Blockchain’s Impact on the Localisation Industry
The blockchain is an incorruptible digital storehouse made up of economic transactions that can be designed to record financial transactions and virtually value. The data is not stored at any specific location therefore the documents are public and are easily verifiable. There is no centralised version of information that a hacker can corrupt. Simultaneously hosted by millions of machines, the data is available to anyone on the Internet.
Public v/s Private Blockchain
A Public Blockchain is a blockchain that does not require any permission. Anyone can join the blockchain network, which means people can read, write, or connect with a public blockchain. Public blockchains are reliable and decentralised, which means that no one has the power over the network. Once validated on the blockchain, the data cannot be modified.
A Private Blockchain, on the other hand, is an authorised blockchain. Permitted networks place restrictions on who is allowed to join the network based on their transactions.
Source — Western Digital Blog
Smart Contacts: Where Localisation Comes into Play
Smart contracts are computer codes designed to digitally promote, check or execute a contract’s negotiation or performance. Smart contracts enable valid transactions to be carried out without third parties. These transactions are permanent and traceable.
Smart contracts may play a vital role in the localisation industry soon, especially in supply chain interaction. Companies emphasise that they need international currencies. Many emerging markets may not be able to access Paypal and AliPay, thus barring several low budget translators from entering the business. It could drastically increase the talent pool and reduce labour costs if cryptocurrency is implemented.
The other major pain in the language industry, apart from foreign payments, is that businesses often need vendors to operate in secure, supervised internet environments to avoid information leakage. This not only reduces flexibility for those who can execute the work and on which systems but also increases the labour costs.
Where reputation and reliability play a significant role in language services such as translation and localisation, a blockchain may provide a way to verify past success and legitimacy of vendors. For example, a permanent record of data such as timeliness and customer satisfaction can be encrypted for public reference ,thus helping in rewarding high-performance translators while providing a better chance for clients to hire the right people for their needs. On the other hand, a blockchain may also provide a framework for claiming content ownership, allowing translators and consumers to protect their work, or distribute it as compensation.
By changing how assets are tracked, contract agreements defined and enforced, and payments made, blockchain has a significant potential to change the landscape of every industry. It is hard to predict when the tools, processes and business practices of the language industry will migrate to blockchain, but sooner or later they hopefully will!
By Prajal Narain
Team Loc-N-Apps
