While businesses and governments around the world have begun to realise the value of blockchain, more still needs to be done to educate leaders and regulators about the technology. This is especially the case as blockchain is often mistakenly connected to crypto-asset scams by mainstream media outlets.
This was the main point of discussion at the recent panel discussion focusing on how blockchain can be made more mainstream at the Philippine Blockchain Week. The panel was chaired by Erik Lapaglia, Co-Founder of Miami NFT Week, and included:
How to increase adoption from millions to billions
While blockchain technology has seen adoption from millions of users around the world, it is still several steps away from being adopted by billions of people around the world. Roberts said that he still considers adoption from an ‘old-school’ perspective in the Technology Acceptance Model.
The technology acceptance model (TAM) is an information systems theory that models how users come to accept and use new technology. The model suggests that when users are presented with a new technology, several factors influence their decision about how and when they will use it, notably:
- Perceived usefulness (PU);
- Perceived ease-of-use (PEOU);
- External variables such as social influence are also important factors.
‘Do users see something as useful and do they see it as easy to use? My challenge is that I don’t think most people outside of the blockchain space see our technologies as being useful and easy to use. Bear in mind that there is a difference between something being useful and people seeing it that way,’ Roberts said.
‘I think people don’t have the right perception and I think we need to change that perception. In order to start changing people’s opinions, we need to start building apps that deliver value, and then get people to use those apps, and then telling their friends and business partners.’
Blockchain adoption is a marathon and not a sprint
Roberts said that he has seen some hopeful signs of blockchain adoption increasing in recent years, although he cautioned that complete acceptance is unlikely to happen overnight. He drew a comparison to the cloud industry, which also faced initial opposition as people did not see an immediate use case.
‘People had this concept and it was a very different way of doing things. No one knew if they should try it out and many people said it was a fad. But then a few people came to realise that getting rid of all the complexity just makes life easier. And now AWS is almost a household name.’
‘The maths for blockchain adds up. It is just a matter of it getting used in enterprise and government and having people see it add value to their daily processes.’
A natural adoption cycle vs pressured adoption
Roberts also drew comparisons to video conferencing and tools such as Skype. While Skype has been used in personal households for over a decade, it did not see the same level of penetration among businesses, said Roberts.
How the Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the environment, which led to mass adoption of these services overnight as people were forced to work from home. While the pandemic has largely ended, this work-from-home change has not, Roberts said.
He added that blockchain could see a similar ‘forced’ adoption going forward, particularly in the business sector.
You can watch the full panel discussion here: