O fenômeno blockchain na perspectiva da estratégia tecnológica: uma análise de conteúdo por meio da descoberta de conhecimento em texto

Abstract

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) revolution made companies realize the importance of technology strategy for their survival. Blockchain is a decentralized transaction and data management technology first developed for the bitcoin digital currency. The interest in blockchain technology has increased since the idea was coined. This interest has made this phenomenon one of the main topics of research and publication on the Web. The main objective of this paper is to understand how the blockchain phenomenon is impacting technology strategy. To do so, an exploratory study was conducted using the Knowledge Discovery in Text (KDT) process, with the use of text mining tools, to collect and analyze the contents of a set of news published on the Web about blockchain technology. At total, 2605 blockchain web news were extracted, all news were published between the years of 2015 and 2017, in the English language. As a result of the study, 6 propositions were generated, in which the results showed that this phenomenon is impacting the technology strategy of the financial industry, directing the focus of this sector to the implementation of solutions using decentralized architectures. It was also verified that the companies’ strategic technological focus boosted the development of private blockchain technologies. Additionally, was identified the benefits brought by this technology to cross-border payment systems, reducing intermediaries and improving processes. Also, it was possible to map out that this technology has the potential to affect the transactions through a common electronic platform. In relation to the degree of maturity of this technology, a discussion of the findings with the theory of the diffusion of innovation was made and it is concluded that this technology is in the threshold between the categories of Innovators and Early Adopters. The map produced by this research will help companies and professionals in identifying opportunities to target their technology strategies to blockchain technology.