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Today, based on existing strong indications, it can be said that blockchain technology is a type of general purpose technology (GPT). This influential and global technology has an impact on all kinds of branches of technology and economy. General Purpose Technology or GPT are technologies that have wide applications in various industries and sectors.
Blockchain technology is a relatively new technology that, with various applications, may affect the entire economy over time and is known as the latest general purpose technology or GPT. In fact, while blockchain has been used to create digital currency systems such as Bitcoin; With the creation of smart contracts, the predictions are that developments based on the expansion of blockchain will lead to disruption in other sectors of the economy.
Examples of GPT include the invention of the wheel, the Internet, electricity, railways, interchangeable parts, electronics, the steam turbine, material handling, medicine and artificial intelligence, etc.
The emergence of GPT It will have important consequences for society and the economy. On the one hand, these technologies can lead to increased productivity, economic growth and job creation. And on the other hand, they lead to job displacement, increasing inequality and other social and economic challenges. Blockchain has its potential as a general-purpose technology, given that it is still in the early stages of development and adoption GPT has shown.
In the rest of this article, we will talk more about the concept of GPT general purpose technology and the connection of blockchain with them .
General Purpose Technology (GPT)
General Purpose Technology (GPT) refers to technologies that are widely and aggressively spread throughout the world or in a large part of the modern world. These technologies can affect the entire economy at the national or global level.
Considering the potential of GPT in affecting the economic system and human assets, this technology has the possibility of changing the economic, social structures and business environment and our daily life, and in this sense it is very important. GPTs act as a facilitator or complement to other technologies and inventions. For example, the invention of the wheel led to the invention of the cart, followed by the creation of the automobile and the invention of hundreds of other products that are used in daily life.
In fact, many inventions and innovations can be achieved by creating GPT. It should be noted that GPTs are technologies that cannot be considered as a solution and should only be mentioned as a tool in the hands of inventors and explorers.
General purpose GPT technology evolves over time like any other technology. Ancient examples of GPTs include the steam engine, electricity, and information technology. Other examples include: Railways, Electronics, Interchangeable Parts, Mechanization, Material Handling, Computers, Control Theory (Automation), Automotive, Internet, Medicine and Artificial Intelligence, especially generative pre-trained transformers.
The impact of GPTs in the economy
The term GPT It was first coined by economist Robert Solow in the 1980s. Since then, the term has been used to describe the transformative impact of technology on society and the economy. In economics, there is a theory that the initial acceptance of a The new GPT in an economy is likely to actually decrease productivity before improving it.
This is due to the time required to develop new infrastructure, the obsolescence of old technologies and skills, and the cost of learning. In fact, based on this acceptance theory, GPT can lead to a productivity J curve; Because intangible assets will be built and removed without measurement .
In fact, the impending period of time in order to use the latent benefits of the new technology is considered as a trade-off. Spin-off companies or inventors from organizations that lead to development became GPT , play an important role in the development of applications for GPT .
However, based on observations, the level of cumulative innovation in GPTs decreases following the occurrence of more spin-offs in program development .
What makes a technology a GPT?
In 1992, two economics professors from Stanford University, Mr. Timothy Bresnahan and Manuel Trajtenberg, conducted a research on GPTs as the engine of human population development. Based on this research, they published an article in which they stated 3 characteristics for GPTs. These 3 characteristics were later confirmed by others. Based on research, these fundamental characteristics of GPTs include the following:
- General purpose technology or GPTs are expanding rapidly and are used by many economic and business sectors.
- GPTs will be developed over time and will get better from the technology side.
- Innovation GPTs accelerate the invention and production of new products and processes by accelerating complementary technologies.
Therefore, it can be concluded that a technology can be considered as GPT if it has the following criteria :
- Wide applications in different industries and sectors
- Improve and evolve continuously over time
- Has the potential to significantly increase productivity and efficiency
- It has spillover effects in favor of other industries and sectors
Is Blockchain a General Purpose Technology (GPT)?
In 2016, one of the famous blockchain technology activists, professor Kristen Catalini , a professor at MIT University at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published an article. Mr. Catalini, who was the director of research and development of digital currency Libra (owned by Facebook) in his article, referred to blockchain as GPT because it has the three characteristics mentioned above. But the noteworthy point in this article is which part of the blockchain has GPT partitions?
In this article, it is stated that the Decentralization part of Blockchain technology has all three characteristics of GPT. In fact, neither cryptos nor other blockchain features such as cost verification have converted it to GPT. Rather, only the Decentralization part of Blockchain has turned it into a revolutionary technology and GPT that can improve the path of human progress.
Decentralization is actually the part that puts the on and off key of the system in the hands of all members of the group. Therefore, if we take away this feature of the blockchain, practically nothing will remain of it.
Blockchain is expanding rapidly
Based on the evidence, blockchain technology has the ability to expand. Basically, in every digital asset, you can see the footprint of the blockchain. Due to the security of blockchain and its other practical features, financial institutions, companies that work in the field of identity management and the field of supply cycle, are looking for the widespread use of blockchain.
Read more: How can blockchain security be increased?
For example, IBM has created a wide network of distributors, retailers, bankers and all people active in the field of food and agriculture (by the name IBM Food Trust) using blockchain. Even bull mark has joined this network as the largest chain store active in food distribution. You can follow the process from the first stage of product production through this blockchain network.
For example, when buying potatoes, information such as cultivation area, production time, purchase price and other related information will be displayed on the barcode of the product. IBM is one of the projects that is defined based on blockchain. The IBM group has about 400 projects in hand and is launching various startups in this field with the aim of eliminating the problems in human life. On the other hand, we see the use of blockchains in the medical and therapeutic industry.
The expansion of this technology has been such that governments are also trying to use blockchain in statistical centers for systems such as the voting system. In fact, blockchain has come to the aid of democracy to clarify and control governments. In this context, I came across a book called Cryptodemocracy, which refers to the creation of a democracy network based on blockchain technology.
As a result, it can be said that blockchain technology is rapidly expanding and covering the whole world; America, China and India can be considered among the countries that have the largest number of blockchain-based startups .
It is rapidly evolving and improving
Since 2008, when blockchain came into existence, we have witnessed progress and new innovations every day. The ethereum blockchain came with its proof of stake type of consist and changed the previous consist of bitcoin, i.e. proof of work. The innovation of the Ethereum network was able to increase the speed of Bitcoin’s consists, which was based on the consensus of proof of work (pow) and turn it into the consensus of proof of stake (PoS).
Of course, after that, consist was called drakated proof of stake, which increased the speed even more. On the other hand, with the increase in the volume of Bitcoin blocks, Bitcoin Cash was created to further increase the speed of the network. Also, a series of features such as smart contracts were also brought up on the Ifrium network.
One of our basic problems in blockchain is the issue of scalability (network speed) and network decentralization. By increasing the network speed (scalability), some problem will occur from decentralization. On the other hand, to maximize decentralization, the speed of the system is reduced. This means that these two issues are inversely related.
Recently, a new concept called lightning networks has been used, which can be moved to higher speed while maintaining decentralization. Its basis is that a series of less secure transactions are not included on the block.
All these things show that the blockchain technology is improving every day based on the problems created. In other words, we may even see the elimination of middlemen with blockchain in the future. As a result, blockchain is compatible with another feature of GPTs in terms of continuous development and improvement.
It has been widely used by other technologies, especially by artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things
The third characteristic of GPTs is to accelerate and catalyze innovations and complementary technologies . Is. With a simple search in search engines on the use of blockchain in ai ( artificial intelligence) and iot (Internet of Things) you will be dizzy from the amount of progress and ongoing projects in these areas with the help of blockchain technology. At the same time, I would like to point out that based on current technological advances, many of the things that are currently being done by humans will not exist at all in a few years..
For example, if they had told us 10 years ago that the telephone agencies would be dismantled, we might not have believed it. But today, we are witnessing their rapid replacement by internet taxis. Therefore, you should be very careful about choosing your job. With a progress check ai and iot on the blockchain platform, it can be easily concluded that, for example, with the introduction of automatic cars in the market, there will be no job called driving in a few years; This will definitely happen in the next 10 to 15 years .
