy.
•	 To understand the external and internal roadblocks in adopting a blockchain strategy.
The respondents included 19% C-suite executives, 26% vice-presidents, 28% directors, 23% senior
managers and 4% managers. This primary research study was conducted across Europe. The coun-
tries covered in Europe were Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway,
Switzerland and the UK.
METHODOLOGY
25Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
FOOTNOTES
1	 For more on this topic, see Li & Fung’s three-year plan, https://threeyearplan.lifung.com/ceo-forward.html, or our white
paper, “How Blockchain Can Slash the Manufacturing ‘Trust Tax,’” https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/how-block-
chain-can-slash-the-manufacturing-trust-tax-codex2279.pdf.
2	 “Luenendonk Study 2017: Business Innovation & Transformation – Where Do Companies Stand Today?” Lunendonk, Dec. 4,
2017, http://luenendonk-shop.de/Feed-Studien-ITK-Markt/Luenendonk-Studie-2017-Business-Innovation-Tranforma-
tion-Wo-stehen-Unternehmen-heute.html.
3	 Coined and popularized by Warren Buffett, a “moat” refers to a business’s ability to maintain competitive advantage over
its competitors. In her book The End of Competitive Advantage, Rita McGrath argues that this is no longer a sustainable
approach to winning in the digital age.
4	 Jeffrey Immelt, “How I Remade GE,” Harvard Business Review, September-October 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/09/
inside-ges-transformation.
5	 R.H. Coase, “The Nature of the Firm,” 1937, http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~jsfeng/CPEC11.pdf.
6	 This is the term used by Paul Seabright, in his book The Company of Strangers, Princeton University Press, 2010, https://
www.amazon.com/Company-Strangers-Natural-History-Economic/dp/0691146462.
7	 Oliver Hart and John Moore, “Contracts as Reference Points,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 73, Issue 1, pp 1-48,
February 2008, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/hart/files/contractsasreferencepointsqje.pdf.
8	 Joe Gebbia, “How Airbnb Designs for Trust,” YouTube, February 2016, https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_gebbia_how_
airbnb_designs_for_trust.
9	 New Hampshire-based start-up Arcade City developed a ridesharing app based on Ethereum.
10	 Carlo R.W. De Meijer, “The Digital Trade Chain: The Blockchain Train Is Rolling,” Finextra, July 16, 2017, https://www.finex-
tra.com/blogposting/14296/the-digital-trade-chain-the-blockchain-train-is-rolling.
11	 “B3i Launches Working Reinsurance Prototype,” Allianz, Sept. 10, 2017, https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/commit-
ment/sponsorship/170910_B3i-launches-working-reinsurance-prototype/.
12	 “#Blockchain4EU Blockchain for Industrial Transformations,” European Commission, https://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eupolic-
ylab/portfolios/blockchain4eu/.
13	 Ibid.
14	 Massive transformative purpose is a term coined by Singularity University to refer to the motivating force behind achiev-
ing great things. For more, see Alison E. Berman, “The Motivating Power of a Massive Transformative Purpose,” Singularity
Hub, Nov. 8, 2016, https://singularityhub.com/2016/11/08/the-motivating-power-of-a-massive-transformative-purpose/.
15	 “Health Expenditure, Percent of GDP,” The World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS.
16	 “Evidence-based Medicine: A New Approach to Teaching the Practice of Medicine,” JAMA, November 1992, https://www.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1404801.
17	 Mehdi Benchoufi and Philippe Ravaud,“Blockchain Technology for Improving Clinical Research Quality,” BioMed Central,
July 19, 2017, https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13063-017-2035-z.
18	 Ben Goldacre, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients, Harper Collins, Aug. 29, 2013,
https://www.amazon.de/Bad-Pharma-companies-mislead-patients/dp/000749808X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encod-
ing=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VR5ESMYF2BY10RG9WYZK
Digital Systems & Technology
| Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap26
19	 “Open Science Monitor,” European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/index.cfm?pg=citizen&section=-
monitor .
20	 Blockchain for Science website: http://www.blockchainforscience.com/.
21	 “Decentralized Open Access and Evaluation,” Pevo, May/June 2016, https://pevo.science/files/pevo_whitepaper.pdf.
22	 OpenTrials website: https://opentrials.net.
23	 From a phone interview.
24	 Anthony Peyton, “BNP Paribas and EY Explore Private Blockchain for Treasury Operations,” Banking Technology, Oct. 17, 2017,
http://www.bankingtech.com/2017/10/bnp-paribas-and-ey-explore-private-blockchain-for-treasury-operations/.
25	 “Financial Services: Building Blockchain One Block at a Time,” Cognizant Technology Solutions, June 2017, https://www.cogni-
zant.com/whitepapers/financial-services-building-blockchain-one-block-at-a-time-codex2742.pdf.
26	 Brady Dale, “JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs Trial DLT for Equity Swaps,” Coindesk, Nov. 20, 2017, https://www.coindesk.com/
jpmorgan-goldman-sachs-and-more-complete-equity-swaps-dlt-pilot/.
27	 Klaus Schwab, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution,” World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-indus-
trial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab.
28	 “The circular economy aims to enable effective flows of materials, energy, labor and information so that natural and social
capital can be rebuilt.” From “Intelligent Assets: Unlocking the Circular Economy Potential,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Feb.
8, 2016, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications/intelligent-assets.
29	 The term digital twin was originally conceived in the manufacturing area, as a core concept for digital manufacturing as part
of the Industry 4.0 vision, to digitally simulate how machine productivity can be improved or for preventive maintenance con-
cepts.
30	 Spherity website: www.spherity.com.
31	 Carly Sheridan, “Digitizing Vehicles: The First Blockchain-Backed Car Passport,” BigchainDB blog, March 24, 2017, https://blog.
bigchaindb.com/digitizing-vehicles-the-first-blockchain-backed-car-passport-b55ead6dbc71.
32	 Carsten Stöcker, “Implementing First Industry 4.0 Use Cases with DAG Tangle: Machine Tagging for Digital Twins,“ Medium,
June 24, 2017, https://medium.com/@cstoecker/implementing-first-industry-4-0-use-cases-with-iota-dag-tangle-machine-
tagging-for-digital-twins-baf1943c499d.
33	 For more specifics on choosing the right shared ledger platform for a consortia model, also see: George Samuel Samman,
”Consortiums and Shared Ledgers: Supply Chains as a Blockchain Use Case,” LinkedIn, Dec. 28, 2016, https://www.linkedin.
com/pulse/consortiums-shared-ledgers-supply-chains-blockchain-use-samman/.
34	 For more on cryptoeconomics, see: Josh Stark, “Making Sense of Cryptoeconomics,” Coindesk, Aug. 19, 2017, https://www.
coindesk.com/making-sense-cryptoeconomics/.
35	 An oracle, in the context of blockchains and smart contracts, is an agent that finds and verifies real-world occurrences and
submits this information to a blockchain to be used by smart contracts. For more on this topic, see https://blockchainhub.net/
blockchain-oracles/.
36	 There are some technical concepts under development to enable “muting” data on a blockchain, which would have a similar
effect as “forgetting” or erasing data.
37	 “New Platform Uses Blockchain Tech to Assist GDPR Compliance,” IAPP, May 15, 2017, https://iapp.org/news/a/new-platform-
uses-blockchain-tech-to-assist-gdpr-compliance/.
38	 Meelis Vil, “Volta: A Compliance Product for GDPR,” Guardtime, Aug. 21, 2017, https://guardtime.com/blog/guardtime-an-
nounces-volta-a-compliance-product-for-gdpr.
39	 Jonathan Berr, “Bitcoin Takes Another Step toward Wider Acceptance,” MoneyWatch, Nov. 2, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/
news/bitcoin-futures-trading-step-toward-wider-acceptance/.
40	 “The Future of Blockchain in Asia Pacific,” Cognizant Technology Solutions, https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/the-fu-
ture-of-blockchain-in-asia-pacific-codex3240.pdf.
Burkhard Blechschmidt leads Digital Transformation at Cognizant
Consulting in Germany with a focus on business/IT strategy, dig-
ital transformation and blockchain innovation. He has led major
global business transformation and strategy initiatives for Fortune
500 companies across industries, with a focus on manufacturing,
utilities and telcos. Burkhard has authored multiple publications
on blockchain in manufacturing and is a frequent speaker at
conferences. He is an expert advisor on blockchain to the Euro-
pean Commission and to the United Nations’ ITU on Application
of Distributed Ledger Technologies. Burkhard can be reached at
burkhard.blechschmidt@cognizant.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Burkhard
Blechschmidt
Senior Director, Digital
Transformation,
Cognizant Consulting
The author would like to thank Fletcher McCraw, Partnerships and Alliance Lead in Cognizant’s Block-
chain & Distributed Ledger Technology Practice, Alan Alper, Cognizant’s Editorial Director, and Anand
Chandramouli, Director of Primary Research, for their assistance in creating this report, as well as
Cognizant research analysts Akhil Tandulwadikar, Vinaya Kumar Mylavarapu and Sanjay Fuloria, for their
insightful contributions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
27Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap |
Digital Systems & Technology
© Copyright 2018, Cognizant. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission from Cognizant. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. All
other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
Codex 3320
World Headquarters
500 Frank W. Burr Blvd.
Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA
Phone: +1 201 801 0233
Fax: +1 201 801 0243
Toll Free: +1 888 937 3277
European Headquarters
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London W2 6BD England
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7297 7600
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Phone: +91 (0) 44 4209 6000
Fax: +91 (0) 44 4209 6060
ABOUT COGNIZANT CONSULTING
With over 5,500 consultants worldwide, Cognizant Consulting offers high-value digital business and IT consulting services that improve
business performance and operational productivity while lowering operational costs. Clients leverage our deep industry experience, strat-
egy and transformation capabilities, and analytical insights to help improve productivity, drive business transformation and increase
shareholder value across the enterprise. To learn more, please visit www.cognizant.com/consulting or e-mail us at inquiry@cognizant.com.
ABOUT COGNIZANT’S BLOCKCHAIN AND DISTRIBUTED LEDGER PRACTICE
Cognizant’s Blockchain and Distributed Technologies Practice offers advisory, consulting and blockchain implementation services to organi-
zations across industries. We uniquely bring together deep industry experience, extensive blockchain technical expertise, and intimate
knowledge of the enterprise IT environment to guide our clients’ journeys from prototype and pilot through production. Our collaboration
with the industry’s leading lights, combined with hands-on expertise with both open source and proprietary frameworks, gives us the busi-
ness and technological capabilities to assist organizations industry-wide in their efforts to make blockchain a value-yielding and dependable
shared infrastructure solution across the extended enterprise. For more information, please visit www.cognizant.com/blockchain.
ABOUT COGNIZANT
Cognizant (NASDAQ-100: CTSH) is one of the world’s leading professional services companies, transforming clients’ business, operating and
technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run more innova-
tive and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant is ranked 230 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the
most admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com or follow us @Cognizant.

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Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap

  • 1. Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap Business leaders in Europe are fully aware of the potential introduced by blockchain, according to our recent research. To fully harness blockchain possibilities, however, they need to break through old mental models of company boundaries and markets, and grasp how blockchain could truly change the game by shifting entrenched views of institutional power. DIGITAL SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY COGNIZANT REPORTS January 2018
  • 2. 2 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap Digital Systems & Technology EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The breakthrough impact of blockchain on business has roiled industries throughout the world. From financial services, to manufacturing, to insurance, the distributed ledger technology underlying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is poised to fundamentally redesign value chains, unlock our dependence on trusted intermediaries and forever alter our understanding of the function and role of institutions and markets. The opportunities and disruptions of blockchain have now reached the executive floor of European corporates, with business decision makers fully aware of the technology’s major impact on their processes and industry. In our recent global study of organizations throughout the world and their attitudes and progress toward blockchain, however, European business decision-makers appear to be more conservative than those in other regions relative to judging the significance of blockchain (see study methodology, page 24, and the blockchain section of our website for more on our study findings across industries and in Asia-Pacific). While European companies have identified breakthrough ideas on how blockchain could solve some of the most pressing problems in business and society today, according to our study, there is a huge gap in their progress toward turning those ideas into reality, particularly from a strategic viewpoint. Job one for business leaders in Europe is to break through their old mental models of company boundaries, markets, business models and competition, and begin opening their minds to how blockchain could truly change the game by shifting entrenched views of institutional power. In other words, businesses need to look at the rules shaping their industry or company, as well as their habitualized practices of executing business processes that can be disrupted by blockchain. They need to dismantle old conceptions of using or valuing products, services and assets – and the purpose and value of institutions themselves.
  • 3. 3Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology Job one for business leaders in Europe is to break through their old mental models of company boundaries, markets, business models and competition, and begin opening their minds to how blockchain could truly change the game by shifting entrenched views of institutional power.
  • 4. Digital Systems & Technology | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap4 Key insights from our study, which surveyed 1,570 business decision makers in Europe, include the following: • Blockchain strategies are being created but must evolve. An overwhelming majority of respon- dents in Europe have either already defined (50%) their blockchain strategy or are in the process of doing so (47%). At the same time, however, blockchain is being treated like any other technol- ogy innovation rather than for its breakthrough potential. • Competitive advantage is a top driver for adopting blockchain, with 70% of respondents indi- cating that competitive differentiation is a major factor for pursuing blockchain initiatives. In order to truly harness blockchain as way to reinvent business, however, businesses need to move past traditional ideas of competition and markets and see blockchain’s key features – privacy, security, immutability, transparency, reliability, process integrity – as design elements for a whole new way of doing business that disrupts institutional power and invites open participation and collaboration. • Traditional business opportunities are being pursued. The top business opportunities named by respondents include the creation of new service lines (62%), customer segments (60%) and mar- kets (58%). Fewer respondents, however, recognize the further reaching capability of blockchain to open up their internal assets to extract greater value, integrate themselves more directly into a network of business (i.e., by putting smart contracts on the blockchain), enable more customer autonomy or create and securely share “digital twins” and digital product memories to establish entirely new levels of transparency (see Quick Take, page 15). • Interest in collaboration is limited, with only 2% of respondents saying they planned to join a consortium of start-ups and competitors as part of their blockchain pursuit. Most companies are working on blockchain opportunities internally, with only a few collaborating with external stake- holders or joining consortiums. This desire to drive their own blockchain agenda exemplifies the problem of older, legacy-based thinking. Businesses need to move past traditional ideas of competition and markets and see blockchain’s key features – privacy, security, immutability, transparency, reliability, process integrity – as design elements for a whole new way of doing business that disrupts institutional power and invites open participation and collaboration.
  • 5. 5Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | THE BLOCKCHAIN STRATEGY GAP There is no doubt that European business decision-makers see blockchain as a strategic imperative, with 83% of respondents expecting blockchain to have an important or very important impact on their industry, and most respondents (97%) claiming to have a blockchain strategy. Respondents’ blockchain strategies, furthermore, comprise the familiar elements of many digital initiatives today: identifying use cases and developing prototypes and minimal viable products (MVP), following an agile innovation process, mostly in a lab environment. This has led to an abundance of use cases addressing various, sometimes very significant, known problems in the areas of international pay- ments, trade finance, insurance, supply chain, healthcare and taxes, among others. For these businesses, however, blockchain is primarily being pursued in the same way that previous technology innovations have: as a new way of doing old things. Consider, for example, that nearly half of respondents (49%) said blockchain would add to current operating models, without drastically changing them (see Figure 1). However, in a blockchain-driven world, this response indicates a mindset locked in the past. Unlike most technology innovations before it, blockchain is an institutional innova- tion. As such, it is about open participation, collaboration and disrupting institutional power – not conducting business as usual. Additionally, many companies (70% of respondents) consider competitive advantage to be a top ben- efit of blockchain (see Figure 2, next page). Blockchain, however, challenges traditional notions of competitive advantage in ways that many businesses may not be prepared to embrace. For example, if a company’s competitive advantage lies in its ability to run a particular process very efficiently (e.g., Li & Fung’s orchestration of global supply chains), 1 and if these processes could now be run on a “self-organizing” open blockchain protocol, then the entire business model of that company would have to change dramatically. Unlike most technology innovations before it, blockchain is an institutional innovation. As such, it is about open participation, collaboration and disrupting institutional power – not conducting business as usual. Expected Impact of Blockchain Respondents were asked how blockchain would impact their current operating models. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1% 2% 15% 33% 49% Not sure Blockchain will not fuel new operating models It will open our business to more open participation by other partners/ customers It will replace current operating models with entirely new models It will add to current operating models without drastically changing them Figure 1
  • 6. Digital Systems & Technology | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap6 The fundamental question is, what would the competitive advantage be for companies effectively using blockchain solutions at scale in the future? It takes entrepreneurial courage to ask that question – and most companies are looking away, just as many European businesses are underplaying the impact of the digital revolution on their companies (as found in our recent survey). 2 Companies are more apt to ask questions such as, “What’s the business case?” or, specifically, “How can I use blockchain technology to cut costs or drive growth in my existing business?” After all, with- out a business case, there will be no funding. This, however, is where things usually get stuck. The fact is, with blockchain, businesses can no longer pursue competitive advantage by building a castle, putting a moat around it and defending it to the death, as Columbia Business School Professor Rita Gunther McGrath explains in her book The End of Competitive Advantage. 3 The reason this type of thinking is still predominant with most businesses today is that company success is measured by stock performance, which is assessed by the investor community; for value investors such as Warren Buffet, a “moat” is a highly desirable element when making an investment decision and protects a company from its competition over a long period of time (e.g., 10 years). Blockchain, however, doesn’t strengthen the moat or solve problems for individual companies; instead, it addresses problems at the market level. Rather than a castle and moat mindset, in fact, businesses should view blockchain as the opposite of an exterior fortification, as it will ultimately open up the inside of a company 4 and establish what we call a “trust zone” that goes well beyond traditional com- pany boundaries (see Quick Take, next page). This is because the technology allows the tracking and recording of assets and transactions without the presence of a central trust authority, and creates an immutable record of ownership. Complex algorithms drive consensus among users, ensuring that transaction data cannot be tampered with after verification. Only 15% of respondents, however, see blockchain opening the business to more open participation by other partners and customers. Top Drivers for Pursuing Blockchain Competitive advantage is a top driver for pursuing blockchain intitiatives. (Percent of respondents naming each driver as a major factor for pursuing blockchain.) 16% 35% 56% 70% 72% Because other players can disrupt our business model using blockchain-based models Competition We usually test new technologies To use a blockchain as differentiator to gain competitive advantage Perceived benefits of blockchain 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 70%60%50% Note: Multiple responses allowed. Figure 2
  • 7. QUICK TAKE The Trust Zone The way companies conduct business and behave as organizations is driven by markets and competition. This has been very successful, especially in countries where markets are governed by effective institutions. (Markets and competition don’t work well in coun- tries with weak institutions or rampant corruption). This reality drives the reason why companies exist. Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize winner in economics, has described this in his work “The Nature of the Firm.”5 In short, work inside the walls of a company can be organized effectively because people can trust each other. Think of it as operating in a “trust zone.” Outside the walls of the company, i.e., outside of the trust zone, there is less or no trust. That’s why here, trust is established through contracts and institutions (banks, govern- ments, lawyers, insurances, intermediaries). Such trust comes at a cost, which we call the “trust tax.” (For more on this topic, see our white paper “How Blockchain Can Slash the Manufacturing ’Trust Tax.”) The trust tax, for example, is a severe problem in global supply chains, where a great deal of liquidity in terms of debt is tied up, and the cost of debt is driven by credit scores in favor of trusted large corporations. The trust tax inherent in the cost of debt raises the barriers to entry for global supply chains, crowding out many companies that are less trusted by current institutions – with a huge impact on global economic growth. Because blockchain establishes trust among market players that don’t trust or know each other, it reduces risk and establishes a trust zone that extends beyond the walls of a company, covering whole markets or industries. The new blockchain-enabled trust zone is like “a company of strangers,” with no authority in charge.6 7Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology
  • 8. The Role of Smart Contracts Furthermore, the contracts used to establish trust between businesses and/or consum- ers are often complex, long term and incomplete, serving more as a reference point than a detailed map.7 The availability of data – e.g., through IoT and sensor data, combined with blockchain technologies – can be used to design trust into these contractual rela- tionships through mechanisms such as smart contracts, dramatically slashing the trust tax. However, this approach cannot fully automate or replace some of the fuzziness that is required in contracts to incentivize the right long-term behaviors of the parties in a contractual relationship. That’s why blockchain-based business models usually require some “off-chain” governance and cannot be operated as a pure “decentralized autono- mous organization” (DAO). A good way to exemplify a trust zone is Airbnb. As Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, explains in his TED Talk, the company uses design to build trust between hosts and guests.8 In this case, however, the trust tax is collected by Airbnb, while in a true peer- to-peer blockchain-based trust zone, there is no intermediary, and the hosts and guests would keep the trust tax. It’s feasible to consider the development of blockchain-based platforms arising to com- petewithAirbnb–already,adecentralized,peer-to-peerblockchain-basedcompetitorhas emerged for Uber.9 However, contracts between hosts and guests on a blockchain-based version of Airbnb are also incomplete, as not all aspects of dispute resolution could be handled on the platform. Also, there is limited proof of authenticity of the reputational data on Airbnb. Hence, Airbnb could also not operate as a DAO. 8 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap Digital Systems & Technology
  • 9. 9Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology BREAKING DOWN OLD MODELS AND INVENTING NEW ONES The open ecosystem approach required by blockchain will require a dramatic mindset shift, including the need to collaborate with external partners in a way that few traditional businesses have done before. As reflected in our study, most companies work on blockchain opportunities internally, with less than one-third of respondents reporting that they have started to work with external stakehold- ers, such as industry partners or competitors (see Figure 3). At the same time, multiple industry consortia have been formed in Europe to collaborate on use cases. One example is the European Digital Trade Chain project, founded by a consortium of banks to build a blockchain-based platform for trade finance, to address the liquidity problem in global supply chains and enable small- and medium-size companies to have better access to European markets. 10 (For more on this topic, see our series “How Blockchain Can Revitalize Trade Finance.”) Another example is B3i, a consortium of European insurers working to apply distributed ledger technology to improve back-of- fice efficiencies. 11 However, insiders report that progress has been slow in some consortia, as many participants want to drive their own agenda. Adopting a collaborative approach will be a challenge for most companies. Business leaders need to get comfortable with the idea of platform-based business models, the industrial sharing economy (e.g., sharing assets, resources and knowledge), data-driven business models and placing more trust in security and cryptography. This mindset shift can be achieved by engaging business and IT leaders in jointly learning and collab- orating, using a design thinking-based innovation process to get some hands-on experience in how blockchain technology can address a well-defined, substantial and real business problem in an ecosys- tem or market. For example, the European Commission is doing this in its #Blockchain4EU initiative, whose stated mission is to identify, discuss and communicate possible blockchain uses and impacts, mainly through stakeholder engagement and co-creation workshops 12 to influence policy making in the European Union. Internal Partners Pursued over External Partners Respondents were asked to indicate the current status of their blockchain efforts with regards to key stakeholders/partners (percent saying they had already completed the task). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 21% 28% 32% 49% 50% Working with other industry partners/competitors Working with external partners Identifying external partners Identifying internal stakeholders/partners Working with stakeholders Multiple responses allowed. Figure 3
  • 10. | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap10 As the European Commission says, “it is crucial to understand which actions can or will be necessary to prepare for the potential transformations and possible disruptions brought by them to existing or future EU sociotechnical landscapes.“ 13 Currently, the initiative includes five prototypes: supply chains, authentication and certification, intellectual property, energy and advanced manufacturing. Discovering a Purpose for Blockchain Another challenge is to uncover these systemic problems and the “massive transformative purpose” 14 behind solving them, and to design a market, platform or trust zone addressing the problem (see Quick Take, next page). Many blockchain use cases or start-ups are lacking this razor-sharp focus on identifying a specific problem to be solved and assessing the wider implications. Many start-ups, for example, have ideas that “sound great” or claim to address a huge global problem, but they lack spec- ificity on the problem to be solved and a deep understanding of the market and incentive mechanisms, including areas of competition for the market players and where they collaborate and why. In our study, respondents said a top challenge of working with external partners and stakeholders was iden- tifying and finalizing the purpose for blockchain, in the form of use cases (see Figure 4). Many start-ups have ideas that “sound great” or claim to address a huge global problem, but they lack specificity on the problem to be solved and a deep understanding of the market and incentive mechanisms, including areas of competition for the market players and where they collaborate and why. Top Challenges of Working with Partners on Blockchain Respondents were asked to rate the following challenges of working with partners on blockchain (percent rating “high difficulty”). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 39% 40% 40% 41% 47% 50% Agreeing to a shared data model between parties for use in the blockchain Choosing which blockchain platform to work on Developing monetization approaches Convincing partners to share experiment data Establishing connectivity with partner systems Identifying and finalizing blockchain use cases Figure 4
  • 11. QUICK TAKE Blockchain-based Solutions to Entrenched Problems in Healthcare The healthcare industry offers many opportunities for resolving substantial, systemic problems. Globally, spending on healthcare is at about 10% of the global GDP even as chronic disease continues to rise and elderly populations grow.15 The challenge of reduc- ing costs and improving outcomes is bedeviled by a highly regulated environment and conflicting interests of various stakeholder groups, including pharmaceuticals com- panies, health insurers, practitioners, patients and researchers. With these diverging interests, there is a significant lack of transparency in the system, which – combined with increased patient empowerment – has led the call for evidence-based medicine and better measured outcomes.16 With their key characteristics of immutability of information, transparency and open par- ticipation, blockchain-based trust zones could help provide such proof of evidence. While many blockchain projects deal with such areas as clinical trials,17 many other questions remain, such as an understanding of the incentives that drive particular research projects, and whether these motivations stem from a desire to improve health or make money on expensive therapies. A lack of transparency, openness and neutrality in this area of health- care often leads to “sponsored content” supporting the most profitable therapeutic areas.18 These and other issues have led to initiatives like citizen science and open science,19 which focus on open participation, collaboration, transparency and sharing of research assets and knowledge, all of which are key design elements of a trust zone that could be established through blockchain thinking and distributed ledger technology. In Berlin, a key blockchain hub in Europe, the think tank Blockchain for Science is exploring how blockchain can be used as a platform for open science.20 Other projects are address- ing the need for more transparency in medical research publications, such as PEvO21 and Blockchain for Independent and Transparent Science (BITS)’s Project Zille, which is intro- ducing a “transparency token” on blockchain as a tokenized proof of neutrality to the market of scientific research publishing, with a vision to take the ideas of OpenTrials22 on the blockchain. According to Professor Tim Niehues, pediatrician and clinical immu- nologist at Children’s Hospital Krefeld, Germany, if this is widely adopted, it will have “a massive impact on global healthcare budgets and the value of science for humanity.”23 11Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology
  • 12. Rather than focusing on the existing business, companies should envision scenarios of how blockchain will change global value chains, markets and institutions and derive the potential longer term fundamental change on their operations. 12 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap Digital Systems & Technology
  • 13. 13Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology To make progress on identifying blockchain use cases and strategies, European businesses will need to overcome years of entrenched individual and collective conventional wisdom. Rather than focusing on the existing business, companies should envision scenarios of how blockchain will change global value chains, markets and institutions and derive the potential longer term fundamental change on their operations. They can do this by using a scenario-based planning approach, sometimes called “future mapping”: thinking about the future as if it has already happened and considering the major possible future events that could lead to these futures. This approach can help companies and their ecosystem part- ners develop a scenario-based blockchain strategy in the context of possible futures, especially with respect to ecosystems, platforms and how blockchain technologies could enable these and create new market opportunities and address significant problems to be solved. The outcome of such a scenar- io-based blockchain strategy should be a prioritized list of use cases. DEVELOPING A BLOCKCHAIN USE CASE AND PROTOTYPE Many companies in Europe are already working on various blockchain use cases in a wide range of areas, with the greatest emphasis on operations, finance and IT (see Figure 5). Compared with their counterparts in the U.S., European businesses report an overall lower impact of blockchain on busi- ness functions overall, with a marked disparity in the areas of supply chain and procurement. Blockchain’s Functional Impact Respondents were asked to rate the impact of blockchain on key business functions (percent rating “high impact”). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% U.S. Europe 43% 43% 45% 47% 48% 49% Customer service Supply chain Marketing Finance HR 45%Data management 50%IT Operations 44%Procurement Figure 5
  • 14. Digital Systems & Technology | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap14 From our observations, both supply chain and procurement will be highly impacted, however, particu- larly with some of the most appealing early-stage blockchain use cases in Europe being in the following areas: • Digital twin/asset tracking (see Quick Take, next page). • 3-D printing. • Electrical vehicle charging/digital wallet on a car. • Supply chain finance. • Decentralized data exchange protocol/data marketplace. • Shared services organizations. • Pooled inventory management. • Legal contract execution. • Medical science/clinical trials. • Internet of Things (IoT) • Content curation. • Reputation. • Blockchain platform interoperability. The financial services sector is still the most advanced when it comes to putting blockchain solutions into practice. Most large European banks are field-testing blockchain solutions in various areas, includ- ing BNP Paribas, which has already processed some live payments on blockchain and is testing international treasury operations to improve internal cash management efficiency between busi- nesses.24 This solution improved the bank’s interoperability of its legacy systems by using software robots and application programming interfaces (API) to integrate a private blockchain with the exist- ing IT environment. The list of attractive use cases for banks is long, including international payments, interbank settle- ments, smart bonds, equity issuance, OTC derivatives and mortgage lending.25 Banks are also currently the most advanced in adopting collaborative approaches to blockchain use cases. One recent example includes the multi-firm implementation of equity swaps on blockchain, with the participation of BNP Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and industry ser- vice providers IHS Markit and Thomson Reuters.26 (For more information on the use of blockchain among financial services organizations, see our report “Financial Services: Building Blockchain One Block at a Time.”)
  • 15. 15Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology QUICK TAKE Digital Twins : Sharing Information in a Trusted Way The IoT, the Fourth Industrial Revolution,27 cyber-physical systems and the circular econ- omy28 are all ideas that will significantly shape the future of our economy – with significant impact on manufacturing companies, but also for telcos, logistics companies, banks, insur- ers and leasing companies to offer pay-per-use models, micro-transactions, etc. The fundamental concept underlying all these ideas is an open network for sharing trusted information and value among players that don’t necessarily know or trust each other. A key element of the information share is the digital representation of the physi- cal world, or a digital twin. A digital twin can include any information on any thing: a product, a service, a machine a building, a person (e.g., an athlete) or even a digital “thing” like a satellite picture.29   It can contain information such as the design specification, bill of material, bill of process, ownership, service manual, warranties and even digital tokens. If connected to sensors, it can also include important data on location, availability, status and other elements, to enable IoT-based platform business models. Adigitaltwinisavaluabledataassetthatcanbeusedforamultitudeofpurposes,especially for asset-less, data-driven business models, open innovation, distributed manufacturing, personal fabrication and to enable the circular economy, which is an alternative to the linear “take-make-dispose” model. Blockchain is the keystone technology for a digital twin to make all of the above concepts possible, as it would add some unique properties: • Security: Data can be entirely or partially encrypted. Certain parts of the data can be locked (i.e., restricted to use by owners of a key), while other areas can be open. • Proof of authenticity: A user of a digital twin can authenticate the origin and integ- rity of the data. 15Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology
  • 16. • Monetization: Usage can be monetized using smart contracts. • Trusted history of usage: A trusted record can be established for who has used the digital twin and for what purpose.
 Spherity, a new start-up from Germany, is developing a blockchain platform called Twin of Things.30 First use cases have been realized for large industrial companies in Germany and beyond, including a trusted record of vehicle usage. Among other things, this would enable a more transparent secondary market or new business models for the leasing industry. In an effort to decentralize and digitize all information about a car to a shared and immutable database, immune to fraud or tampering, BigchainDB is developing a car vehicle telemetry system called CarPass, alongside Spherity.31 The first phase of this “machine identity” initiative registered a car’s title, prior damage, service providers, maintenance history and inspection history to a ledger. The second phase includes telematics and sensor data, mileage, environmental data, financial services data and other third-party data streams. “Our objective is to extend trust into the vehicle’s infrastructure down to the sensor level and to distribute vehicle data with a full audit trail across the parties involved in a car’s value chain,” says Carsten Stöcker, founder of Spherity GmbH.32 Shared visibility into a trusted ledger benefits all parties. Governments can better audit car safety and enforce environmental laws; consumers gain transparency into the integ- rity of parts and wear and tear, and avoid lemons; technicians can assess maintenance history and user interactions; manufacturers and service centers can offer value-added data services such as replacing parts before they wear out. 16 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap Digital Systems & Technology
  • 17. 17Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology The top internal barriers to adopting blockchain, according to respondents, were all related to simply understanding blockchain and the potential use cases, assessing the cost-benefits of use cases, and communicating all of this to senior-level staff (see Figure 6). Many companies and consortia working on blockchain use cases have not yet embraced “the art of the blockchain use case.” Too often, the focus is on assessing the technology’s feasibility or comparing different blockchains (e.g., Hyperledger vs. Ethereum vs. Corda/R3, and public vs. private) and developing a small proof of concept and prototype for the use case to demonstrate how it could work. While this is an important step in the learning process, it often takes attention away from the need to focus on platform mech- anisms and the governance of the trust zone that would emerge from the use case. As our study shows, most respondents are experimenting with private, or permissioned, blockchain use cases rather than open, or public, blockchains, as companies see a bigger risk of exposing critical data and have security concerns (see Figure 7, next page). Regardless of whether private or public blockchain frameworks are the preferred solutions for a use case, the business model is usually still a platform-based one that requires design and governance. However, designing platform-based blockchain use cases requires organizations to work jointly with ecosystem partners to design the trust zone and its governance mechanisms rather than focusing only on the technology questions. The Mindset Shift for Blockchain Use Cases Developing blockchain use cases requires a mindset shift; key questions would change from, for example, “How can I use blockchain to improve the efficiency in my supply chain operations,” to “What is the root cause of problems in the supply chain in my industry,” or, ”What are the truths and givens that are usually not challenged?” In developing a blockchain use case, the following guidelines can help organizations begin to move in the right direction: 33 Top Internal Barriers to Blockchain Issues around use cases top the list of internal barriers named by respondents (percent rating “high difficulty”). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 40% 41% 43% 46% 46% 50% 51% Understanding legal and compliance issues Reengineering business processes Other technology investments are taking priority Communicating blockchain to key decision makers Uncertainty around time needed to start reaping benefits Understanding blockchain and use cases Evaluating cost-benefits of use cases Figure 6
  • 18. Digital Systems & Technology | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap18 • Set the overall transformative purpose and goals. Companies can start the blockchain journey by identifying problems they want to solve and quantifying the impact of solving them. The next key question is how the unique features of blockchain can help to solve at least part of the prob- lem. This requires a deep understanding of how cryptoeconomics work. 34 As stated above, a proven approach is scenario planning to help ecosystem participants think outside the box and break with existing mental models. • Draw the boundaries of the ecosystem. A deep understanding of the problems to be solved will draw a clear picture of the opportunity space and its boundaries, i.e., the key players to be included in the trust zone. Some specific steps are: »» Identify new possibilities of working with new organizations, and shape a new ecosystem. »» Consider the benefits of the new ways of collaborating and innovating in the ecosystem. »» Determine the target ecosystem members and rules to determine who can and cannot join. »» Determine how the ecosystem should be controlled and by whom. • Assess potential risks, barriers and pitfalls. Regulatory issues are a key area for overcoming risks and barriers. This is particularly true when cryptocurrencies and utility tokens are involved in the use case, but even the business model setup will need to get some sort of regulatory approval. Specialized blockchain law firms should be involved in the process. Further risks are related to antitrust laws. The governance of the consortium would need to incor- porate appropriate compliance and enforcement measures. This may prevent the need to go through a public authorization process. • Define rules and governance and incentive mechanisms. The main business innovation is that rules and incentives are encoded on the blockchain. Most real-world implementations of blockchain solutions, however, require hybrid solutions, where part of the rules and incentives are “on-chain,” and parts are “off-chain.” These are critical design considerations in the ecosystem. Key rules to be defined include how to share assets, IP, risks and returns, collective choice rules (e.g., defining voting rights) and defining governance mechanisms on how to monitor compliance. Permissioned, Private Blockchains Prevail Respondents were asked to name the type of blockchain they planned to adopt. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 17% 39% 40% Not sure (Percentages do not total to 100% due to rounding.) Private blockchain for use within the organizational firewall Open blockchain (public) Permissioned blockchain (only for trusted participants) 5% Figure 7
  • 19. 19Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Another critical element is to define resolution mechanisms for disputes that require off-chain human intervention. On-chain and off-chain incentive models will drive the right behaviors of the participants, and hence should minimize disputes. However, disputes can still occur and will need to be addressed in a jointly agreed-upon way (e.g., by choosing a court where they would be settled). • Define requirements. The requirements definition should be exploratory, using an iterative design process, potentially using prototyping and various blockchain technology components. The set of requirements identified in this process should drive the decision on the platform to choose. Key requirements considerations include: »» Identifying business processes in scope. »» Determining how business processes will be reconstructed on the blockchain and in smart contracts. »» Designing the smart contracts to automate the processes in scope and the governance mechanism that will be on-chain. »» Detailing how governance mechanisms and incentives will be designed as part of the solu- tion vs. what will be done off-chain. »» Defining security and confidentiality requirements, including the permission design in terms of who can access which data (read/write), and who can validate data. »» Designing the security and encryption solution (e.g., how the public/private encryption keys will be managed, who will hold those keys, and where the keys will be held). »» Defining scalability requirements. »» Designing the protocols related to permissions and consensus on the blockchain. »» Considering how smart contracts are linked to real-world contracts. »» Figuring out how to feed data from the off-chain world through so-called “oracles.” 35 »» Considering how to achieve interoperability with other blockchains. • Choose the blockchain platform and enterprise integration approach. Based on the require- ments, the appropriate blockchain architecture should be chosen and designed, using various technology components. Based on this, a more detailed design can be produced, based on the features of the chosen framework. According to our study, 40% of respondents currently face difficulties in jointly selecting the right blockchain platform with external partners. Further, it is critical to think through how to operate and maintain a blockchain solution in the long run; whether “blockchain as a service” (BaaS) providers should be used (as well as which providers should be selected); and how to integrate the solution with other enterprise systems. On-chain and off-chain incentive models will drive the right behaviors of the participants, and hence should minimize disputes. However, disputes can still occur and will need to be addressed in a jointly agreed-upon way.
  • 20. Digital Systems & Technology Large software companies such as Microsoft and SAP already provide BaaS platforms to signifi- cantly facilitate blockchain use case development and enterprise integration. For example, SAP launched its ready-to-use blockchain technology as part of its Leonardo product line, to be fully integrated with SAP applications. The solution also enables immutable data exchanges between enterprise processes that may not be hosted on an SAP cloud. SAP has already piloted some prom- ising use cases (e.g., for product and asset tracking) that leverage blockchain technologies as part of its Asset Intelligence Network and Global Track and Trace solutions. As many organizations trust large software providers such as SAP to run their core processes on their software, such BaaS offerings will significantly drive blockchain adoption beyond financial services into the corporate world. Most importantly, these offerings will significantly lower the entry barriers of small and midsize companies to adopt blockchain, as many of these are using standard ERP software. For example, the German SAP User Group (DSAG) alone has over 3,300 member companies and is planning to evangelize the benefits of blockchain throughout its member base. QUICK TAKE GDPR: The Tipping Point of Widespread Blockchain Adoption? By May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union will become enforceable. The regulation intends to give data privacy rights to the consumer, the owner of the data, with the right to know, upon inquiry, what data an organization is using, as well as the right “to be forgotten.” For example, Article 15 of the regulation specifically mentions the right for individuals to obtain meaningful information about the logic involved in certain automatic decisions concerning them, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for that individual. Furthermore, Article 22 establishes the right of individ- uals to not be subject to an automated decision-making process when those decisions have “a legal effect” or “a similar, significant effect” on the individual. While some say this new regulation is a major advancement toward data security reg- ulation and can drive significant improvements in building customer relationships, 20 | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap
  • 21. streamlining IT and improving data management, others say it is not easily enforced and will significantly slow down research and innovation on AI in Europe. The GDPR has also generated controversy in the blockchain ecosystem. The biggest problem is that the “right to be forgotten” is contradictory to the blockchain property of immutable information.36 Further, blockchains run on nodes, which can reside any- where in the world and, hence, are not compliant with the GDPR’s requirement to track what data is leaving the boundaries of the EU. On the other hand, blockchain does enable what the GDPR is trying to achieve: data privacy protection. However, it does so by different means, such as data encryption and self-owned data stewardship rather than relying on a controller, an issuer or pro- cessor to adhere to regulations to obtain, copy, move, transmit or secure the data. At the same time, the European Commission has initiated a project called DECODE to explore and pilot blockchain-based technologies to enable personal data sovereignty, giving people more control over how they store, manage and use their personal data. Further, there are blockchain-based platforms offering GDPR compliance. For exam- ple, LuxTrust and Cambridge Blockchain are working together to create a platform designed to use “privacy by design” principles outlined in the GDPR to offer compa- nies quick onboarding, consent management and compliance services for individuals, legal entities and devices.37 Further, Guardtime, the company enabling many block- chain-based services of the e-Residency program of the Estonian government, has developed a solution called Volta for GDPR compliance.38 It remains to be seen how the GDPR will take effect, how enforcement will be realized and how companies will react. It will raise the overall public awareness of data privacy issues, also beyond the EU. The effort for companies to comply with the GDPR, as well as the effort to enforce it, could turn out to be much more significant than envisioned. This could create a wave of demand for blockchain-based identity solutions, which could potentially be designed to comply with the GDPR and would require less effort to implement/enforce. 21Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology
  • 22. | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap22 Further, the GDPR could raise the public awareness of blockchain overall and trigger a public discussion on how regulatory bodies and governments deal with data security and identity overall and the associated cost to the taxpayer. A public opinion could form around why governments should use blockchain solutions to deal with identity- and personal data-related services to save costs (i.e., taxpayers’ money). The Estonian e-Residency program, which already does this, may receive much more attention as a “best practice.” THE WAY FORWARD European leaders need to embrace the potential of blockchain rather than protecting themselves from the potential disruptions that blockchain can bring. Some guiding principles include: • Adopt a blockchain mindset: Blockchain should not be seen as a technology but as a market mechanism, a new dimension of doing business, enabling market participants to engage in trusted value transactions and trusted information sharing, establishing new ways of collaboration with new partners. The often stated “you can’t do everything with blockchain” is missing the point. You can’t do everything with electricity either, yet the introduction of electricity changed everything. The implications of blockchain will go far beyond what you can do with blockchain. • Develop use cases, prototypes and MVPs: Blockchain use cases are a completely different game compared with the “traditional” digital innovation types of use cases. On top of testing and show- casing how the technology works, they involve working with ecosystem partners engaging in markets or multi-party processes to unravel the truths and givens of existing market mechanisms and institutions. • Dive deeply into the problem to be solved with blockchain: This requires a blockchain design thinking approach that goes beyond the typical design thinking activities. In addition to industry experts, technologist and designers, it also requires people who understand economics and game theory, legal and social science – especially when thinking about how to scale up a use case to an industry-grade solution, i.e., “designing a market.” • Develop blockchain-based business scenarios: In addition to use cases, companies should con- sider adopting blockchain thinking in their strategy development process. This requires breaking with the traditional mental models of how a company and an industry works. This can best be achieved using a scenario-based planning approach, with a multi-disciplinary team engaging in a strategic dialogue about possible future scenarios and future events that will lead to the scenarios. Digital Systems & Technology
  • 23. 23Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology A FINAL NOTE In a very short time, blockchain has escalated from a technology with narrow applications related to cryptocurrencies, to one meriting attention from many highly respected and successful business lead- ers. Of course, skepticism still exists, most prominently by value investor Warren Buffett and others who still promote “castles with moats” thinking. But others, such as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein or Citigroup John Gerspach, are more positive. Interestingly, Fidelity Investments CEO Abigaile Johnson, a blockchain enthusiast, recently said: “What we’ve realized is that if you only look at this technology through the lens of the problems that exist today, you will not find many compelling use cases – at least not that can be implemented at scale.” 39 It’s true that blockchain doesn’t fit into our current mental models and many strategic and implemen- tation challenges remain, including scalability, latency and integration with enterprise applications. As a result, while most large European corporations are already working on blockchain use cases, the journey to more widespread adoption from an enterprise computing perspective could be slow. Mean- while, other geographic regions, such as Asia-Pacific, are investing heavily into blockchain and are quietly buying up assets and natural resources around the world. 40 Can European companies lose their competitive edge? Are new forms of collaboration among European players required to stay competitive? How can governments, the EU and other organizations help by setting the right policies and standards? All of these are very difficult but important questions to answer. On the bright side, corporate Europe is a powerhouse when it comes to know-how, infrastructure and smart people. This asset can, however, quickly turn into a liability as Europe has a “legacy problem;” for example, many manufacturing assets will soon be outdated and require significant investment to be up to par in terms of efficiencies and degree of automation. Knowledge is also quickly outdated. The root cause of the problem is probably cultural – many companies are locked into the mindsets and ways of working that made them successful over the past 50 years. To some extent, the cultural dogma inherent in many European companies when facing change aligns with the three somewhat Kafkaesque arguments of the bureaucrats: “This will not work; we’ve always done it this way; if we do this, then everybody will want it.” With respect to blockchain thinking, these three phrases need to be turned on their head: “This will work; we will do everything completely different now; and everybody can participate without asking.“ In a very short time, blockchain has escalated from a technology with narrow applications related to cryptocurrencies to one meriting attention from many highly respected and successful business leaders.
  • 24. Digital Systems & Technology | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap24 We conducted an online survey among 1,570 senior executives in Europe across the banking and finan- cial services (719), manufacturing (201), retail (201), healthcare (166) and insurance (283) industries from January through August 2017. When asked to describe their level of understanding blockchain, 26% described themselves as expert, 42% as proficient, 23% as competent and 9% as beginner or novice. The objectives of this research were: • To understand the perspectives of senior executives on their blockchain strategy. • To understand the major factors affecting the adoption of a blockchain strategy. • To understand the external and internal roadblocks in adopting a blockchain strategy. The respondents included 19% C-suite executives, 26% vice-presidents, 28% directors, 23% senior managers and 4% managers. This primary research study was conducted across Europe. The coun- tries covered in Europe were Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the UK. METHODOLOGY
  • 25. 25Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology FOOTNOTES 1 For more on this topic, see Li & Fung’s three-year plan, https://threeyearplan.lifung.com/ceo-forward.html, or our white paper, “How Blockchain Can Slash the Manufacturing ‘Trust Tax,’” https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/how-block- chain-can-slash-the-manufacturing-trust-tax-codex2279.pdf. 2 “Luenendonk Study 2017: Business Innovation & Transformation – Where Do Companies Stand Today?” Lunendonk, Dec. 4, 2017, http://luenendonk-shop.de/Feed-Studien-ITK-Markt/Luenendonk-Studie-2017-Business-Innovation-Tranforma- tion-Wo-stehen-Unternehmen-heute.html. 3 Coined and popularized by Warren Buffett, a “moat” refers to a business’s ability to maintain competitive advantage over its competitors. In her book The End of Competitive Advantage, Rita McGrath argues that this is no longer a sustainable approach to winning in the digital age. 4 Jeffrey Immelt, “How I Remade GE,” Harvard Business Review, September-October 2017, https://hbr.org/2017/09/ inside-ges-transformation. 5 R.H. Coase, “The Nature of the Firm,” 1937, http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~jsfeng/CPEC11.pdf. 6 This is the term used by Paul Seabright, in his book The Company of Strangers, Princeton University Press, 2010, https:// www.amazon.com/Company-Strangers-Natural-History-Economic/dp/0691146462. 7 Oliver Hart and John Moore, “Contracts as Reference Points,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 73, Issue 1, pp 1-48, February 2008, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/hart/files/contractsasreferencepointsqje.pdf. 8 Joe Gebbia, “How Airbnb Designs for Trust,” YouTube, February 2016, https://www.ted.com/talks/joe_gebbia_how_ airbnb_designs_for_trust. 9 New Hampshire-based start-up Arcade City developed a ridesharing app based on Ethereum. 10 Carlo R.W. De Meijer, “The Digital Trade Chain: The Blockchain Train Is Rolling,” Finextra, July 16, 2017, https://www.finex- tra.com/blogposting/14296/the-digital-trade-chain-the-blockchain-train-is-rolling. 11 “B3i Launches Working Reinsurance Prototype,” Allianz, Sept. 10, 2017, https://www.allianz.com/en/press/news/commit- ment/sponsorship/170910_B3i-launches-working-reinsurance-prototype/. 12 “#Blockchain4EU Blockchain for Industrial Transformations,” European Commission, https://blogs.ec.europa.eu/eupolic- ylab/portfolios/blockchain4eu/. 13 Ibid. 14 Massive transformative purpose is a term coined by Singularity University to refer to the motivating force behind achiev- ing great things. For more, see Alison E. Berman, “The Motivating Power of a Massive Transformative Purpose,” Singularity Hub, Nov. 8, 2016, https://singularityhub.com/2016/11/08/the-motivating-power-of-a-massive-transformative-purpose/. 15 “Health Expenditure, Percent of GDP,” The World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS. 16 “Evidence-based Medicine: A New Approach to Teaching the Practice of Medicine,” JAMA, November 1992, https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1404801. 17 Mehdi Benchoufi and Philippe Ravaud,“Blockchain Technology for Improving Clinical Research Quality,” BioMed Central, July 19, 2017, https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13063-017-2035-z. 18 Ben Goldacre, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients, Harper Collins, Aug. 29, 2013, https://www.amazon.de/Bad-Pharma-companies-mislead-patients/dp/000749808X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encod- ing=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VR5ESMYF2BY10RG9WYZK
  • 26. Digital Systems & Technology | Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap26 19 “Open Science Monitor,” European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/research/openscience/index.cfm?pg=citizen&section=- monitor . 20 Blockchain for Science website: http://www.blockchainforscience.com/. 21 “Decentralized Open Access and Evaluation,” Pevo, May/June 2016, https://pevo.science/files/pevo_whitepaper.pdf. 22 OpenTrials website: https://opentrials.net. 23 From a phone interview. 24 Anthony Peyton, “BNP Paribas and EY Explore Private Blockchain for Treasury Operations,” Banking Technology, Oct. 17, 2017, http://www.bankingtech.com/2017/10/bnp-paribas-and-ey-explore-private-blockchain-for-treasury-operations/. 25 “Financial Services: Building Blockchain One Block at a Time,” Cognizant Technology Solutions, June 2017, https://www.cogni- zant.com/whitepapers/financial-services-building-blockchain-one-block-at-a-time-codex2742.pdf. 26 Brady Dale, “JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs Trial DLT for Equity Swaps,” Coindesk, Nov. 20, 2017, https://www.coindesk.com/ jpmorgan-goldman-sachs-and-more-complete-equity-swaps-dlt-pilot/. 27 Klaus Schwab, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution,” World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-indus- trial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab. 28 “The circular economy aims to enable effective flows of materials, energy, labor and information so that natural and social capital can be rebuilt.” From “Intelligent Assets: Unlocking the Circular Economy Potential,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Feb. 8, 2016, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications/intelligent-assets. 29 The term digital twin was originally conceived in the manufacturing area, as a core concept for digital manufacturing as part of the Industry 4.0 vision, to digitally simulate how machine productivity can be improved or for preventive maintenance con- cepts. 30 Spherity website: www.spherity.com. 31 Carly Sheridan, “Digitizing Vehicles: The First Blockchain-Backed Car Passport,” BigchainDB blog, March 24, 2017, https://blog. bigchaindb.com/digitizing-vehicles-the-first-blockchain-backed-car-passport-b55ead6dbc71. 32 Carsten Stöcker, “Implementing First Industry 4.0 Use Cases with DAG Tangle: Machine Tagging for Digital Twins,“ Medium, June 24, 2017, https://medium.com/@cstoecker/implementing-first-industry-4-0-use-cases-with-iota-dag-tangle-machine- tagging-for-digital-twins-baf1943c499d. 33 For more specifics on choosing the right shared ledger platform for a consortia model, also see: George Samuel Samman, ”Consortiums and Shared Ledgers: Supply Chains as a Blockchain Use Case,” LinkedIn, Dec. 28, 2016, https://www.linkedin. com/pulse/consortiums-shared-ledgers-supply-chains-blockchain-use-samman/. 34 For more on cryptoeconomics, see: Josh Stark, “Making Sense of Cryptoeconomics,” Coindesk, Aug. 19, 2017, https://www. coindesk.com/making-sense-cryptoeconomics/. 35 An oracle, in the context of blockchains and smart contracts, is an agent that finds and verifies real-world occurrences and submits this information to a blockchain to be used by smart contracts. For more on this topic, see https://blockchainhub.net/ blockchain-oracles/. 36 There are some technical concepts under development to enable “muting” data on a blockchain, which would have a similar effect as “forgetting” or erasing data. 37 “New Platform Uses Blockchain Tech to Assist GDPR Compliance,” IAPP, May 15, 2017, https://iapp.org/news/a/new-platform- uses-blockchain-tech-to-assist-gdpr-compliance/. 38 Meelis Vil, “Volta: A Compliance Product for GDPR,” Guardtime, Aug. 21, 2017, https://guardtime.com/blog/guardtime-an- nounces-volta-a-compliance-product-for-gdpr. 39 Jonathan Berr, “Bitcoin Takes Another Step toward Wider Acceptance,” MoneyWatch, Nov. 2, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/ news/bitcoin-futures-trading-step-toward-wider-acceptance/. 40 “The Future of Blockchain in Asia Pacific,” Cognizant Technology Solutions, https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/the-fu- ture-of-blockchain-in-asia-pacific-codex3240.pdf.
  • 27. Burkhard Blechschmidt leads Digital Transformation at Cognizant Consulting in Germany with a focus on business/IT strategy, dig- ital transformation and blockchain innovation. He has led major global business transformation and strategy initiatives for Fortune 500 companies across industries, with a focus on manufacturing, utilities and telcos. Burkhard has authored multiple publications on blockchain in manufacturing and is a frequent speaker at conferences. He is an expert advisor on blockchain to the Euro- pean Commission and to the United Nations’ ITU on Application of Distributed Ledger Technologies. Burkhard can be reached at burkhard.blechschmidt@cognizant.com. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Burkhard Blechschmidt Senior Director, Digital Transformation, Cognizant Consulting The author would like to thank Fletcher McCraw, Partnerships and Alliance Lead in Cognizant’s Block- chain & Distributed Ledger Technology Practice, Alan Alper, Cognizant’s Editorial Director, and Anand Chandramouli, Director of Primary Research, for their assistance in creating this report, as well as Cognizant research analysts Akhil Tandulwadikar, Vinaya Kumar Mylavarapu and Sanjay Fuloria, for their insightful contributions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 27Blockchain in Europe: Closing the Strategy Gap | Digital Systems & Technology
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