Blockchain technology first emerged in 2008 with Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, followed by the genesis block two months later. While blockchain initially revolutionized financial systems, its core features—decentralization, immutability, and transparency—have since expanded into multiple industries. Today, beyond cryptocurrency and finance, blockchain is transforming sectors like retail, insurance, healthcare, and digital copyright. This article explores four real-world implementations in Taiwan that demonstrate how blockchain is solving industry challenges and improving user experiences.
The following use cases highlight practical applications where blockchain enhances data security, streamlines operations, and empowers individuals with greater control over their personal information.
👉 Discover how blockchain is reshaping industries beyond finance
1. Blockchain in Retail: The New Retail Consortium Chain
Building a Consumer-Centric, Data-Driven Ecosystem
The New Retail Consortium Chain is a collaborative project led by the Institute for Information Industry (III), Chunghwa Post Logistics (a leading logistics provider), NetOne Communications (a customer engagement specialist), and CTBC Bank (handling financial flows). Together, they’ve developed a blockchain-powered smart retail ecosystem centered around consumer data.
By integrating supply chain management and data collaboration, this platform enables real-time, secure information sharing across brands, logistics providers, financial institutions, and marketing agencies—all while maintaining privacy through advanced encryption.
Each business agent on the network uses both symmetric and asymmetric key encryption to transmit data securely to multiple parties. Only authorized participants can access sensitive documents, ensuring confidentiality without sacrificing efficiency.
Industry Benefits
End-to-end consumer-centric commerce services
- Brands gain deeper insights into customer behavior and delivery status.
- Consumers can track product authenticity and shipment progress in real time.
- Logistics providers share accurate shipping and delivery data across the chain.
- Banks verify and process payments with greater speed and transparency.
- Marketing and data firms can track data usage, authorization, and ad performance within a trusted environment.
- Third-party researchers gain secure access to anonymized transaction data for market analysis.
This model shifts retail from siloed operations to a transparent, interconnected network—where data flows securely and efficiently across stakeholders.
👉 See how blockchain enables secure data collaboration in retail
2. Blockchain in Insurance: Streamlining Claims Processing
Patient-Controlled Data Sharing for Faster Payouts
Taiwan Life Insurance partnered with Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital to launch the eClaim Blockchain Service, a system that connects healthcare providers and insurers through a secure blockchain network. When policyholders grant consent, their medical records—such as diagnosis reports, imaging data, or medical summaries—are automatically shared with the insurance company.
This eliminates the need for patients to manually request paper records or visit hospitals for documentation. Instead, the entire claims process becomes digital, faster, and more transparent.
CTBC Financial Group also adopted blockchain to transmit claim-related documents securely, accelerating the assessment of payout amounts and significantly reducing processing time.
Industry Benefits
Faster claims, better customer experience
- Policyholders choose exactly which data to share and with whom.
- Every data transfer is recorded on the blockchain, providing a clear audit trail of who accessed what and when.
- Paperless claims reduce administrative burden and turnaround time—some payouts are processed in hours instead of weeks.
- Patients gain portable medical records, which can be reused for future consultations or second opinions.
- Cross-industry trust is strengthened through decentralized verification, reducing fraud and errors.
Blockchain empowers individuals with ownership of their health data while enabling insurers to deliver faster, more reliable service.
3. Blockchain in Healthcare: Secure Medical Record Exchange in Remote Areas
Bridging Gaps in Island and Rural Healthcare
In remote regions like Taiwan’s outlying islands, accessing patient medical histories has traditionally been difficult due to fragmented systems. The Island Medical Record Exchange Platform leverages blockchain to solve this by enabling instant, secure sharing of medical data.
Using a mobile app, patients sign digital consent forms secured by blockchain-based certificates. These signed consents are stored across the blockchain network, making them tamper-proof and instantly verifiable. Doctors can then access authorized medical records from any device—without needing physical smart cards or specialized hardware.
During mobile clinics on islands, healthcare providers use a proxy authorization app to retrieve patient histories in real time. This allows them to adjust medications or provide new treatment recommendations immediately—improving care quality and response time.
Industry Benefits
Dynamic consent management with full traceability
- Eliminates the need for three traditional cards: medical personnel card, NHI card, and machine card.
- Accessible on smartphones, tablets, and computers—anytime, anywhere.
- Patients can modify or revoke access permissions at any time. All changes are instantly logged on the blockchain.
- Supports future expansion to other digital medical consents (e.g., surgery authorization, clinical trial participation).
- Ensures compliance with data privacy regulations through transparent audit logs.
This application showcases how blockchain can democratize healthcare access—especially in underserved areas—by making medical records both secure and portable.
4. Blockchain in Music Copyright: Transparent Royalty Distribution
Protecting Creators with Immutable Digital Rights
Music creators often struggle with copyright disputes and delayed royalty payments due to opaque ownership structures. Blockchain offers a solution by enabling digital copyright registration through immutable ledgers.
Artists upload their work—lyrics, audio files, or composition drafts—to a blockchain network. The system records the creation timeline, ownership percentages among collaborators, and royalty distribution rules via smart contracts. When a song is used (e.g., streamed or licensed), payments are automatically distributed to all rights holders based on pre-defined agreements.
This eliminates intermediaries and reduces conflicts over credit or compensation.
Industry Benefits
Provable ownership and instant payouts
- Blockchain’s transparency makes it easy to verify authorship and track content usage.
- Smart contracts allow creators to update licensing fees dynamically, fostering a more responsive music market.
- In case of copyright disputes, blockchain-stored records serve as court-admissible evidence.
- Detailed analytics help artists understand how their music is being used—enabling data-driven decisions for future releases or collaborations.
- Encourages fair compensation across global platforms, especially for independent musicians.
Blockchain transforms music rights management from a complex legal process into a streamlined, automated system that protects creators and rewards innovation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: How does blockchain ensure data security in these applications?
A: Blockchain uses cryptographic hashing and decentralized storage to prevent unauthorized access and tampering. Once data is recorded, it cannot be altered without consensus across the network.
Q: Can patients revoke access to their medical data after granting it?
A: Yes. Through blockchain-based dynamic consent systems, users can modify or terminate access permissions at any time. All changes are immutably recorded.
Q: Is blockchain only useful for financial applications?
A: No. While it originated in finance, blockchain’s ability to provide transparency, traceability, and trust makes it valuable in healthcare, supply chains, intellectual property, and more.
Q: How do smart contracts work in music copyright?
A: Smart contracts automatically execute royalty payments when predefined conditions (like a stream or download) are met, ensuring creators are paid fairly and instantly.
Q: Are these blockchain solutions scalable for nationwide use?
A: Yes. Pilot programs in Taiwan have shown promising results, and many are designed with modular architectures that support expansion across regions and institutions.
Q: Do users need technical knowledge to benefit from these systems?
A: Not necessarily. Most applications feature user-friendly interfaces (like mobile apps) that abstract away technical complexity while delivering blockchain’s benefits behind the scenes.
Blockchain is no longer just a buzzword—it's a transformative tool being adopted across industries to solve real problems. From enhancing retail transparency to securing medical records and empowering artists with fair compensation, these four cases illustrate how blockchain delivers tangible value beyond cryptocurrency.
As adoption grows, we can expect more innovative use cases that prioritize user control, data integrity, and operational efficiency.