At a Glance

Understand blockchain technology and how it can solve business problems. Learn the basics of developing applications with chaincode.

About this course

Blockchain is an emerging technology that can radically improve banking, supply chain, and other transaction networks and can create new opportunities for innovation. Businesses contain many examples of networks of individuals and organizations that collaborate to create value and wealth. These networks work together in markets that exchange assets in the form of goods and services between the participants.

Blockchain technology provides the basis for a dynamic shared ledger that can be applied to save time when recording transactions between parties, remove costs associated with intermediaries, and reduce risks of fraud and tampering. 

The video lectures and lab in this course help you learn about blockchain for business and explore key use cases that demonstrate how the technology adds value.

Course outline

Course outline

Module 1 - Discover Blockchain

• What is blockchain
  
• The business backdrop
  
• The problem area
• Relation to bitcoin
• Requirements for blockchain in a business environment
• Requirements deep dive

Module 2 - Leverage blockchain benefits

• Why blockchain is relevant for business
• Consensus: shared reference data example
• Provenance: supply chain example
• Immutability: audit and compliance example
• Finality: letter of credit example
• Industry use cases
• Customer adoption

Module 3 - Transform your business with blockchain

• IBM and Hyperledger relationship: Blockchain for business
  
• Hyperledger Composer
  
• Public references
• IBM engagement model

Demo - Blockchain asset transfer

• Transfer assets in blockchain
  
• Blockchain asset transfer demo
  

Lab - Transfer assets

• Set up the Hyperledger Composer Playground
• Transfer assets in a blockchain network
  
• Explore editor views archive data

Prerequisite skills

• None

Prerequisite software

None

Grading

• The minimum passing grade for the course is 70%. Review questions are worth 40%, and the final exam is worth 60% of the total course grade.
• You get 1 attempt to take the exam with multiple attempts per question.

Course Staff

Ant Cole

Ant Cole has been with IBM since 2010. His most recent role is World Wide Blockchain Enablement, creating education material, courses, and finding the best way to spread that knowledge about the possible business applications and technical capabilities of a blockchain for business both internally and externally.

Dave Gorman

Dave Gorman works in World Wide Blockchain Enablement for IBM and engages clients about blockchain as applied to business networks.