App-Scoop

​A great methodology to deliver and develop better software is by incorporating agile practices.  While scaling agile in enterprise environments, one needs to understand the differences between scope and change control, and how to properly apply a given agile framework to bring in change without putting the overall project at risk. This involves collaborative agreements, iteration-based change control, transparency and effective stakeholder communication.

“The 11th annual State of Agile™ survey found that enterprise agility is increasing throughout organizations and across almost all industries at an accelerated rate. For the first time, half of the survey respondents came from outside North America. While the largest number (23%) of respondents still worked for software companies, the number from non-software companies grew significantly in 2016. Respondents from very large organizations, employing more than 20,000 people, also increased.”
http://www.agile247.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/versionone-11th-annual-state-of-agile-report.pdf

​Agile Manifesto Values and Principles

Agile manifesto values ensure that the response to change is a fundamental driver for agile projects. Even though there are changes in the requirement frequently, the projects must be ready if there are any changes in the plan. Hence, the agile principle is to welcome change in requirements even in the later stages of development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.  

Challenges to Scaling Agile in Enterprise Organizations

There are many benefits of agile development – better change management, increased productivity, saving time and improved software quality. But when the company size is too large, there are also a few challenges that one can meet while developing agile

Change resistance: One of the biggest challenges in big companies is to be open to change. When the employees are so familiar and comfortable with certain processes and wireframes, it gets challenging to introduce change. For example, people have been working with legacy systems since ages and hence, changing over to agile will involve skepticism. So, while introducing the agile methodology, it is necessary to focus on its advantages such as rapid and frequent delivery unlike legacy systems.

Pre-existing Rigid/Waterfall Framework: Agile is more flexible and responsive to change than those used in Waterfall or V Model. Although, it will take time, effort and resources while changing the entire framework for an organization. Changes of this magnitude are risky in nature, and hence the benefits have to be clearly communicated to get support from the C-suite. The mindset of the executive level will also need to be transformed.

Handling Agile Teams: Coordination is a huge challenge even amongst agile teams while trying to scale development and delivery. In a big company, the team might have multiple goals and coordinating could be an issue. Another scenario is coordinating with non-agile teams such as teams that are working on waterfall methodologies. Also, while changing to the agile methodology, one needs to train and coach employees which might cause a delay in delivering agile frameworks.

Advantages of Agile Software

• Quick turnarounds: Unlike any other software development approach, Agile calls for quick turnarounds for QA. By implementing continuous integration in Agile, this can be solved.

 

• Repetitive execution: Agile calls for daily build deployments which can be certified using the right automation tool and a suitable automation approach.

 

• Quality assured: With a proper automation suite designed, the quality of the product can be assured at any given time by executing the automation suite. However, the test cases selected for automation need to have a good coverage of the application.

 

• Team is responsible for quality: Since automation is required in almost every phase of the agile process, the complete team is responsible for the quality of the product.

 

• Test Automation saves time: Automation is a significantly important to maintain agility, and is a priority for the entire team through established practices and a focus on continuous improvement. Continuous builds and tests (unit, functional & integration test execution) are examples of applying automation beyond the scope of traditional automated tests. In waterfall projects clients may not be too keen on investing in automation as precedence, primarily due to the handoff mindset that go together with that approach. Automation is a critical factor for regression testing hence, its coverage should be as high as possible.

Tips for Change Management in Agile

• Make sure understanding of acceptance change is expected from project inception by having project charter or kickoff meeting, clear roles and responsibilities and identify product owners, stakeholders in reviews, teams, etc.

 

• Hold those involved to expected behaviors during product builds, especially for management and customers/stakeholders. It takes greater restraint to be self-organized.

 

• Opening organizational mindsets to an agile framework leads you half way to success. Introducing the agile methodology by explaining the benefits would do the trick.

 

• Introducing consistent processes and practices would make it a smooth transition. It would also ensure better coordination amongst teams and would provide predictable progress for stakeholders.

 

• Move to short development cycles. Instead of developing full blown solutions, release a smaller, useful functional product by getting into the “Minimal Viable Product” (MVP) mode.

 

• Try to define interim milestones: internal releases that break up long release cycles to stop user stories from accumulating in the backlog. For instance, break your delivery cycle in multiple versions such as, alpha version to a select group of internal users within two months, and a beta to a group of friendly external customers two months after that. This will ensure that you are always on schedule.

Conclusion
​
Scaling enterprises with agile is possible by incorporating key success factors like providing support for executives, shift in delivery, consistent processes, proper training and coaching. By focussing on these key areas implementing agile or scaling agile won’t be a difficult task. Agile is a journey that needs long-term commitment and an open mindset of team members and rest assured, you will notice the benefits that agile methodologies bring to your organization.
 

9000 Participants, 270 Exhibitors, and 200 Speakers

​Last week I had the opportunity to attend the BCTech Summit on behalf of App-Scoop.
I am a TechTO groupie. The Toronto-Waterloo tech corridor is my habitat and I have grown accustomed to the style and approach of how we do things here.
BC was different. Everything from the beautiful physical setting of being by the water and mountains at the Vancouver Convention Centre to the diversity of topics that were covered, the 3-day BCTech Summit felt like a distillation of Canada’s unique west coast tech culture.

The West Coast Is About High Impact Ideas

“You’ll find the west coast is all about high-impact ideas” explained a colleague from Foresight, a cleantech accelerator.
The BCTech Summit was exactly that. This was the first time at a tech event where I was suddenly found myself interacting with a different breed of tech.
The BC Innovation Council, BC Government, and UBC were a few of the public anchors buttressed by large corporate sponsors like Microsoft and Google. All necessary partnerships to enable the rich diversity of west coast tech to discuss ideas, educate each other, and continue paving the way to becoming unified supercluster.

Here are a few topics that were covered:

• Transforming Key Sectors — Ocean, Industrial, and the Carbon Economy
• Building Global BioTech Success
• Spaceflight — laying the groundwork for all industries to participate
• Artificial Intelligence and Narrative Realities
• Innovation Through Data — health, aging populations, and global logistics

Connecting You With Canadian Tech

These are a few of the influencers that were present at the summit.

1. Female Funders —empowering thousands of women to become the angel investors of tomorrow.
2. Innovative Solutions Canada — Innovative Solutions Canada is a new program with over $100 million dedicated to supporting the scale up and growth of Canada’s innovators and entrepreneurs by having the federal government act as a first customer.
3. Build in Canada Innovation Program — This program helps Canadian innovators get their product to market faster, and helps them succeed in the marketplace, by buying and testing innovations in real-operational settings.
4. Foresight Cleantech Accelarator Centre — BC is definitely the spot to go if you’re looking to innovate in cleantech. Concept to commercialization, they’ve got you covered.
5. BC Innovation Council — An innovation hub that runs a variety of programs to foster innovation, this link will take to their current programs.

​If you ever have an opportunity to attend the summit in the future, definitely check it out, it’s a wonderful display of BC’s rich tech culture.

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has currently swept the technical market. It has gained its popularity through the innovation of Bitcoin crypto-currency and now every tech ninja wants to slide foot in this business and create startups. Although, it’s hard to crack the market, a Blockchain based organization now needs a remarkable showcasing procedure as much as a product that compels the audience. Startups need to promote their product aggressively, mainly through social media marketing strategies.
Let’s take a look at 11 marketing tips to jumpstart business for Blockchain startups:

Highlight the Solution

The most important aspect of your Blockchain project should be that it solves a problem in people’s life. There are several apps and projects that are rolling out in the market but most of them do not have an actual problem that they solve. Hence, it is important that you determine the pain point of the solution that you are offering through your Blockchain project. You can use OPEN Platform and SuchApp to view the needs of the masses rather than just targeting the Blockchain community.

​Determine a Budget
Once you’ve determined the solution and jotted down the project details, the next step is to fix a budget for marketing purposes. Calculating the return for your advertising campaign will help you determine the channels that you need to take to market your Blockchain project. Ideally, one of the most effective marketing strategies is to market through social media (reaches a large part of your audience). Also, it requires less investment upfront and is also less costly. Also, one must not forget that the advertising strategy should give you a good ROI in the long run.

Initial Coin Offering is not Mandatory for Success

Initial Coin Offering, also known as ICO, is generally a marketing strategy that is adopted by Blockchain apps to attract the initial lot of customers and get hooked on to the app. On the other hand, ICOs require heavy investment (which means a cut in profits initially) with no guarantee that the project is going to succeed. For instance, Dogecoin never offered ICO but capitalised on a trend and achieved great success and built its own following instead. Hence, ICO isn’t the only way to promote your blockchain startup. 

Update Website Content

In today’s time an online presence is very important for any project that you plan to undertake. A website about your Blockchain project is mandatory. The content on the website needs to be revised regularly with updates. Maintaining a blog on your website will keep it Live and ensure that your audience keeps coming back to the website and at the same time updated about your venture. Making an FAQ page will help the audience to understand your project better and discover basic information effortlessly.

Email Marketing Campaign

Emailing is still an effective and authentic way to reach your customer base. Email marketing campaigns connects you with people who are interested in your project. This kind of communication also helps build trust and loyalty with your key audience. Mailing lists are one of the best marketing tactics in the digital world.

Use Social Media

Social media sites are less costly, as well as they reach out to your target audience. Social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn ensure good visibility on your Blockchain project.
Twitter targets both B2B and the B2C market. If you tweets capture the attention of the audience, it could be re-tweeted many times which means that more people will get to know about it and you will also be aware of your social presence.
Instagram can also help you gain reputation on a B2C level by attracting an extensive gathering of people. The main components are keeping your audience engaged and updating the account consistently with new posts.
LinkedIn is professional networking site which can help you attract your core investors and also get other Blockchain companies updated on your project’s progress.
Check your social media platform frequently, intermittently checking it for the duration of the day. Moreover, update more posts towards the start of the day, fluctuating between various messages you are attempting to test with your audience. Another good practice to start is commenting on the follower’s posts, and taking part in discussions.

Build Online Communities

Bitcoin fans are passionate about online discussions. Construct online groups and advance your startup by engaging Blockchain experts.
Bitcoin Talk helps you discover everything about the Blockchain and other existing cryptocurrencies.
Reddit consists of a wide range of themes including Blockchain startups.
Quora is an excellent Q&A page that gives you a platform to improve your campaign.

Conduct Bounty Campaigns and Give Rewards

Bounty campaign is “when you do little tasks for the company and instead of getting Fiat, money like Euro or Dollar, you get stakes. Those stakes will transform into X Tokens which when the ICO starts can be traded for Fiat.” At the end of a bounty campaign, the supporters are rewarded with airdropped tokens. These campaigns are perfect to promote your project as they get you the business and new members and also help you understand the demographics of your audience. 
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@alexth/easy-money-bounty-campaigns

Paid Advertising

Apart from conducting bounty campaigns, one can also turn to paid advertising as a marketing strategy to attract more customers. You can publicize the project that you are going to conduct as well as the approach towards it by consulting with financial specialists. Many potential investors and individuals check important distributions such as Coin Telegraph, Coin Desk and Trading View to investigate Blockchain advancements. This kind of paid advertising can help boost the project.

Press Releases

It is of utmost importance to appoint a PR team for your Blockchain project. The PR team helps with press releases which are essential for building your core followers. Press releases also attract potential investors and determine the value of your project. A good press release about your Blockchain project will definitely leave a lasting impression on your target audience, thus making them more interested about your project.

Refreshing the Minds of your Audience

In the ever changing app world and crypto space, it is most likely that your customer will forget about your project. There are many investors in the market waiting for the next Bitcoin to hit the market and take it by storm. Hence, in order to keep your audience updated, it is important that you retarget them by updating your social media or by sending them e-mailers on the newest fad in the market.
Remind them about the services that you are willing to offer and the benefits that they will get for supporting your Blockchain project. Getting this kind of support in the initial stages of your app indicate the success it will get in the near future.

Conclusion

A Blockchain startup is a venture that requires a product that solves a problem, has strong advertising techniques and a good competitive edge compared to other organizations. These 11 marketing tips can help you excel your Blockchain project in the early stages and receive the recognition it deserves, thus awarding your investment and hard work.  

​Raj Aggarwal, CEO of Localytics said, “The rich and interactive experiences we have come to expect on mobile apps have created new standards and expectations for all digital media including the web. The result is websites are evolving to become more app-like in their rich functionality.” In order to create this rich and interactive experience for your app user, you need to scope your project properly. To get a good insight and develop a strategic app, you need to answer the below 20 questions.

How can I validate my app idea?
There are three ways to validate an app idea, Proof of Concept (POC), Prototype or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). These approaches not only validate the app but they also inspire new ideas and areas of improvement and ensure that the entire team is working towards the same goal. By using these three methods to validate the app can help you avoid common mistakes from making a faulty app whose features are not required in the market. ​

Who are the target users?
You need to determine the target users for your app and the problem that you are going to help solve. You also need to determine if you can make an app only for mobile users or if the app is going to be used on other devices as well. The most important factor that you need to consider is the platform that you are aiming for; Android or iOS.

Who are the key stakeholders?
Before investing in the app, you need to determine the stakeholders, project owner, budget holder, etc. You need to have a clear picture of who to co-ordinate with for each stage; ideation, prototype, build, test, release and post-launch.

What are the business objectives for the mobile app?
The objectives that one needs to consider for mobile apps are:

• Determine if it is an internal app to increase workforce efficiency or if it is an open product for all users
• Select the core features and functions of the app
• Select the platform for the app and the analytics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Are there other apps that the client likes that can be used as an inspiration for how this new app should look?
We are not saying to copy or plagiarise from another app but understand the mindset and expectations of the client before you develop an app. It comes efficiently for an app developer to have an idea of the UI/UX design and the corporate guidelines. 

What are the data points that your client needs from the app?
During the design stage, it’s necessary to understand the benchmark objectives, measures, and metrics. To focus the decision on the MVP features, it is necessary to define the key metrics that underpin the tangible measures of success for the app at outset. At the end, the client wants to receive a report on:

• The number of downloads on Android and iOS respectively
• Ratio of push notifications activated
• Number of active users
• Features that are being used the most
• Dead areas of the app that need re-thought
• Number of transactions done on the app
• The frequency of app users

Do you have any wireframes created? Do you have any visual design done?
Wireframes are designs that will show how the user will experience and interact with the app. Once the wireframes are approved visual designs will display how the screen will look when it’s in the app and working. The visual designer needs to ensure that the colours and display are in standard with the corporate look and attracts the user attention.

Have you created a product backlog?
A backlog is where you define and prioritize the functional and non-functional requirements of the app. You will need to give your app developer instructions and features that you expect out of the app. Giving them the details of the colours you expect to the see in the app display and the functions, will ensure that the final product will have fewer changes.        

Should you build a mobile app or mobile website?
The business objective determines the answer to the above question. Mobile websites are cost-effective but it might not give the user good quality and functionality. On the other hand, mobile apps engage, interact and communicate with the users. Further, the brand benefits because it drives customers to use the app more often with personalized, in-app content.

Should I choose Web, Native, or Hybrid development?
Web apps are easier to build; although they are very slow and not recommended for apps that want to offer the user an interactive and intuitive experience.
Native apps that are built for a particular platform make the app fast and responsive; they generally have the best overall performance and user experience. On the other hand, it is a little expensive and not the best for simple apps.
Hybrid apps are faster to develop than native apps and no browser is needed. On the other hand, fixing bugs and customization makes it difficult on the pockets of the app developer.

What is agile development?
“Agile is an iterative process in which features and requirements are built, tweaked, and approved before the project reaches completion. Each iteration, or sprint, will end with a small part of the final product.” This style allows you to review the progress before the project is finished.
https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/

Should I outsource the mobile app development?
The demand for apps is growing each passing year. You may have a great idea but to convert it into an app takes a lot of effort. Outsourcing mobile apps is sometimes the best thing that you can do to see your idea become a working app in the hands of users. Outsourcing the mobile app ensures that your app is completed in a certain time frame, your app is developed by experienced app developers and is up-to-date with the current features in the market.

What should I look for in a development team?
While picking the development team, you need to look at their portfolio and their reviews from clients who had hired them to build an app. Also, going through an app that they have produced would be a good way to determine their expertise and vision.

Which is better, manual or automated testing?
Although manual testing might take a little more time, it is the best because you get real human feedback. This is similar to the feedback that you will get from your users. You can gauge the intuitiveness of the app and how user-friendly, convenient and capable the software is for user pain points.
On the other hand, automated testing ensures to pick out issues that the human eye isn’t capable of catching. It is also faster, efficient, can be reused for tests for code, and has a better visibility into app performance.
Ideally, the app should receive manual and automated testing.

How will my app make revenue?
You need to decide if the app is a B2E app or a B2C app; based on this you can determine how the app can earn revenue. Are you going to have in-app purchases or is it going to allow advertisements on the app? You need to also determine the payment methods for your app. 

What is the budget?
Ideally, you need to have an approximate idea for the budget of the app. The budget should be drafted based on the features of your app. Also, do not forget to consider the on-going charges for regularly updating it and fixing issues when needed.

What risks are there with the mobile app build?
There are a lot of factors that could affect the timelines to develop the app. Build a risk register as a part of the project kick-off and actions and owner’s responsibilities next to them.

Do you have a release schedule?
You need to determine if you are rolling out the app on all the platforms at the same time or planning to have multiple releases based on the feedback from the users.

How is the app going to be found when it’s ready to go live?
If this is a B2E app, then you can be assured that the employees will get an internal mail announcing that the app is live but for B2B and B2C apps that are launched on GooglePlay and the AppStore, you need to entice users to download your app.
Firstly, you will need a good app store optimization tool, make the icon powerful so that the users click on it and you can also advertise your apps on other apps to get the users attention.

How do you plan to maintain your app post-launch?
It is not possible to achieve perfection in one shot. After the app launch, there is going to be user feedback and frequent bugs that you will need to fix. Also, updates to the software will have to be made as per the market and the mobile app industry. You also need to consider the data and analytics to know how the app is performing and making constant amends to it.
​
New mobile apps are being created and released every hour, answering these set of questions will ensure that your app shines through and becomes a successful one!

This tutorial is focused on a web based distributed application. If you are looking to build a mobile or desktop application then this tutorial is not for you.  
​
Blockchain is the next step towards creating a more independent, peer-to-peer and decentralized system that could take the tech world by the storm. The tech world has been buzzing with words such as, ‘bitcoin’, ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’. Blockchain was originally created to support the Bitcoin but soon the tech community has started using this technology for other purposes.
​Don & Alex Tapscott, author of Blockchain Revolution (2016) stated, “The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

What is MVP?
​
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the most basic version of a product that can still be released. It constitutes of three characteristics:

• Is it valuable enough for people to buy it in the initial stages?
• Does it hold any future benefits for people who invest in the product initially?
• Does it hold any promise for future development or does it provide substantial feedback that dawns a new product?

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/27809/minimum-viable-product-mvp

Eight Steps to Build MVP

Step 1: Identify the MVP Requirements

It is very important to identify the MVP requirements. The initial step is to recognize the product’s core offering.  You will need to take into consideration the features of the app and build them well. The second step is to take into consideration the audiences that you are catering the services to. You cannot include features in your app to please all kinds of audience. Hence, you should focus on the early adopters of your product. This will ensure that you get the feedback for your app. If your app replicates your competitor’s app then you need to build better features.

Step 2: Identify frontend frameworks for web based application (such as React.js, Angular)

Here, let’s identify how to build modern web applications and understanding the type of technology that you must choose.
React.js framework was created for Facebook; it introduced the idea of treating components like pure function and component parameters as function arguments. This framework provides a thin view layer, for example, it provides one piece of the puzzle and expects the developer to connect the rest of the pieces. This platform is best handled by experienced JavaScript developers who can deal with functional programming and immutable data structures. Your app will need to target several platforms with the same codebase. The React.js platform will allow you to write for the web, for native with React Native, and for VR devices with ReactVR.
Another platform, Angular.js introduces the idea of compiling templates to make it HTML dynamic. By using directives, you could bind a model to a view, and the same would change when the model changed. Angular.js is built by Google; this platform is perfect for enterprise developers who are coming from Java or C# background. The developers feel comfortable using this program as it supports TypeScript and Intellisense. The platform is used to build performance oriented native applications using NativeScript.

Step 3: Create front end wireframes and design application

There are 6 quick steps that can be followed to create front end wireframes and design application.
i.User research, requirement analysis, and inspiration
It is important to analyze the requirements, your user base and other competitive applications that have similar features. Once you determine the same, you can then proceed to create a wireframe.
ii.Choose the correct tools
There are many tools available in the market to create wireframes such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Axure, GoMockingbird, Mock Flow, etc. Choose the one you are most comfortable with.
iii.Setting a wireframe layout or grid
Taking into consideration the device and technology, you can proceed to create the wireframe. For instance, depending upon your requirement create a desktop screen shaped layout and a 12 column or 9 column grid to create a website.
iv.Create feature layouts
The features of an application such as menus, input boxes and buttons are made in a specifi shape. With the help of wireframing tools, you can also create custom shapes in your grid, i.e. you can clearly distinguish individual design features.
v.Content and typography
Once the feature layouts are frozen, it’s time to update the boxes with necessary content. Choose the font and style that makes it unique.
vi.Polish the wireframe
You can further enhance the wireframe by adding logo and basic design elements. You can also add grayscale, shadings or colors to highlight images. Remember, presentation is key! 

Step 4: Identify the data structures

Data structures are an intentional arrangement of a collection of data that is built to impose or enforce some kind of systematic organization on the data. Since all the information is from one place, it makes our lives easier. There are generally five fundamental behaviors that you perform with data; accessing data, inserting data, deleting data, finding data and sorting data.
Each data structure has its own algorithm for performing a behavior due to the nature of the data structure. The more efficient and suitable the algorithm, the more you will have an optimized data structure. These algorithms might be built-in or implemented by developer to manage and run these data structures.
It includes a clean and easy to operate interface, logical access, data flow and data transformations. It is important to note that every blockchain has its own strength.
For instance, fat blockchains can use a network to deploy and run programs or smart contracts. On the other hand, thin blockchains can only transfer assets from one account to the other because they have a set number of operations.
Similarly, public blockchains are open for all the users. They can join, transact and audit. A common example of a public blockchain is the Ethereum network that is used by Initial Coin Offering (ICO) campaigns to deploy and distribute smart contracts. On the other hand, private blockchains cannot be accessed by any participant. They need to be approved and on-boarded before hand by a federation.

Step 5: Write solidity contracts

Solidity is “a contract-oriented programming language for writing smart contracts. It is used for implementing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms”. It was developed by Gavin Wood, Christian Reitwiessner, Alex Beregszaszi, Liana Husikyan, Yoichi Hirai and several former Ethereum core contributors to enable writing smart contracts on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum. Solidity is a statically-typed programming language designed for developing smart contracts that run on the EVM. Solidity is compiled to bytecode that is executable on the EVM. With Solidity, developers can write applications that implement self-enforcing business logic embodied in smart contracts, leaving a non-repudiable and authoritative record of transactions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidity
As specified by Wood, “it is designed around the ECMAScript syntax to make it familiar for existing web developers; unlike ECMAScript it has static typing and variadic return types. Compared to other EVM-targeting languages of the time such as Serpent and Mutan, Solidity contained a number of important differences. Complex member variables for contracts including arbitrarily hierarchical mappings and structures were supported.”
http://gavwood.com/

Step 6: Front end development

You  can develop your front end user interface and to interact with the data structures in the solidity contract by using the web3.js api.
web3.js is a collection of libraries which allow you to interact with a local or remote ethereum node, using a HTTP or IPC connection.
https://web3js.readthedocs.io/en/1.0/
The following points will help you through installing and running web3.js, as well as providing an API reference documentation with examples:

• To ensure that your app works on Ethereum, use the web3 object provided by the web3.js library. Under the hood it communicates to a local node through RPC calls. web3.js works with any Ethereum node, which exposes an RPC layer.
• web3 contains the eth object – web3.eth (for specifically Ethereum blockchain interactions) and the shh object – web3.shh (for Whisper interaction).

Step 7: Deploy on test network and perform testing

Test network includes lightweight testnet and heavyweight testnet. Heavyweight testnet is used for large scale networked testnets. For example, Geth is useful for connecting to public networked testnets such as Ropsten. Ropsten is essentially the Ethereum network with free ETH and poor security.
Ropsten is required only when you are getting into the advanced stages of development. An easier way  to connect to Ropsten, is by using MetaMask. “This browser extension provides easy access to Ropsten using the INFURA public Ethereum nodes. This means you do not have to run your local Geth node. MetaMask injects a web3 object into your frontend which is preconfigured to use the public Ropsten network.”
https://karl.tech/intro-guide-to-ethereum-testnets/

Step 8: Deploy on main net

Deploy the application on main network and announce to the world. 
This includes understanding the benefits that the business offers and barriers that one might face while launching the app or after launching the app. McKinsey estimates that B2B payments yield the biggest cross-border revenues for banks, with such transactions representing 75% of all cross-border payments that total to more than $150 trillion in 2015.
Cross-border payments are inept because there is no one single way of global payment system. Five challenges must be overcome to improve the cross-border process:

Infrastructure: Most payment systems are based on local laws and practices within existing domestic banking and financial structures. Hence, domestic infrastructures are not designed to handle cross-border payments.

Standards: The bank and corporate treasury/enterprise systems cannot pass data to each other has there are no common global standards or variations set.

Regulations: Government regulations are changing how payments are made. Due to the varying roles between the originating and receiving country, payments are subject to domestic regulations.

Speed: According to McKinsey research on cross-border payments, the average time to complete a cross-border transaction is three to five business days.

Opacity: It’s usually difficult for senders and receivers to track their payments while the funds are in transit, which makes the delivering time and receiving the final payment a little more cumbersome. Tracing incorrect account numbers can be really difficult in case of an error in transaction.

Conclusion

Blockchain can become a unified protocol that companies would use to write and read data. Transparency can be improved through a shared ledger, the speed of transactions can be increased, and standards can be improved with the help of a distributed ledger technology.
Hence, to understand this in its entirety, start small. Choose a point problem and do MVPs. Since, blockchain technologies are constantly changing, make sure that you can build an app that can build production-grade solutions on top of those MVPs.

App-Scoop blockchain developers can help you create your blockchain MVP for your business.
Contact app-scoop team – https://www.app-scoop.com/contact-us.html

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in the market for a long time but has hit the mainstream market in the year 2017. AI is all around us; Smart Assistants such as Alexa, Cortana, Siri and Google Assistant live in our phones. It’s influencing our search on Google or what we see on our Facebook and Instagram feed. DemandBase reveals that Artificial Intelligence will revolutionize marketing industry by 2020. A report made by Tractica forecasts that Virtual Digital Assistance will reach more than 3.3 billion devices by 2020.
Source:
​https://www.demandbase.com/press-release/marketing-executives-predict-artificial-intelligence-will-revolutionize-marketing-2020/
https://www.tractica.com/newsroom/press-releases/virtual-digital-assistant-technology-is-expanding-beyond-smartphones-to-penetrate-additional-consumer-devices-and-enterprise-markets/

Tamara McCleary, International branding expert and Thulium CEO, Tamara McCleary is ranked by Klear in the Top 1% of global Social Media Influencers stated that, “Artificial Intelligence offers a unique opportunity for brands to harness machines to build a more seamless, engaged, personalized relationship with customers.” She says whether it be talking machines that learn and offer dynamic pricing or integrated chatbots to deliver customer service within a faster timeframe, “AI can facilitate a brand’s understanding of their customer, the market, as well as, the identification of areas of opportunity not currently being served”.

​Further, Principal analyst Peter Cooney expressed the impact of Artificial Intelligence for customers. “Virtual digital assistants represent the fusion of speech recognition, natural language processing (NLP), and artificial intelligence (AI) and hold the potential to have a transformative impact on consumer and enterprise user interfaces. The market is at a stage where the underlying technology is capable of delivering a very robust solution, but there are advancements still to be made across the board to improve digital assistants and drive further market growth and customer acceptance.”

Marketing

Targeted Online Ads
What do you mean by targeted ads? Say for instance, you are scrolling through your Facebook app and you see an advertisement of a trip to Italy. This information is received to the advertisers by using AI marketing tools which will analyze the search terms and user habits to display that advertisement. Hence, for the next couple of hours, you will see posts about travelling to Italy in sidebars. These targeted ads are a great investment for the advertiser because it gives the customer what they are looking for and chances of the sale are much higher.

Automated Customer Service
As we know, more and more companies have been using chatbots for diligent customer service. They are just as effective as using to a customer service executive. Although, at this time they can only handle basic questions, but brands are still trying to push the boundaries.
These chatbots provide 24/7 customer service with almost no waiting and personalized customer experience which is recorded by the AI from the customer history and past interactions. Remember, AI can deal with hundred of hundreds of repetitive, menial tasks and requests with ease. Only the most complex issues will require human intervention.

Apps

AI Integrated Apps will increase
By using Artificial Intelligence algorithms, an app can provide you with ample information. For instance, Kraft Foods iPhone Assistant can guess the number of people in your family and suggest you dishes that you can make from leftovers. It can also make lists for shopping for day-to-day use, special events or holidays. It can also recognise if you have a loyalty card at a supermarket.
Douglas Karr, Founder of the Marketing Technology Blog and CEO stated that a lot o time is spent in configuring and moving data. He predicts that, “the API of the future will be a drag and drop, intuitive user interaction that will move us away from working on the programming problem and closer to simply working on the business problem”.

Improved App User Experience
The purpose of AI is to ensure that your life is refined. It wants to make your daily chores easier so that you can concentrate on the big picture. In the future, apps will interact with only images and voice, leaving the old ‘texting’ behind. Intuitive pages will help us find solutions faster and they will be more precise. For instance, localisation of search engines will help the search be more precise.
Chris Messina, Developer Experience Lead at Uber and who invented the hashtag said that, “AI can help make software experiences more forgiving and flexible. AI can help brands and companies also be more adaptable to the level of sophistication of each customer, making on-boarding funnels smoother and more personalized”.

Personalized Mobile Advertising
Personalized information is the key to good marketing strategies or targeted advertising. The evolution of AI technology wants the customer to experience a user friendly and ‘human like’ machine that gives the correct information at that exact moment. As Sarah Austin, Artificial Intelligence expert says “Personalization requires emotional intelligence.”

Automated Reasoning
With AI in the scenario, we can now give machines a ‘human-like’ capacity by empowering them to purpose in themselves without any human interaction. Once modified, apps are able to examine the user’s activities in the app and provide snappy solutions. For instance, the Uber app uses AI to recommend the most ideal route to the destination by accessing the time of the day and the traffic routes. It does this by analyzing the data from other Uber drivers who have taken similar courses in their past trips.
Jesse Stay, Futurist, Author, Founder and Principal of Stay N Alive states that “controls like Google Home and Amazon Echo will be able to recognize not just what people say, but who’s saying it and tie that to individual accounts and preferences”. She believes that brands need to be looking at APIs for platforms like Smartthings so that they can become a part of the household.

Mobile

Semantic SEO
Voice commands make life so much easier. It’s now very common to give commands to your phone like, “Call mom” or “Call dad” or “search for Chinese restaurants near me”. This is why brands have been investing in the AI that analyses the semantic phrases that link to their product. Voice operated search is mostly used in mobiles hence, the brand needs to make sure that their sites are mobile optimized.

Facial Recognition Software
The facial recognition software allows brands to connect to the users in an unprecedented way. AI technology now can register your face in the data system and can recognize your face in stores and recommend products. As Joel Comm, New York Times Best-Selling Author and Social Influencer said that we want our smartphones to be smarter. The more intuitive the apps get, the faster and more efficient we become. He stated that, “the trick is finding the balance between privacy and convenience”.

Conclusion
Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and get even bigger. The brands are constantly trying to upgrade the lives of their customers by ensuring personalization of their product. The key is to find the right balance between evolution and control. Innovations brought by AI will affect mobile apps and mobile marketing in the same time. If we steer them in the correct direction the effects will by rewarding for app owners, marketers and of course, for the end users.

​After putting in months or years of hard work of creating an app, the most vital thing is rolling it out in the market. The mobile ecosystem is ever-changing and sometimes you might feel lost determining the best marketing strategies for you mobile app promotion. Remember, content is king, so use your words wisely.
Your pre-launch marketing should be stretched out over a period of three months. Condense the most important elements of pre-launch one week before rolling out the app and push the rest of the items to the post-launch roadmap.
Let’s take a look at the 33-Step guide to market you mobile app into the play store and making your app a success. 

 
1.Fix a release date
It is very important that you schedule a launch date taking into account fixes and bugs that you might find during your final review stage. Don’t try to scram in last minute “things to do” just before the app release. For instance, Apple has a strict review process and the changes suggested might delay the process. The hard launch should be planned at a date that you know you wouldn’t have to further delay.

2.Determine the demographics of your user
According to the research done for your app during the planning stage, determine the demographic that you will be targeting. Understand who your target audience is and determine the features that you need to highlight while marketing the app.

3.Competitive analysis
As there are millions of apps in the market, there are definitely quite a few apps that are similar to yours. Make a list of the top 10 competing apps, their current price (if your app is not free), their ranking, their version type, their features, their reviews by the users and then compare them with your app. Think of how your app solves a pain point for the user or find the x-factor that it can offer to users. This will determine your entire marketing strategy.

4.Establish your Unique Value Proposition
As mentioned in the earlier point, determine what makes your app unique and capitalize on that.

5.Define the message of your brand and its positioning
A story behind the app can help you market your app to users that identify with the struggle or the reason your app was made. For example, a helpline app for safety of woman travelling at night (or day) will strike a chord with the female demographic. Here, the brand’s voice will be a woman.

6.Brand styling
Your marketing strategy needs to have a particular font, logo or image that the user will recognize. For instance, if your app has used cartoon images in the app as well as, to promote it, the marketing strategy should revolve around cartoonish elements.

7.Make a pitch deck
If you wish to attract investors to buy into your app, you need to make a visual representation of the story behind your app along with its mission and vision. The pitch deck needs to be concise and easy-to-understand.

8.Prepare your Press Kit
Once your app launches, you will need to send out app details and pitches to several marketing agencies, users or potential investors. You need to create your press kit that has high-res images of your app’s logo, screenshots, marketing images and content that includes information about the app’s functions and features.

9.Create a Media List
In today’s digital world, the best way to PR your app is by using influencers, publications and bloggers that have a huge audience. It’s even better if you filter them according to your app’s target audience. Connect with them and give them a brief about your app. Also, try to work out a promotion strategy with them.

10.Create a website, micro site or landing page
Create a launch page or a small video trailer about your app.

11.Create an address book with the emails acquired
A good marketing plan involves sending emails to users interested in your app. Keep your followers updated on the launch date, new updates, features, etc.

12.Optimize your app for mobile visits
Most searches are done through the mobiles. Ensure that your marketing strategies or tools are optimized for mobile.

13.Establish your monetization strategy
Mobile app monetization can be done through freemium based apps (in-app purchases), ad-supported or subscription-based. Choose your strategy as it is a key element that you need to work with during your app marketing process.

14.App Store Optimization (APO)
App Store Optimization involves optimizing your App Store page to rank higher in search results and convert at a higher rate.

15.Choose a keyword for your app name
A good title for your app will attract users to download your app. Use a keyword that helps the users search for your app. Keyword research is probably the most crucial part of ASO. A great tip would be to create long and short tail keywords.

16.Highlight the features and benefits in the app description
Note down the features and benefits in the app description to attract the users to download the app. List the feature/benefit that makes it different from other apps, first in the list.

17.Add key screenshots and videos in your app description
iOS and Google Play both allow for a short video preview of your app. Use this to show off game play, demo functions to compel users to download it.

18.App category
It is very crucial to select the correct category for your app. For example, if you have made a game that is adventure, don’t categorise it in sports.

19.Create a content marketing strategy
Drive traffic and brand awareness with content and build trust with your users through your content. Create a quality blog with great content and keywords so that it appears on the first page of search engines.

20.Set up social media pages
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other social platforms let you expand your web presence and allow you to directly communicate with your target audience. Regulate your posts and engage with your users through these pages.

21.Set up Google Alerts
Set up a branded keyword alert to track places that users are talking about your app.

22.Create promotional offers/discount coupons
Offer promotion and discount coupons on products in the app or for a partner company. For instance, a coffee shop can have a certain percent of discount on updating a code in the app.

23.Plan contests and give-away gifts
Planning contests is a good way to communicate with the user. The chances are that the user will visit the app more often for playing contests or winning merchandise.

24.Collect reviews
Set up alerts for your users to post a review about the app. After two weeks is the best time to ask for a review.

25.Track user acquisition
Use an attribution platform like AppsFlyer or Kochava to keep track of where your downloads are coming from.

26.Link to your app
Create a link of your app that you use in all forms of communication, it could be emails, posts, images, etc. Anything that interests the viewer could become your potential user if a link is provided in that vey post.

27.Engage with your existing users
It’s imperative that you engage with your current users and hold their interest. You don’t want to end up with users uninstalling your app.

28.Apply for mobile app awards
This can help you reach new networks of potential users.

29.Push notifications
Push notifications have been shown to increase user retention, with statistics showing anywhere from a 56% to a 180% improvement. Users who have opted into receiving push notifications exhibit 88% higher app engagement than those who haven’t.
Reference site: http://info.localytics.com/blog/app-user-retention-improves-in-the-us

30.Focus on customer service
Ensure that if your user is facing difficulty with your app, there is a way that they can contact you. A prompt reply and a solution can really help you gain loyal customers for life.

31.Organize a Burst Campaign
“Burst campaign” is one of the most popular techniques used by mobile app marketers who want to climb the app store ranks. The idea of a burst campaign is to provide a “burst” of exposure for your app in which you aggressively purchase paid media exposure over a short period of time- usually 24 to 72 hours, depending on budget.
The goal is to get as many paid installs as possible, boosting your rank.  All this with the hope of increasing the volume of quality organic installs – that should follow when the app is finally ranked high enough to be discovered.

32.Offer referral bonus
Offer your users a bonus when they advertise or help you spread the word. “With a staggering 3900% growth rate, Dropbox is an excellent example of how powerful referrals can be. The company had just 1,00,000 registered users in 2008, which climbed to a staggering 4,000,000 registered users within a mere 15 month period as a result of their referral program.”
Reference site: https://www.referralsaasquatch.com/dropbox-customer-referral-program-by-the-numbers/

33.Continuous updates and maintenance
Based on the feedback received and the bugs pointed out by the users, ensure that the new version doesn’t have the same. Continuous maintenance and updates for the apps ensures seamless working of the app for the users.
​
Conclusion
These strategies will help you promote your app for a long-term. Engaging with the users is of utmost importance. The marketing strategies should be based on your target audience. The true success of your app does not lie in the number of users or downloads but is based on the functionality and user engagement of your app. 

​It has just been a few years that the entire world has been taken to storm by mobile app development. There is a massive playing field for developers considering that they can deliver on Android and iOS platform. Every need now has an app! For instance, you can sit at your house and order from your favorite restaurant, you can call a cab to your doorstep and even get your house groceries delivered to your doorstep.
Apps that are built for enterprises need to be built for a certain purpose. They should be meticulously planned and carefully decided, only then can a company build a top enterprise mobile app. There have been a lot of instances where businesses have achieved unimaginable success by developing an effective mobile app. 

What if you have an exceptional idea but you don’t have the resources or skill set to make it a reality? The most logical step is to outsource the app development. But when you choose your third-party vendor, you must ensure that you do not making these 7 mistakes.

Weighing Skill and Cost

Firstly, you need to begin with verifying the credentials of the party that you are going to outsource your app. Who were their clients? What apps have they worked on prior? Try and download these apps to understand the look and feel of what the outsourcing developers are capable of.
Coming to the cost aspect, remember that if the developer firm or contractor gives you an exact price tag in five minutes after you’ve described your app to them, there are setting you up to fail. To truly calculate the cost, the developer needs to calculate the functional and non-functional elements and needs several other details. So if he just gives you the cost in a few minutes, it’s definitely a concern.

Functional and Non-Functional Requirements

Document your functional and non-functional needs – don’t make the list too short or too long. Also, don’t try to move too fast and skip the essential details.

Functional Requirements:

• List down the core features
• List the differentiating features
• Mention the functionality of the app
• Jot down the user experience from start to finish

Non-Functional Requirements:

• Ensure that your app is secure for the user, especially if you are developing an e-commerce app where monetary transactions take place.
• The performance of the app should be seamless. This is possible if you understand the usage and guess the amount of users that are going to be using the app. The key is finding the sweet spot where you are not over or under built.
• It’s important to understand the language your app is built on? In case of any discrepancies, can it be taken over by another developer? It’s good to know that in case if things go wrong with the current developer, it doesn’t make impossible to maintain your app. 

Monitoring the Development of Your Project and Communicating your Requirements

The first thing before beginning the project is to prepare the project brief and ensure that everyone is on board. Keep a close eye on the documentation and app development process; don’t assume that people know what to do and what the next logical step might be. Guide them!
If in doubt, spell out the screen, feature, button or project element, clearly, in the scope of work. If you have outsourced your work to an efficient software agency, they will look for gaps in your brief and challenge any assumptions or loopholes that they discover.

Failure to Prototype

After the interface of the app has developed, it is only logical you test out the prototype. It is very important to test the prototype of the app, especially if you are a non-technical founder. Imagine waiting till the end to discover that your app hasn’t turned out the way you wanted it or more than 50% can’t log in to your app or ending up with a complicated and confusing user interface.
Also, the best way to get honest feedback about the app is to make other users test it and mess around with the features of the app.

Product Testing

There are two kinds of product testing approaches; the first one is the manual approach and the second one is the automatic approach.

Manual approach: In this approach, you will need to run through all the different user flows and possible scenes that the user might face while operating your app. If your app uses location services, ensure that the search is based on that particular geographical location. For example, if you are in New York and you get a list of restaurants in China, then your app isn’t meeting your user’s needs.

Automated approach: It’s not always easy to do a manual testing, especially when you have a big app with numerous possibilities. In this case, you can use the automated approach. It runs through basic screen functionality, crash reporting and even how the app would work on different smartphones or iPhones. Automated testing comes at an additional cost, so ensure that the same is discussed with the outsourced agency.

Lack of Code Reviews

As development progresses, it is important to perform consistent code reviews. This is equivalent to being a spellchecker for your code. This applies for both software; Android and iOS development.

Manual codes: While updating manual codes, one must check for syntax, standardization, structure and other vital details. This review should be ideally done by a senior developer, technical architect or team lead.
Static codes: Static codes can be reviewed by several open source tools that run automated reviews and flag security problems. If you are unable to run the reviews, your app developer can run it for you.
Hence, it is important for the outsourcing party to be open to communication and being transparent about the progress and updates on the app. These tests should be run periodically and the results should be shared with you.

Poor Marketing and Ignoring Room for Improvement

You need to treat your Enterprise app like a commercial app. You will need to create interest in the employees about the app. To ensure that the employees use the app regularly, you will need to make them see the benefits and offerings of the app or provide them with a good incentive to log on to the app.
Once the app is rolled out in the Enterprise, you need to collect user feedback. Ignoring the feedback is only going to hamper the number of app users. Your app will be rendered useless in just a short period of time if there aren’t any active users.

Conclusion

If you take into considerations all the points mentioned here, you will steer clear of the mistakes or pitfalls. Remember to manage the project brief, test the prototype and carry out the testing and coding phases. Implement standard meeting with your outsourcing company. So, learn the technical jargon, roll up your sleeves and proceed to outsource your genius idea and turn it into an app.

​It’s been 20 years that the Internet has entered into our lives. In today’s date, we have more than 2 billion users accessing the internet through various technological equipment not only on desktops, laptops, smart phones and tablets but also through everyday devices such as cars, lights, TV, thermostats, etc. Most electrical devices are now attached and controlled via the internet. These devices are “things” in the term commonly used, “internet of things”. 

Origin and Meaning of Internet of Things

Kevin Ashton, digital innovation expert coined the term ‘Internet of Things’ or ‘IoT’ as, “If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best.”
​
Reference: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/kevin-ashton-describes-the-internet-of-things-180953749/

​The Oxford dictionary is has defined IoT as, “The interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.” The IoT is an umbrella term that covers ‘things’ such as sensors, communication technologies, applications, IoT gateways, etc.
Reference: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/internet_of_things
IoT is growing and will continue to grow in 2017 and beyond. Whether it reaches the lofty predictions of 50 billion connected devices by 2020 remains to be seen, but I strongly believe that businesses who learn to harness the data created by the Internet of Things are the ones who will survive and thrive in the future.
Reference: http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/popular-internet-of-things-forecast-of-50-billion-devices-by-2020-is-outdated

The IoT has a unique IP (Internet Protocol) address is allocated to each end point or device. Hence, consumer devices such as fitness trackers are attached to things to make them IoT-enabled. To put in simple terms, the unique IP address of an endpoint allows it identify it via the Internet. It can retrieve and/or send data from/to it.

Examples of IoT

Let’s take a look of a few examples of IoT.

Smart Home

Do you fancy stepping into a cold room before you reach home? Or having hot water in the shower after a tiring meeting? Now, that’s possible with the tip of your fingertips. It’s easy to make a smart home and connect these technological equipments to an app that you can operate over the phone!
A smart home is the new way of living a luxurious life. It’s not as expensive but is very convenient for the end user. More and more people are converting their home into a smart home. It is said that 70% of people who purchased their first smart home device believe they are more likely to purchase more, according to a Smart Home Technology Survey.
https://www.coldwellbanker.com/press-release/2016-is-the-year-smart-home-technology-will-be-mainstream
​
Wearable Technology

Wearable technology is the tomorrow! People no longer want to carry bulky devices, the smaller the device the better. For instance, every mobile company is trying to build a lighter and smaller version of a cell phone with maximum functions.
Wearable technology that has swept the market includes FitBit watches, Apple watches, Wearable music devices, etc. As per research, it is said that there were 78.1 million wearables sold in 2015 and the market is expected to grow to 411 million by 2020.
http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wearables-statistics/

Smart Cars

“It is estimated that a staggering 82 percent of cars will be connected to the internet by 2021. App integration, navigation and diagnostic tools, and even self-driving cars will be ways the Internet of Things transforms the automobile industry.” Currently, the auto industry is investing heavily to determine the next IoT innovation.
http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-of-things-connected-smart-cars-2016-10

Internet of Things – What’s Special?

IoT devices such as cars, fitness devices, electrical devices, etc. have different sensors. These sensors can monitor movement, temperature, moisture levels and location even in the most complex environmental factors.
They make it possible to inject a broad range of data into applications as they are connected to the Internet. This is also possible because of their connectivity features, IP address and a wide range of fix and wireless communication networks.
The outcomes and goals is where the real value of IoT lies. It’s not about the sending and receiving of data only. The reasons that it makes a difference in lives of people are:

• The end result for which people acquire it; for example, people purchase the FitBit in order to keep a record of their fitness levels
• The analysis of data that is where the data is being generated, for example in the cloud or at the edge and the insights that are generated through the analysis

Use Cases for Consumer Internet of Things

Personal Healthcare

A trending use case in the Consumer IoT is personal healthcare. Fitness trackers are very simple devices that helps keeps track of some health-related data and some activity-related data. These are then combined and shown within applications that enable you to improve your personal health, fitness and lifestyle, sometimes with group features.

Track and Trace

A typical so-called cross-industry IoT use case is the tracking of goods, products, people and even pets. As we know, a tracking system sensor allows you to find and follow a person or an object that has the sensor in it.
Track and trace, leveraging IoT, however is also used in the industry, logistics and transportation, often with more complex devices that also provide info on environmental factors and the state of goods. These trackers can be used for something as simple as tracking the location or as complex as tracking a container of goods on a ship in the ocean.

Predictive Maintenance

Let’s understand predictive maintenance with the help of an example. Imagine a vendor of big industrial robots wants to know upfront which robots might needs maintenance. The cost a company faces when these robots break down is very high.
Here, IoT can intervene and predict which robots need to be maintained when and where. This reduces the cost and the customers of the robot manufacturer enjoy great benefits. This IoT requires far more complex systems, devices, networks and platforms to analyze and intervene.

Disadvantages of IoT

With the advantages that the IoT technology offers, there are a few disadvantages attached.
IoT needs to work on the security features of the product to protect it from the hackers. In 2016, millions of devices were hacked and a lot of malfunctioning occurred in the infrastructure.
Users should also ensure that they have a backup and keep their devices secure. 

Bottom Line

This is just a start for the IoT industry. Business have started to now develop and expand the IoT technology in their products, services and operations will realize soon about the competitive advantage that they will have.

The Bitcoin fever has been spreading like wild fire throughout the world. Everyone wants to make some easy money by investing in this crypto currency. Bitcoin works on the blockchain technology. Blockchain was originally created to support the Bitcoin but soon the tech community has started using this technology for other purposes.
Blockchain is the brainchild of a person or a group of people known by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2017, the global blockchain technology market is predicted to reach 339.5 million U.S. dollars in size and is forecast to grow to 2.3 billion U.S. dollars by 2021.
​
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/647231/worldwide-blockchain-technology-market-size/

Don & Alex Tapscott, author of Blockchain Revolution (2016) stated, “The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.” To make this simple, let’s take a look at the three main components of blockchain; the blockchain itself, peer to peer networks and consensus mechanisms. Without these three components, this technology will not be able to render any technical functions.    

Understanding Blockchain

Blockchain is basically structured data; it’s like a ledger file that keeps track of all the financial records. Let’s compare this to a book. The page numbers of the book are equivalent to the ‘blocks’ used in this technology. Just like pages, there are numbered and appear in a chronological order. For example, page number 86 comes between page number 85 and 87. Similarly, blocks have a timestamp. The blocks are added in a chronological order with the latest timestamp forming a chain of blocks.
Blockchain technology is considered to be a secure system because cryptology is used to ensure that nobody can intermingle with the timestamps or blocks. If somebody does so, there is digital evidence in the system. This makes it ideal for handling data structure and to keep track of records of anything that is valuable.
We’ll take an example of Bitcoin to showcase how the blockchain technology works when it comes to data management. When a transaction is made in Bitcoin, the block states ‘who’ sent the information to ‘whom’. The ledger stores the information of the person who owns the Bitcoin at any moment in time; this is called the current ‘state’ of the blockchain.
A transaction only takes place when it is included in a block and added to the chain. This sets a motion of documentation; once the block has been added that state of blockchain is updated which means that it gets stored in the ledger. Hence, if one needs to validate whether someone has actually made a transaction or not, the ledger has to be made publicly available. This is when the next component comes into place – peer-to-peer networks.

Role of Peer to Peer Networks

If you need to check whether someone has made a transaction to the address or wallet, you need to use a blockchain as a ledger for transactional data. This data is downloaded, synchronized and made available to a large number of computers worldwide. These computers are called nodes. To ensure that blockchain is secure and up-to-date, they work together in a peer-to-peer network. Every time a block is added, all the nodes are updated.
The advantages of peer-to-peer network are:

• Blockchains can be checked using a blockchain explorer.
• One does not need to rely only on one party to know the true state of blockchain.
• It makes it difficult for the hackers to hack blockchain because there is no one specified computer or system that needs to be hacked; they will need to hack thousands of computers at the same time.
• Blockchain can never be deleted, because it has to be deleted by all nodes.

There are a few concerns though about checking the data on blockchain. These concerns are addressed by a consensus mechanism, which is the third component of the blockchain.

Understanding Consensus Mechanism

There are a few questions such as:

• How do I know that the data in blockchain is correct?
• How does one know that there are no invalid transactions in the blocks?
• Are there different versions of the blockchain, how do you know which shows the true state of the blockchain?

These questions can be answered, thanks to the cryptographic code that Nakamoto developed for Bitcoin. The consensus mechanism stirs magic: it allows nodes in peer-to-peer network to work together without having to know or trust each other.
 Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, states, “The purpose of a consensus algorithm is to allow for the secure updating of a state according to some specific state transition rules, where the right to perform the state transitions is distributed among (…) users which are given the right to collectively perform transitions through an algorithm.”
Simply explained, this means that the consensus mechanism has a set of rules that makes sure that the network works as intended and stays in sync. The rules of this mechanism are based on how the blocks need to be added to the mechanism, which blocks are considered valid and how conflict of truth is resolved.  Let’s take a look at each rule in detail!

Adding blocks to the chain

Different blockchains add block to the consensus in different ways. Let’s take an example of Bitcoin’s Proof of Work (PoW). The first rule is to add a new block every ten minutes; this process is called mining. Nodes that add a block to the chain are miners; they use computational powers of their computer to solve a cryptographic puzzle. When the puzzle is solved, a block is added to the chain.

Validity of blocks

Once the miner solves the puzzle and mines the block, all nodes in the network check if the block is valid before adding it to the chain. For example, Tom received 1 Bitcoin which it sends later to Katherine. He then tries to send the same Bitcoin to Jack. As soon as Tom sends the Bitcoin to Katherine, the nodes update the blockchain to reflect that Tom doesn’t have any Bitcoin left. Hence, the block that was sent again to Jack would not be valid and will not be added to the chain of blocks.

How conflict of truths are resolved

Sometimes by mistake, two miners add a valid block to the chain at the same time. Imagine that a part of the nodes have accepted one block and another part has accepted the other block. Just like in the above example, one block was accepted for Katherine and the other included the transaction with Jack. The system will end up having two different states of the blockchain at the same time! This is called a fork. The blockchain was forked in two different chains; does Katherin or Jack have Bitcoin? The question remains, which of the two is the ‘true’ blockchain. It’s rather simple – the longest chain wins.
This is just a brief way to understand how distributed ledgers work.

Blockchain – New Web 3.0

This technology gives internet users the ability to create value and by authenticating digital information. Some of the benefits of using blockchain technology and their examples are as below:

Sharing Economy
Blockchain has decentralized sharing of economy by enabling peer-to-peer payments and letting the parties interact directly.

Crowdfunding
Initiative like Kickstarter and Gofundme are doing advanced work for peer-to-peer economy. People want to work independently without a third party being involved. Hence, the blockchain technology can help them create crowd-sourced venture capital funds.
In 2016, one such experiment, the Ethereum-based DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), raised an astonishing $200 million USD in just over two months. Participants purchased “DAO tokens” allowing them to vote on smart contract venture capital investments.
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/ethereum/

Governance 
Since, the peer-to-peer network has a transparent ledger; the company governance becomes fully transparent and verifiable when managing digital assets, equity or information.

File Storage
Decentralized storage of files on the internet has benefits. The distributed data on several servers make it very difficult for hackers to attack or files getting lost. The Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) makes it easy to conceptualize how a distributed web might operate.

Identity Management
The ability to identify your identity is a key factor went it comes to making any digital transaction. Distributed ledgers offer enhanced methods for proving who you are, along with the possibility to digitize personal documents.
“Netki is a startup that aspires to create an SSL standard for the blockchain. Having recently announced a $3.5 million seed round, Netki expects a product launch in early 2017.”
https://www.netki.com/
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Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC)
AML and KYC can be adapted into blockchain to analyze transactions. For example, Startup Polycoin can identify transactions as being suspicious are forwarded on to compliance officers. Another startup, Tradle is developing an application called Trust in Motion (TiM). It allows the users to take a snapshot of key documents and once verified by the bank, they can be stored cryptographically on the blockchain.
https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/innovation/polycoin-launches-blockchain-based-compliance-aml-and-kyc-tools/

Future of Blockchain Technology

“The future of finance could be dominated by blockchain technologies. A traceable global currency complete with an efficient infrastructure will not only result in massive cost reduction for all market participants, it will change global banking.”
https://www.shapingtomorrow.com/home/alert/665529-Future-of–Blockchain

App-Scoop blockchain team can provide more details and guidance on how to build blockchain solution for your business.
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