Provenance is about being able to track or trace financial transactions. It also enables you to trace the ingredients in your food or where your clothes come from (outside of crypto). With provenance, people are able to trace where their government is spending their taxes.
A trustless environment is achieved because of provenance which means that you don’t have to trust anyone but you cant use the math or other scientific methods to verify everything.
Homework on Provenance - Questions
1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
All transactions can be traced, tracked anytime, by anyone, virtually anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.
2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
Normal database separate accounts reporting and transactions recording.
Normal database may have data erased and the information will not be accurate.
Blockchain is like a digital stone, you can add on transactions, but you cannot remove it.
3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Remove the layer of auditing, reporting, presenting transactions and accounts.
Transparent and trustless process, can be relied on to give accurate data without being dependent on any person or entity. As such, source of a raw material can be traced.
How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
Blockchain provides an immutable digital trail of all historical transactions.
Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
It is an immutable and public ledger so it cannot be tampered with, thereby being a verifiable source of data that anyone can verify. Private databases can be modified to suit any agenda and they are generally not available for inspection.
Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
It allows business to verify claims made by their partners.
2.normal or central data bases are more prone to attack from hackers or even from employees.
Through a public ledger so that all transactions can be verified.
Because it can be changed and altered, it is not verified by a network of computers who all share the same data-trail , ie a blockchain.
It’s easy to use, efficient, immutable and public
Blockchain allows for the secure tracing of transactions and by design creates a “trust less” environment.
Normal DBs are centralized and usually controlled by one entity. By design they are high trust environments that not auditable by the public.
Blockchains have the ability to give businesses new insights into their supply chains and/or tracking of their own products. There will be may more new use cases for business as the industry continues to develop.
It’s cast in stone, immutable and no procrastinating 
it’s now, real time
Information can be “massaged” and it’s not real time so there are delays/lags
One can see whats going on, data can be trusted and businesses can be more efficient
How does blockchain enable digital provenance? By decentralizing the information stored on the ledger the network verifies the accuracy of itself by peer node acceptance to any added information.
Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance? There are no node peers for automated oversight. Rather, a centralized database is completely controlled or influenced directly by fallible human influence. It’s like a teacher leaving a kid in the classroom by themselves to take a test. Do you trust that kid to honestly take the test without checking in the teachers drawer for the answer sheet or taking out their phone to look up the answer? Unless the teacher walks in (a company is audited), there is no accountability for a centralized network to ensure the accuracy of it’s information beyond the perception of trust in it’s brand. The only thing holding them back is the threat of the teacher walking in and their integrity… Let’s give the student the benefit of the doubt and assume you trust the database and the database owners, then there is the simple potential for human error or bad actors to easily manipulate the information. You cannot trust people. We’re fallible and we make mistakes all the time. In a centralized database, you have people potentially failing in operating the database intentionally, potentially failing unintentionally by error and people maliciously looking to make you fail for profit or giggles. This assumes the decentralized code is perfect… which, it’s not, because it too is made by humans but it can get close…
Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses? It takes the humans out of the day to day operations. It is far more economically efficient as people cost a lot more than code from a scaling perspective–no need to audit supply chains, no need for local bank employees, no need for government employees to process your passport application, no need for Airbnb or Uber etc. etc. It ensures better quality and consistency for products and services. It ensures accuracy of information. It builds perfect trust (verifiability) between business partnerships and supply chains. Perfect trust with verifiability between organizations and their patrons as well as their investors.
1- Immutable record
2- Database can be manipulated and has no real tracking capabilities
3- Gives transparency , trust-less, can be accessed publicly/privately
1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
Blockchain is like a digital stone, in that you can only add information to it. Erasing information is possible through the use of excessive force, but this is only achievable through controlling the majority of the nodes in the network. The more decentralised a network is, the harder it is for any one node in that network to challenge the consensus of the majority.
The bitcoin blockchain, for example, is a public ledger, where all transactions are traced, tracked, and potentially audited in real time, whether the data is encrypted or not. This allows users of the network to monitor the lineage of transactions relevant to the integrity of their business practices.
‘Don’t trust - verify’ is a common slogan in the crypto and blockchain community, wherein the mathematics built into the code is used to validate and confirm transactions on the blockchain. This scientific approach to verification facilitates digital provenance, making blockchain an ideal solution for businesses looking to improve the strength and sustainability of their supply chains.
2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
Transactions and accounting are separate when using a traditional database - this creates ample room for bad actors to falsify or manipulate the data maliciously, or to serve self-interest.
Blockchain on the other hand, combines accounting and transactions into a single layer of the protocol, adding security to the network against attacks upon the integrity of the data and infrastructure contained within it, as well as circumventing the need for potentially corruptible human auditors.
3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Blockchain extends beyond just cryptocurrency use cases. For example, OriginTrail is a specific company focused on providing provenance to their customers with blockchain technology, enabling supply chains to work together in a collaborative capacity through the automated exchange of traceable data in industries that include farming, fashion, and railway maintenance.
Blockchain is trustless and transparent by design - this is in direct contrast to how supply chains are conventionally run, in that manufactures and producers have to trust that their suppliers are being honest about the sources, quality, and ethical standards kept to with regards to their goods.
There is historically an opaqueness to this information, making it hard to establish the authenticity of claims made by companies concerning the items they sell. The transparency of blockchain technology gives companies confidence and assurance that they are able to reliably produce their wares with efficiency, consistency, and peace of mind.
How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
By having a decentralize permanent public ledger for all to see and verify.
Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
A normal database is controlled by a person or group of people and can be edited anytime.
Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Companies do not have to rely on trust when dealing with any person/business on the blockchain. It is also great for tracking.
1.Blockchain enables digital provenance by digitizing data into the blockchain and knowing that data cannot be removed. This will show where every transaction has been made bringing you data of the origin of the transaction.
Normal data base cannot bring the same provenance because there is a centralized government behind it that can hinder the data.
Digital provenance is beneficial to many businesses because the can track where everything came from.
How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
Provenance is enabled by using the blockchain to register entries of items etc., from inception to its final destination, using verifiable inputs. The ledger which is public will ensure transparency of all activities. The input is immutable, like being set in stone.
Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
As a result of the tool used to input data, changes can be easily made and errors can be prevalent. The data is private and there can be limited or no accountability to the other parties.
Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Provenance brings much value to a product or item of what ever source. As it will prove the origin, makeup and what ever specificities that is necessary to be publicized. For the receiving parties to evaluate as trust worthy and be satisfied. As customer satisfaction and value is what business is about while making profit to ensure longevity.
thanks to he public ledger that’s built in the blockchain technology, any kind of transaction can be traced from start to end.
the problem with a normal database is related to centralization and trust issues. By using the blockchain technology, not only that information is directly verifiable, automated and can’t be manipulated.
Again, by removing the trust issues, making this process efficient, clearly accountable, verifiable even real-time
How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
Blockchain allows tracking of the provenance of every transaction. All transactions are written on the blockchain and cannot be removed (immutability). Blockchain is an open ledger where every transaction can be traced back.
Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
Because in a normal database has a central point of failure, the information is stored on a central database. A transaction can be removed or erased. If the database crashes, data can be lost. And it is probably much more difficult to trace back a transaction.
Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Because it provides real-time auditing and accurate traceability, among other benefits.
Using the public ledger , which is decentralized is a trust less ledger to store all information. Nothing can be manipulated.
With a normal database, you can add or edit actual transactions. It can not be undone like blockchain where it can be tracked and added. There is no possibility or editing any transactions.
In terms of business related, it cuts the middle individual doing the actual auditing. Real time transactions are confirmed resulting quicker , efficient & accurate results.