Oct 19, 2022 - In this project, our research lead reviews what we learned from the music industry’s first wave of blockchain innovation and explores the opportunities in its second wave, including innovations such as non-fungible tokens and metaverse experiences. He looks at the barriers to realizing these opportunities, including risks such as the legal grey area around who holds the intellectual property rights to minting music-related NFTs. He includes excerpts of his in-depth interviews of Scott Cohen, former chief innovation officer, Warner Music Group; Sophie Goossens, partner, Reed Smith; Vaughn McKenzie-Landell, CEO and co-founder of JAAK; and Chr...

Sep 28, 2022 - Web 3 is a set of technologies that combine into new classes of digital services. Web 1 refers to the read-only Internet (1980s–early 2000s) where most users consumed content like encyclopedia entries, directories, and catalogs. Web 2 refers to the read-write Internet (early 2000s–2020) with many killer apps like Google search and Facebook for finding, collaborating, and transacting with each other online. Web 3 is the read-write-own Internet (2020–today), based on blockchain protocols that support online privacy, self-sovereign identity, and property rights to digital assets.

Apr 28, 2022 - Led by an expert at Polsinelli PC, an Am Law 100 firm, this project examines the convergence of three technologies—blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things—within individual innovations, with a focus on patents. It identifies the most prolific patent applicants by country, company, and inventor. It also describes fascinating examples of “trivergence” in supply chains, transportation and automotive (BMW, Daimler, and Hyundai), and the additive manufacturing of medical devices, to name a few. Pure Storage tops the enterprise leaderboard, along with Intel, American Express Travel Services, Baidu, Tencent, ...

Jul 11, 2022 - This research brief lays out a taxonomy of nine digital asset categories, including tokens for exchanges, natural assets, platform governance, and smart contracting protocols. For each category, it provides a definition with examples of the asset’s creation and usage. It also explains the asset category’s disruptive effects on financial services and the global economy. The brief is ideal for leaders who want a quick overview of these important financial innovations.

Oct 29, 2021 - In recent months, popularity of non-fungible tokens has soared again, at a new level of maturity in tools, infrastructure, and proven use cases. These advances have catalyzed the interest of enterprise leaders seeking to understand the value of NFTs in their businesses. This project focuses on what companies should know about this fledgling industry for unique digital assets. NFTs present opportunities to tokenize intellectual property, reputation, conversations, tangible assets, and new ways to engage customers, employees, and communities. From social media and online gaming to enterprise software and physical goods, organizations should fin...

Mar 31, 2022 - Today we’re witnessing a Cambrian explosion of metaverses driven by technological advances in software, hardware, and bandwidth and bursts of creativity in gaming, social experiences, and enterprise use cases. In these virtual-reality environments, blockchains protect individual rights, identities, and assets in a decentralized manner, and support token-driven incentive systems. This research presents the latest developments in the marketplace, the tenets of successful metaverses (e.g., openness, transparency of rewards, enforceable rules of engagement), and the role of blockchain innovation. Businesses and governments as well as healthcare...