The Role of Blockchain Technology in Decentralized Science — Part Two
Hey there again. We enjoyed discussing with you the last time how blockchain technology in decentralized science benefits scientists. If you’ve not come across this article, you can quickly read it before going forward. We promise it’s short.
So yes, last time we discussed the benefits and today we’ll be focused on the potential challenges of blockchain technology in decentralized science. Let’s get right into it, shall we?
Challenges of Blockchain Technology in Decentralized Science
Scalability and Performance
Blockchain networks, especially public blockchains, may face scalability and performance issues when dealing with large amounts of data and high transaction volumes. This may impact the efficiency and effectiveness of scientific research activities that require real-time data processing or handling massive datasets.
Governance
Another challenge that blockchain faces in decentralized science is the issue of governance. Decentralized systems such as blockchain require decentralized decision-making, which can be challenging to implement in research institutions that have a hierarchical organizational structure. There is a risk of a concentration of power in the hands of a few entities that hold a significant amount of blockchain tokens, which can lead to centralization and undermine the decentralized nature of the technology.
Incompatibility with Existing Systems
Even though decentralized science can now be used by scientists to an extent, it would be difficult to onboard scientists that already have their science life built on traditional science. This is because the way databases work on your usual online research journals is different from the way it works on the blockchain.
If there were to be 10,000 research papers in a research journal, each scientist would have to upload their papers on blockchain if they want to get into decentralized science. Seeing how scientists are already comfortable with traditional science, they will hardly want to tap into decentralized science if they have to go through the work of reuploading all their papers and contributions in science to blockchain because of the incompatibility between these two systems.
Unfortunately, this will make many scientists stick to traditional science; a bitter truth.
Technical Complexity
The usability of online research journals and blockchain-based decentralized projects are somewhat entirely different. Blockchain-based projects need some level of technical expertise before they can be used. This technical expertise is hard to come by in scientists that are devoted to knowing only about their research interests, hence, automatically adding to the difficulty of onboarding scientists on decentralized science.
If project owners would go to the extent of making their projects more usable, then maybe more scientists would be interested. But who knows? Maybe the reason for technicality is not entirely from the project owners but from the nature of the technology being used.
Regulatory Issues
Blockchain technology is still a new technology. This novelty has made it difficult for it to have regulations to protect the interests of users. It is even more difficult because of its decentralization feature. Having regulations on the technology could limit what can be done with it, and this could make “decentralization” a sham.
Yes, this decentralization with no laws is enjoyed but the lack of regulations has caused and will keep causing several issues with the blockchain. These issues could revolve around data privacy, intellectual property, and so on.
These are just a few challenges of the use of blockchain in decentralized science. But you shouldn’t fret because of that phrase ‘a few’. Weigh the benefits in our last article, weigh these challenges in this article and see if decentralized science is something you want to get into.
Permit us to inform you that in the long term, decentralized science would be more beneficial to you. All you need is to be careful and acquire little technical knowledge to be able to know how it works and operate it. Asides that, you’re good to go!
