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How Smart EMR Systems Transform Health Delivery through Advanced Tech

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
Content:

Healthcare is a vital industry worldwide, but it is also a complex and constantly evolving one. One of the most significant changes is the shift from paper-based medical records to electronic medical records (EMR). Electronic medical records have become essential to healthcare, transforming how healthcare providers store and access patient information.  

Read also: WHAT IS EHR (ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD), AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

However, with the increasing amount of data being collected, it can be overwhelming for doctors and nurses to keep track of everything. That’s where Smart EMR comes in. Smart EMRs have the potential to elevate and enhance the quality of medical care, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety by digitizing health information and streamlining the process of transmitting it between diverse parties. 

The value of the smart healthcare market worldwide is projected to go from $153.6 billion in 2021 to reach $840.83 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.4%. The expansion of the industry is due in large part to the rising popularity of mobile health apps and the Internet of Things. In the long run, smart technology will allow hospitals and clinics to run more smoothly, save money, and improve the health of their patients.

In this article, we will explore what Smart EMRs are, their architecture, how they work, and their benefits. 

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What is Smart EMR?

Smart EMR is a cloud-based electronic medical record system that allows medical professionals within an organization to view patient records from anywhere in the world. All they need to do is log into the cloud-based Smart EMR system via a computer, tablet, or smartphone, and they will have instantaneous access to their patient’s medical records. 

Its goal is to obtain health assessments that are as accurate as possible and help in patient care by spreading important information and bringing attention to possible risks.

smart emr systems

Functional Aspects of a Smart EMR

Smart EMR keeps track of a huge number of patient health records in an organized way by using some functional parts. Below are some of the functional parts of a Smart EMR

  1. Personal Records: This is part of a smart EMR that contains the entirety of a patient’s medical history. 
  2. Virtual Health Record: refers to Smart EMR’s central component, which generates and maintains people’s personal records within a healthcare organization.  VHR relies on specific information about the patient’s condition that is readily available. VHR collects this information in order to learn about a person’s general health, medical background, and the services provided to them as a whole.
  3. Intelligent Agent or Broker: Created by the Smart EMR, this represents the health of an individual by using data from that person’s Virtual Health Record (VHR). The intelligent or smart agent then communicates with medical staff to tell them about a patient’s overall health, suggest potential treatments, and aid in the process of diagnosing and treating the patient1.
Read also: FHIR STANDARD: THE CRUCIAL HEALTHCARE DATA SOLUTION FOR SECURE INTEROPERABILITY

Smart EMR’s Architecture

Three main components make up the Smart EMR software system. The layers are easy to tell apart based on what they do and what kind of technology they use. Several parts make up each successive layer.

The first layer of the Smart EMR is made up of local applications that connect the VHR to other care and health systems. It is made up of RFID tags, sensors, or other smart objects and devices that watch their immediate surroundings for changes that could affect a patient’s health and care and then report those changes to a virtual health record (VHR). 

In order to alert people or alter their surroundings, the VHR sends commands to actuators, which then carry them out. A different driver controls each of these context devices, which use a variety of different protocols to send or receive data to or from the second layer.

Users (including patients, healthcare providers, etc.) can also gain immediate access to the Smart EHR via this layer. They are able to do this through the smart EMR’s dashboards, which provide insights into analytics and health event processing, as well as its mobile apps, web-based front-ends, and portals for user interaction.

To fully incorporate the components of the first layer into the system, a second layer of adapters and wrappers is required. The main job of the second layer is to manage the devices in the first layer, which is needed for the system integration of the first layer to work. 

With this layer, devices can be found, and their access can be controlled. They can also be added or removed from a network, locked or unlocked, their functions can be turned on or off, and their availability can be tracked, among other things.

In the third tier, referred to as “data communication and integration,” messages are compiled and sent out. All three access methods to the VHR utilize its unified service interface. As an added bonus, it sends out VHR alerts to everyone who has subscribed to the service. 

The Intelligent Broker is the backbone of the Smart EMR software system architecture and a key part of this layer. Here, messages from different sources that use different communication protocols (like HTTP/HTTPS, application-specific, or message queuing protocols) can be processed, enriched, and combined before being sent to their respective destinations.

How does smart emr work

How Does Smart EMR Work?

Using a three-stage process, Smart EMR records events as they unfold in the real world in the virtual one, thus bringing the real world into the virtual one. These steps are highlighted below:

Read also: HOW THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY BENEFITS FROM HYBRID CLOUD SOLUTIONS

Smart EMR digitally compiles any key observations made over time by healthcare providers regarding the individual’s health, including observations of her/his living environment and lifestyle;

Smart EMR puts all the readings and observations gotten in step one in context by determining how they relate to one another using a digitized version of a traditional model of health and wellness;

It then uses the analytical processing of all of this data to recreate in the virtual environment parts of reality that are important to the health of the person. Doing this can help paint a more complete picture and analysis of the patient’s health, which may be used to inform and improve subsequent diagnostic and therapeutic efforts. The smart analysis of an individual’s health is known as the “Health Digital State (HDS).”

Benefits of Smart EMR

The services supplied by a smart EMR go above and beyond what is possible with conventional EMRs. A few of such benefits include:

  • Coverage

Because the Smart EMR’s business domain is richer in concepts and semantic links, the Smart EMRs are far more helpful, powerful, and adaptable than present EMRs.

benefits of smart ehrs

  • Rapid Decision Making

Smart EMRs are more concerned with treatment procedures than with the mere administration of patient records. By this method, doctors can get a more complete picture of their patient’s health and use that to make more informed recommendations on the best course of therapy.

  • Extended Patient Analytics

Using data analytics, Smart EMR can give detailed answers to questions about a patient’s current health and medical history. It can also support any multi-criteria decision-support logic to ensure care is given according to evidence-based best practices. It also considers the results of any credible claim about how the population’s health has changed over time.

  • Improved Care Delivery

The Smart EMR’s proactive nature means it is more than just a reliable data repository; it is an integral element of a team effort that benefits everyone involved in providing high-quality, person-centered care.

  • Streamlined Workflows

Healthcare professionals’ workflows that rely on evidence-based decisions and the wide range of quality management and outcome reporting services can all be effectively supported by Smart EMR.

  • Digital Health State

Smart EMR can create a digital surrogate of an individual’s true health from its collection of information and knowledge, hence promoting novel situations in health and care systems. Experts refer to this as the “digital health state.” 

Implementation and Integration of Smart EMRs in Healthcare Settings

steps to integrating smart emr systems

Putting these systems into place and making sure they work together can be a complicated process that needs careful planning and thought. We’ll discuss some of the steps in the implementation below.

Read also: HOW TO MAKE EHR/EMR EPIC INTEGRATION WITH YOUR HEALTH APP

Implementing smart EMRs begins with an evaluation of your organization’s readiness. The current IT infrastructure and readiness to adopt new technologies must be checked. During the process, potential implementation barriers are identified and mitigated. Key stakeholders must come in this process, including clinicians, administrators, and software development experts.

The vendor should have a proven track record in developing and implementing smart EMRs and the ability to customize the system to meet the organization’s specific needs. Involve healthcare professionals in the provider selection to ensure the system meets their needs and workflows.

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Work with your Smart EMR provider to configure and customize the system to meet your needs. At this stage, you’ll need to map out workflows and integrate them with other IT systems within the organization, such as electronic prescribing and laboratory information systems.

Educate your healthcare staff on how to use the system effectively, including entering data, retrieving information, and interpreting the system’s output. Make sure the training and actively provide support so that ensure that employees become comfortable with using the system.

hipaa compliance in ehrs

Establish policies and procedures for using smart EMRs. Some policies include defining roles and responsibilities, access controls and security measures, and ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations, such as HIPAA.

Read also: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE ON MOBILE APP HIPAA COMPLIANCE

Conclusion

As the healthcare industry continues to change, there is no doubt that smart EMRs will play an increasingly important role in giving high-quality, patient-centered care. It is exciting to think about how smart EMRs could keep changing the healthcare industry and making people’s health better all over the world.

While there are challenges (like cost, data security and privacy concerns, staff training, limited access, etc)  to implementing smart EMR, the potential benefits are too significant to ignore. As time goes on, we can expect more healthcare providers to adopt smart EMRs to improve their quality of care.

Are you looking for a way to streamline your medical practice’s workflow and your healthcare software with the latest technology?

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Data Security for Healthcare: Top Methods, Challenges and Benefits of Implementation

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
Content:

Isn’t it strange that despite all the talk about data security in healthcare, often there’s little action taken? Imagine finding out about a data breach only after losing valuable information! This was the reality for Professional Finance Company, a healthcare debt collector in Colorado. They experienced a cyberattack that affected nearly 2 million people. Although no misuse of private information was found, the final outcome remains uncertain.

But the risk doesn’t stop at late detection. Data breaches can be expensive, sometimes even forcing businesses to shut down or pay massive fines. If you’re in the medical field dealing with patient information, securing that data isn’t just important—it’s absolutely vital. However, the complexity of data security can lead teams to take shortcuts. In this article, we’re going to discuss how to overcome the challenges of keeping health data safe.

Read also: HEALTHCARE CYBERSECURITY: HOW TO PROTECT PATIENT DATA

Data Security: What Does It Mean in Healthcare?

Healthcare data security means protecting patient information. This could be personal details, medical history, or financial facts. The aim is to prevent unauthorized access, modification, or destruction of this data.

Let’s illustrate this with a scenario: a patient is moving to a new city and needs to transfer their medical records to a new doctor. In this situation, data security becomes vital. It ensures that the patient’s information remains safe during the transfer.

But how does this information move around in a healthcare ecosystem? Let’s break it down into steps:

  • Both doctors must use secure ways to send the patient’s records. It stops others from peeking in.
  • The new specialist must check who’s sending the records. This ensures it’s coming from the right place.
  • Only people allowed to see the records should have access. You can do this  by setting clear rules on who can see what.
  • The patient’s details must stay the same during the move. Checks are used to make sure nothing’s been changed.
  • Once the new doctor gets the records, they must store them safely. This keeps the data risk-proof both while it’s being sent and when it’s arrived.

    THE HEALTHCARE ECOSYSTEMS: A TOUR THROUGH THE HEALTH-INTERCONNECTED WORLD Read also:

Securing Patient Records: Why You Should Care 

We’ll kick off with a few statistics to appreciate the value of data-proof strategies in healthcare.

How Often Does Data Get Stolen? 

Reports say the number of information thefts each year has tripled. It went from nearly 200 in 2010 to over 700 in 2022. In 2022 alone, more than 52 million people had their health information stolen in these breaches.

What’s the Cost? 

According to a 2022 survey, the average cost of a healthcare data breach has hit double digits for the first time. It’s jumped to a record high of $10.1 million. That’s 9.4% more than in 2021 and 41.6% more than in 2020.

While these figures may seem overwhelming, they also highlight the urgent need for improved safety. Recognizing the benefits of data protection can inspire proactive steps towards enhancement. Here’s what a secure strategy can offer you:

Trust is key between patients and doctors. Good data security means patients feel safe sharing their information. This leads to better care.

Secure and up-to-date patient data helps doctors make better decisions. It lets them give personalized care and reduces mistakes.

Medical organizations have to follow data protection rules. For example, Americans have HIPAA, and Europe, the GDPR. These rules need strict data security to keep patient info safe. By keeping data safe, your company can meet the demands and avoid legal problems.

The healthcare sector is a common target for cyberattacks. Good data security helps protect patient info from theft and fraud.

Data breaches can cost a lot of money and harm an organization’s reputation. Prioritizing data security can help protect against these losses.

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The Three Pillars of Data Security to Address

Data security has three main principles: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. They are known as the CIA triad. We’ll explore each one.

Confidentiality keeps information private. To do this, we use:

  • Access Controls: Limiting who can see data based on roles or permissions.
  • Encryption: Scrambling data so only authorized users can understand it.
  • Authentication and Authorization: Checking user identities and permissions.

Integrity means keeping data accurate and consistent. In practice, this means:

  • Hashing and Digital Signatures: Using math (cryptographic algorithms) to make sure data hasn’t changed.
  • Change Control and Auditing: Tracking changes and looking for unauthorized edits.
  • Data Validation and Input Sanitization: Checking and cleaning data to prevent issues.

Availability means making sure data is accessible when needed. It entails:

  • Redundancy and Fault Tolerance: Using backup systems to prevent disruptions.
  • Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning: Making plans for dealing with outages.
  • Security Measures to Prevent Downtime: Protecting against threats that could cause downtime.

    THE APP SOLUTIONS – CUSTOM HEALTHCARE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMPANYRead also:

Techniques for Ensuring Healthcare Data Protection

You might be wondering about the best practices to protect information. Here’s what you should do: 

One key aspect is robust access keys. They allow employees to see only the data they need for their job, which helps reduce unauthorized access. Unique passwords that change frequently, combined with multi-factor authentication, also offer additional layers of security.

Encryption plays a role in protecting data, both when it’s stored and during transfer. Using encryption protocols like AES or RSA makes stored data unreadable to unauthorized users. To protect data from being intercepted while being sent, secure communication protocols like HTTPS or SSL/TLS come in handy.

Update Systems and Apply Patches Regularly

Systems upgrades and applying can help fix known security issues and make systems safer. A vulnerability management program can help find and fix security risks.

How frequently do you check your network to identify weaknesses and gaps? Creating action plans allows addressing risks and enhancing data security. A backup and disaster recovery plan safeguards information from loss during system failures or attacks. With regular backups and a well-designed disaster recovery plan, we can restore systems and details quickly after problems occur.

Another key step is setting up intrusion detection systems. Recent stats are concerning. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports 80% of healthcare breaches come from hacking. Unauthorized access makes up another 15%. You can find and stop unauthorized access attempts timely. Meanwhile, auditing access logs helps spot and investigate suspicious activities.

Negligent employees are a big problem. They cause 61% of healthcare data breach threats. Luckily, healthcare groups are improving. They’re getting better at spotting insider breaches. They’re also better at reporting these to the Office for Civil Rights. What kinds of incidents are we talking about? Employee errors, carelessness, spying on medical records, and even data theft by bad insiders. You can provide all-inclusive training about HIPAA and security standards. Technologies that monitor access to medical records also reduce these breaches.

Read also: 2023 MARKET OVERVIEW: FEATURES, COSTS, AND BENEFITS OF HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

Healthcare Data Security: Obstacles and Mitigation Tips

A report by Singapore-based Cyber Risk Management (CyRiM) highlights healthcare as a sector greatly affected by cybercrimes. Hackers usually target healthcare and finance industries, with 15% and 10% of attacks respectively. In the last two years, the healthcare sector lost $25 billion.

It’s obvious that medical firms face critical data security challenges. Below are a few of them and how to curb them. 

Interconnected systems, such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), often interface with third-party applications. While this integration enhances functionality, it can also inadvertently create vulnerabilities and expose sensitive information.

Solution: Maintain an inventory of connected devices, conduct vulnerability assessments, and implement network segmentation.

Even in the best of workplaces, disgruntled employees are a reality. This can potentially lead to insider threats, endangering the company’s security and potentially compromising sensitive details.

Solution: Remove previous staff from all your networks and educate current ones about the costly implications of leaking data.

Establishing a robust defense system can be a costly endeavor, often beyond the financial reach of smaller hospitals. Consequently, these institutions may find themselves lacking the necessary resources and expertise to ensure adequate IT security.

Solution: Use managed security services or collaborate with cybersecurity partners. Prioritize security investments based on risk assessments.

With the advancement of technology, cyber attacks are also evolving. Actors continually adopt new strategies to compromise healthcare information, making the digital landscape an ever-changing battlefield.

Solution: Create a proactive cybersecurity program with threat intelligence, penetration testing, and incident response planning. Stay informed about emerging threats and best practices.

Conclusion

The root of the problem lies in the foundation. If you’re developing medical software and don’t prioritize IT security, you could run into major issues. The choice of the vendor matters! How well do they understand healthcare systems? Do they comply with HIPAA rules? These aren’t questions to take lightly. At The APP Solutions, security is our top priority. We leverage AI and machine learning to create the safest networks possible.

Are you tired of unpredictable security? Do you want to nip potential threats in the bud? If so, get in touch with us.

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Predictive Analytics and Data Mining: Know the Difference

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
Content:

Today, there is so much information in the world that no human brain can process it. Just imagine, when surfing your favorite social network, you see, not relevant content from friends and interest groups in the feed, but in general, everything that anyone has ever added there. In a word, chaos and confusion! Few people would like this.

To avoid this, companies working with big data use various methods to analyze the video/audio and text content they have so that every consumer of goods or services remains satisfied and active on the site for as long as possible.

predictive-analytics-and-data-mining

These methods include predictive analytics and data mining. They are often confused, considering that they are about the same thing. However, there is a difference, although it can’t be denied that the goal is the same – to lure as many consumers as possible under your commercial umbrella. One comes out of the other.

To explain the difference between data mining and predictive analytics, let’s first talk about each method.

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What is Data Mining?

Data Mining is the process of simplifying and generalizing a colossal amount of data in a humanly-understandable way using machine learning technologies. During this process, various clusters of information are discovered, analyzed, sorted, and classified.

Thus, patterns are revealed based on which it is possible to draw certain conclusions and decide what to do next with the results obtained.

data-mining-process-benefits

Depending on the subtlety of the customization, you can get hyper-precise results that will work for almost every client in a personalized way. According to a Microstrategy report, 92% of respondents plan to roll out advanced analytics capabilities in their organizations.

Data mining is also used in risk management, cybersecurity, and software optimization in addition to forecasting the demand for goods/services and predicting behavioral factors.

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS VS. MACHINE LEARNING: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE

What is Predictive Analytics?

Predictive analytics is the process of extracting valuable data from an existing system and then identifying specific trends and tendencies, based on which you can plan further business steps. Then, based on previous experience, future results are modeled by using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

This does not mean a 100% likelihood of events. Still, a high proportion of predictions helps marketers and business analysts navigate which course to lead the company in the near or distant future.

predictive-analysis-benefits

What is the Difference between Data Mining and Predictive Analytics?

Data mining helps organizations build a background and understand the current situation. In addition, predictive analytics is taking on a more proactive role, allowing users to anticipate results and develop preemptive strategies for a wide range of future scenarios while avoiding crises.

Simply put, these are interconnected high-tech processes. Without data mining, predictive analytics could not have appeared in principle since there would be no place to get information for further predictions. And without predictive analytics, data mining would not make much sense either, since the mere presence of structured information, without a further action plan, is not a very useful tool. Data mining illustrates today’s picture, while predictive analytics tells you what to do with it tomorrow.

Thus, data mining turns out to be a stepping stone for predictive analytics. Apart from this, data mining is passive, while predictive analytics is active and can offer a clear picture.

HEALTHCARE CYBERSECURITY: HOW TO PROTECT PATIENT DATA

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How Data Mining Works

Imagine that you have gathered three friends and decided which pizza to buy – vegetarian, meat, or fish? You just poll everyone and conclude what exactly needs to be ordered in your favorite pizzeria. But what if, for example, you have three million friends and several hundred varieties of pizza from several dozen establishments? It’s not so easy to deal with an order, is it? Nevertheless, it is what data mining specialists do.

 how-predictive-analytics-and-data-mining-works 

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According to this principle, when you go to an online store to buy earrings, you will immediately be offered a bracelet, pendant, and rings to match. And to the swimsuit – a straw hat, sunglasses, and sandals. 

It is precisely the ideally structured array of specific information that make it possible to identify a suspicious declaration of income among millions of others of the same kind.

Data mining is conventionally divided into three stages:

  • Exploration, in which the data is sorted into essential and non-essential (cleaning, data transformation, selection of subsets)
  • A model building or hidden pattern identification, the same datasets are applied to different models, allowing better choices. It is called competitive pricing of models
  • Deployment – the selected data model is used to predict the results

 

Data mining is handled by highly qualified mathematicians and engineers as well as AI/ML experts.

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How Predictive Analytics Works

According to a report by Zion Market Research, the global predictive analytics market was valued at approximately $3.49 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach approximately $10.95 billion by 2022, with a CAGR between 2016 and 2022 at about 21%.

Predictive analytics works with behavioral factors, making it possible to predict customer behavior in the future – how many will come, how many will go, how to change the product, and what promotions to offer to prevent consumer churn.

predictive analysis for big data

You can make predictions based on one person’s behavior or a group united by a specific criterion (gender, age, place of residence, etc.) Predictive analytics uses not only statistics, but ML, teaching itself.

Business analysts interpret forecasts from inferred patterns. If you don’t predict how your regular and hypothetical customers will behave, you will lose the battle with your competitors.

WHAT IS EHR (ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD), AND HOW DOES IT WORK? 

Data Mining and Predictive Analytics in Healthcare

The healthcare system was one of the first to adopt AI technologies, including data mining and predictive analytics. It includes detecting fraud, managing customer relationships, and measuring the effectiveness of specific treatments. And, of course, there is such a massive layer of developments as predictive medicine based on predictive analytics.

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Using the example of the latter, we will explain how it works. Let’s say you have a cancer patient like thousands of other patients in your hospital. Based on their treatment, you decide which regimen to choose for this particular patient, taking into account all of the characteristics. The more patients you add to the database, the more relevant solution will be given by the self-learning application for future patients.

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Another example: you can adjust the number of medical personnel in a hospital depending on the reasons for the visit. If most of the patients who come to you are kids, it’s time to expand the pediatric ward. AI will help the HR department see an impending problem before it becomes urgent. Also, such a system can predict peak loads in hours/days/months of hospital operation, which will make it possible to intelligently plan the shifts of doctors and nurses.

predictive-analytics-and-data-mining-in-healthcare

Clustering patients into groups will help assign a patient to a risk group for a particular disease before getting sick. For example, those prone to diabetes or disseminated sclerosis need to stick to diets  so as not to worsen their health. If the patient prepares in advance, the course of the disease will be far less intense and more effectively treated.

But data analysis tools can be helpful not only for doctors. So, a special application can remind the patient that it is time to replenish the supply of prescription drugs, and if necessary, automatically pay for them at the nearest pharmacy and order home delivery.

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Outcomes

According to spending data reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the United States’ national healthcare expenditure reached $ 3.5 trillion in 2017. Applying a 12-17% savings to that number, the estimated cost reduction from system-wide data analytics efforts could earn between $ 420 billion and $ 595 billion.

It would be a crime to ignore such a lucrative market, where supply will not soon outstrip demand. Try trading with The APP Solutions now. Our company has excellent experience in developing health apps.

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What is the difference between Web 2.0 vs. Web 3.0?

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
In this issue:

To whatever terms, the word “web” is applied! Anything that somehow refers to the Internet can be a “web” – a site, a page, access, security, a camera… It is not surprising because the word “web” is a component of the three “great” WWW – World Wide Web – connected by websites on the network. But this prefix also applies to numbers. This is the forgotten Web 1.0. And Web 2.0, which is definitely on everyone’s lips because it occupies a dominant position. And, of course, Web 3.0, which came into use not so long ago but is widely used in certain circles, while still very timidly displacing its predecessor.

participative-social-web

Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0 and their differences

Let’s deal with all these concepts to say goodbye to uncertainty once and for all! What are the differences between Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 vs. Web 3.0?

Web 1, 2, and 3.0 are evolutionary services that determine how users interact with and within the Internet. It all started as one-way communication from the network to users. It came to decentralized mechanisms for storing and transmitting data, which have come to a thorny path, just like silent movies turned into augmented reality movies. Each stage had its meaning and was relevant and most convenient at a particular moment in the Internet’s development.

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What is Web 1.0?

Web 1.0 is the first iteration of the Internet, dating back to the 90s with the first browsers. The most accessible and easy to understand. In this approach, the network is considered a source of information, and the user is its absorber. They were just directory, static web pages.

In those days, email was considered happiness. But, at the same time, the possibilities for creating content were very scarce – mainly read-only.

web-browser-technologies

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is the second generation of interoperable Internet services. If earlier the user could only consume content, now he has the opportunity to independently produce it and exchange it with other site users (user-generated content). This became the basis for the commercialization of the Internet – entire areas of activity were en masse digitized, otherwise, they risked dying. That is; retail, banking, advertising, media, and entertainment…

It also became the basis for social networks as virtual communication platforms. This can include any interaction from written blogs to audio podcasts, from RSS to commonplace tags that allow you to find content based on your interests more efficiently. Prime examples of Web 2.0 are Apple, Amazon, Google, and other FAANG representatives.

distributed-ledger-technologies

Features of Web 2.0

  • Access to web content from mobile devices, tablets, TVs, consoles, and even a kettle connected to the Internet
  • Dynamic content (as opposed to static first-generation web pages), which is designed to work in CTA mode
  • User participation in content creation – users not only share and comment on articles and videos but also produce them themselves
  • In the process of data transmission, there is a specific “intermediary” – a controlling platform
  • Development of API for interaction between different programs

What is Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 is the third generation of Internet services that focuses on decentralizing processes and eliminating any middleman trying to take control of everyone and everything. In addition, Web 3.0 uses encryption and distributed ledger technology to address the trust issues present with Web 2.0. But decentralized Web 3.0 is not only about security but also about more effective interaction due to artificial intelligence.

This new move is sometimes called the Web 2.0 killer, although this is clearly premature. However, it cannot be denied that with the advent of this technology, many established processes will change.

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Although not everything is so cloudless in Web 3.0, with the loss of control, it will become impossible to combat negative phenomena such as cybercrime, incitement to hatred, and disinformation, which are now increasingly challenging to deal with. Not to mention the laws because it is not completely clear which country’s judicial authorities will have to be involved in disputes. And the scalability of transactions in Web 3.0 is still insignificant, which significantly slows down processing.

advanced-metadata-system

Features of Web 3.0

  • Artificial intelligence, which selects the most relevant options for information (search engines are actively engaged in it, reducing the role of organic search results)
  • Semantic Web or an option that allows machines to better interact with humans by understanding and interpreting the meaning of human words
  • Use of 3D images and graphics
  • A new level of security and privacy through decentralization (blockchain) – freedom from censorship and surveillance due to the lack of a control center – distributed ledger, and decentralized finance (Defi)

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Difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are consistent technologies with a common background, but they solve their problems in different ways. The main difference can be described as the fact that Web 2.0 aims to read and write content, and Web 3.0 at the essence (Semantic Web). However, the latter is even better than before, applying technologies to exchange information between Internet users while also increasing security.

online-tools-comparison

Content presentation principle

In other words, the main goal of Web 2.0 was to unite people around the data they were interested in, and Web 3.0 combines this data in meaning while increasing the trust in information thanks to the notorious decentralization. Thus, the communities that were naturally created with Web 2.0, with Web 3.0 disintegrate to personalize information and expand opportunities and rights. This leads to the following difference.

Content Ownership Principle

With Web 2.0, the network itself assumed responsibility for storing information, which caused specific difficulties with access and fears for the safety and confidentiality of online data. This problem was solved by Web 3.0 with the flexibility of data exchange, which can now exist at many points at once. However, Web 2.0 transfers are still faster than Web 3.0.

In Web 2.0, computers use HTTP in the form of unique web addresses to find information that is stored in a fixed location, usually on a single server. However, in Web 3.0, since information will be found based on its content, it can be stored in several places at the same time and, therefore, be decentralized; it is certainly not in the interests of the Internet giants.

The degree of centralization/decentralization of the network is in the range; no network is entirely controllable or completely independent.

advanced-authorization-mechanisms

Application types

For Web 2.0, these are podcasts, blogs, and video sites. In general, any type of information fits the description of self-production of content and user communication. For Web 3.0, these will be AI and ML-powered applications (dApps) such as multi-user virtual environments, 3D portals, and integrated games.

User acquisition paths

Interactive advertising works with Web 2.0, while behavioral advertising works with its “successor.” In the first case, there is a certain moderation due to the presence of a controlling body; in the second, it is impossible.

Technologies

Compared to the first, the second iteration had to take a big step forward to meet new challenges, among which the main one was to stimulate the exchange of content, not just its consumption. AJAX and JavaScript, CSS3, and HTML5 are most often named among the technologies specific to Web 2.0. And then, there was a boom in the development of AI, which could not but affect Web 3.0, which was supposed to serve as a reliable “shelter” of information on the one hand and a content quality booster on the other. The leading technologies behind Web 3.0 include machine learning, deep learning, semantic web, and decentralized protocols.

Key Takeaways

Of course, Web 3.0 is an important step towards progress, but it is not perfect, so it is too early to bury Web 2.0. At the moment, the two strategies coexist perfectly. While the second still dominates, the third iteration is not far off. We at The APP Solutions are friends with both technologies and are ready to work with the projects you propose to us.

Credits to Depositphotos

The APP Solutions – Custom Healthcare Software Development Company

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
In this issue:

Healthcare software development is one of the most demanding types of work. You need to constantly keep in mind that you are making a product for a particular audience. Many of the users may need special needs, which must be considered. Therefore, having an original idea in mind that will improve life and improve the quality of health of others is only the first step towards a full-fledged “mechanism.” That is a health application that will not drown in the first months due to the pressure of competitors but will be able to both become a useful tool for users and bring profit to the creators.

To do this, it is important to find a counterparty who will help you in this difficult but terribly important enterprise. Obviously, gathering a team of super cool developers under your wing, who will work harmoniously within a couple of weeks after meeting, is not so easy in today’s reality. A much better solution would be to hire a well-coordinated outsourcing company that will do whatever you want and even more. The APP Solutions is a software development company which can become such an embodiment of your ideas. We will not only translate your thoughts into reality, but also improve them since we don’t have [S1] a hefty proven experience.

 

med-services

Custom Healthcare Software Development Solutions

Medical Practice Management Software

This technology is requested for maintaining clinical workflow and optimizing everyday operations. It assists in keeping medical records, setting appointments, managing finances, and accounting activities. Any action related to both medicine and medical issues – from monitoring diabetes patients to a service that helps relatives of sick people find the nearest hotel to a hospital.

 

Electronic Health Record Software

This design allows the maintenance and management of patient data in electronic records. The reports stored include information about allergies, laboratory conclusions, medical history of a patient, and demographic statistics. It can be as simple data provided to the clinician and records that can be edited by the doctor if necessary. Everything is done in strict accordance with HIPAA. Also, solutions are possible in which the user independently enters data about his health, and the doctor, if necessary, verifies the indicators.

 

E-Prescribing Software

The technology allows sending medical prescriptions directly to drug stores and pharmacies. It strengthens the connections within the healthcare industry and serves the patient’s comfort, above all. How nice it is just to leave the doctor’s office and immediately pick up your appointment at the nearest pharmacy! And even better, the application itself sends a prescription to the pharmacy for medicine for chronic diseases, in case the patient himself forgets to replenish his stocks.

 

Healthcare CRM

This software type works with customer management. The main task is to maintain better relations with clients – meaning better care quality, contact management, and accurate performance reports. Such healthcare software development aims to improve interactions in such a massive structure as the public health system.

 

Data Management/Warehousing

Collecting, analyzing, organizing, and storing big data helps doctors collect statistical data. Millions of case histories, thousands of medical studies, hundreds of scientific discoveries – all this is stored in databases, with proper processing of which you can get an invaluable amount of helpful information.

protected-health-info

Predictive Analytics Software

A platform for the analytics of records/patient data. Such healthcare software developments not only systematize information, but also help to apply it to form predictions for certain groups of patients, or even entire medical industries. 

 

HIPAA/GDPR Compliance

No medical application development solution we make comes out without strict adherence to global privacy standards. In particular, those officially approved in the US, Canada, and the EU. Integration of standards can be done in several ways – all according to the client’s wishes.

A Step-by-step Guide on HIPAA Compliance  

Medical

A vendor-independent software solution that automatically collects and integrates vital patient data from various medical devices into an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system wirelessly. Facilitates and reduces the work of medical staff, reducing human error.

Calmerry Online Therapy Platform

Healthcare App Development 

A White Label Telemedicine Platform

BuenoPR – 360° Approach to Health

 

How We Tackle Healthcare Software Development

Have you come to us with a clear idea? You may have even done some marketing research that indicates that your idea is a sure and profitable venture. Great! The better your request is formulated, the faster we can get started and bring your idea to life!

healthcare-software-development

The joint creation of a clear roadmap is the key to successfully completing the project. Therefore, it is not enough to discuss the “route” itself, but also the timing, software stack, storage location, legal subtleties, analytics, potential risks, and much more.

 

UI/UX design matters more and more every year. With an abundance of choice, people have become as picky as possible about the appearance of the product they are going to use, sometimes giving priority to the “wrapper” instead of the quality of the product itself. Therefore, a well-created design in a healthcare application is not just a huge component of success but also an invaluable help to its users. Here details matter more than ever.

 Another critical ingredient on the path to successful healthcare software development is choosing the suitable options for the MVP version of your project. There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for what exactly should make it to the premiere, but there is no doubt that it should have perceptual hooks that will keep your potential user coming back to the app over and over again. Based on our experience, we will gladly advise you at this critical stage.

Our company offers software development services and product testing so that the day before the launch, some irreparable bug does not “suddenly” appear. We are fully responsible for the product we develop and are ready to stand by it.

 It’s time to open the champagne – everything is ready, and the project can start sailing in the harsh ocean of health applications. And we need to share this exciting moment with you.

 

Has your project received recognition from the first users? Does the audience demand more? The APP Solutions is always ready to help improve the original design, add new features, improve what has already been done, remove unnecessary things – who else, if not ourselves, can best help the project we have developed.

What solutions can we offer?

Find Out More

 

Technologies We Use

In our portfolio, we have many clients; some ask to suggest technology stacks that better suit their purposes, while others come to us with strict technology limitations. Therefore, to indicate any technology, firstly, we should analyze all requirements and constraints that drive the goal to implement a solution. Only after this our software solutions architects will be able to produce the architecture vision of the solution and suggest a technologies stack.

technology-stacks

Regarding infrastructure providers, we have deep expertise in clouds, especially in MS Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform (by the way, we are a GCP partner and vendor). We prefer to use clouds as an infrastructure, but we understand that not all cloud services are suitable for healthcare. For instance, the USA has a HIPAA compliance policy, which imposes severe restrictions on the use of computing and storage. Fortunately, we have good experience in compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, etc.

What Is Web 3.0? Internet Next Era Based on Blockchain

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura

Web 3.0 is heard everywhere, no matter what resource you go to, what forum you open, and any social media platforms… New buzzword – this is how people who do not share the general enthusiasm speak about Web 3 with a slight touch of disdain. However, they are clearly in the minority. Everyone talks about it with enthusiasm; they see the future behind it.

Web 3.0 is followed by blockchain, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFT), and many more terms that make your head spin if you are not in the loop. And, of course, you have to be familiar with the matter! We don’t know precisely how long Web 3.0 will last or if Web 4.0 will replace it. However, without understanding the general principles of technology, your business will not last long.

 

What is Web3? The Decentralized Internet of the Future Explained

At one time, the World Wide Web blew up the “market” of information online, which now, located on the network, could be available to anyone with the Internet, anywhere on the planet. Web 2.0, in turn, has radically changed the principles of communication. And Web 3.0 is more about values ​​and meanings. Web 2 is an interface revolution, and Web 3 is a backend revolution.

What Is The Difference Between Web 2.0 Vs. Web 3.0?

The term Web 3.0 itself originated in 2014. Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood created it. Simply put, Web 3.0 is a decentralised way of communicating on the Internet instead of the centralized storage that Web 2.0 offers. This significantly increases the level of security and safety of personal data. And all this is possible thanks to the blockchain system.

decentralised-tools-for-equally-distributed-solutions

What is Blockchain

Blockchain is a database that is different from other similar decentralized networks. It does not have a single owner who could use the information stored there at his discretion by right of ownership. Instead, the participants collectively manage the blockchain database, and it is available to anyone. At the same time, stealing this surface data has become much more difficult.

The idea is that everything you do, from shopping to social media, is handled through the same secure processes, providing both more privacy and more transparency.

What You’re Paying For Or How Ads.Txt Helps To Fight Adtech Fraud

The blockchain system uses the principle of cryptography for protection – information is stored in blocks, which, to form a single whole, line up in a chain. Hence the name. In order to somehow distinguish between blocks, each of them has its own timestamp, data, and a hash pointing to the content.

These shares can be managed by people who have enough tokens or crypto. If you have enough of these tokens, you have the right to vote on the network. Governance token holders can spend their assets to vote on, for example, the future of the decentralized lending protocol.

network-participants-in-decentralised-internet

What is Web3 in Crypto?

When you hear about web3, you will notice that cryptocurrencies are often part of the conversation. This is because cryptocurrency plays a significant role in many of these protocols. In addition, it provides a financial incentive (tokens) for anyone who wants to create, manage, contribute to or improve one of the projects.

These protocols can offer many services:

  • Calculations
  • Storage
  • Bandwidth
  • Identification
  • Hosting

 

Service consumers typically pay to use the protocol, similar to paying a cloud service provider today.

Cryptocurrencies have created a robust market for decentralized finance (Defi), which is only growing every year. Web3 applications are often based on a technology called Ethereum, which, like bitcoin, rewards users who help maintain its network. This coin is called Ether, which has a total market value of $511 billion.

The apps themselves can also have linked tokens that can not only pay for services, but also act as voting shares that govern the development of the apps, and even the fee structure.

paradigm-shift-in-the-finance-world

What is a Web3 app?

Web3 applications run either on blockchains or in decentralized networks consisting of many peer nodes (servers) or in a combination, forming a crypto-economic protocol. These are decentralized apps.

At the heart of Web3 are distributed applications (or dApps) built using the Ethereum blockchain that pay users to help keep it online. Dapps play the same role for Web 3.0 that the App Store has played for the Apple ecosystem so far.

How Does Blockchain Amplify Adtech Industry

More than 8,700 active decentralized applications are registered on the DappRadar tracker. They include many crypto trading platforms and games. Sometimes the line between the two is blurred: many games involve winning and trading non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, virtual characters, or collectibles that can cost sky-high prices.

Most decentralized apps are now used for a cryptocurrency exchange or NFT trading. A small percentage of dApps are games that can be played to earn money in cryptocurrency.

Web3 and NFT

Speaking of games… In Web 2.0 iteration, gamers can only resent the number of bugs in the next sequel to their favorite game. With Web 3.0, users can vote on the necessary changes with their tokens and, in fact, build the game as they like. NFT is also on the wave in the gaming industry. Game fans are buying up items placed in virtual reality.

And in general, now a musical composition or a picture in a museum, as well as any meme, and even your cat, can become tokenized. So, one of the notorious NFT Rare Bored Ape Yacht Club was sold in 2021 for $3.4 million!

nft-marketing-campaigns-bloated

If earlier venture capitalists participated in developing a game (and, in general, any other product) with their own money, who dictated to the creators the conditions under which profit would be possible in the shortest possible time, now anyone can financially participate in the development. The company announces the release of x number of tokens, gives 10% to early investors, puts up 10% for sale, and saves the rest for future payments to contributors and project financing.

Someone will probably think this principle is too similar to a financial pyramid. However, all blockchain data is entirely public and open, and buyers have complete transparency about what is happening. At the same time, network marketing companies that do not shun fraud keep everything a secret.

 

Web 3.0: Prospects, Issues, and Challenges

The idea of ​​a decentralized internet looks attractive. We immediately imagine freedom from the “oppression of the capitalists” who monopolize entire areas of our daily lives. However, not everything is so rosy.

Who is currently investing in Web 3.0 the most? Venture capitalists, big tech companies, and hedge funds with multi-million dollar capitals. Accordingly, modern blockchain networks are unevenly distributed. In other words, the encryption keys for multi-million dollar sums are in the hands of just a few large investors. It’s just that information is now stored in more than one place, which is really much more difficult to control. Still, if at the same time you hire a lot of figureheads who will be participants in the decentralization scheme, then the whole idealistic principle comes to naught.

Some experts go further, arguing that Web 3.0 is the same centralized organization, just with a different name. Needing no introduction, Elon Musk says Web3 is more of a “marketing buzzword” than reality.

world-wide-web-internet-connection-is-decentralized

It is worth noting that some cybersecurity experts emphasize that although it is more challenging to hack data in the blockchain format, it is also almost impossible to prevent such a hack. After all, the problem is not whether people can easily access it, but whether they know how to manage their data securely. An example of such a problem would be the widespread theft of cryptocurrencies.

Many projects don’t even list contact numbers, although they may support online chat groups. If you accidentally type in a typo and send money to the wrong account, it could be lost forever. You will not be able to solve the problem as if you called the bank’s customer service. After all, if earlier it was the bank that provided the security of your finances, then in Web 3.0 – God helps those who help themselves. With freedom, you get a responsibility that not everyone can handle.

Skeptics believe that many of the requirements underlying Web3, such as distributed architecture and decentralization, are better implemented without blockchains. Since building a decentralized structure based on a centralized one does not radically change anything.

How To Make A Personal Finance App 

In Conclusion

So, does Web 3.0 technology, which has not yet become firmly established in everyday life, no longer justifies itself? As in any innovative solution, there will always be people who simply want to make money on fraud, but also enthusiasts who will create genuinely amazing things. So, is Web 3.0 a boon or a slightly updated Web 2.0? This will be shown in the next decade. In any case, a lot depends on how the big players behave.

The APP Solutions always strives to be at the forefront of the latest technology. For us, Web 3.0 is not something from the distant future but a completely unambiguous reality with which our employees work closely. Therefore, if you are interested in developing in the Web 3.0 area – feel free to write!

Credits to Depositphotos

What is a Dapp? Understanding Decentralized Applications

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
In this issue:

The last decade in Internet technologies was marked by the complete dominance of Web 2.0, which implies centralization. This means that any application you deal with is owned and operated by one person or a stakeholder group that decides what the app should look like and where it should go. Often this course is chosen by business laws and against the users’ wishes who can do nothing in response except to declare a boycott. However, an alternative to a striking app would be the same app with roughly similar rules and laws. So how do we get out of this vicious circle?

It seems that a solution has been found, and decentralized applications can become such a solution.

decentralized-storage

What is a Centralized Application?

To understand how decentralized applications work (dapps for short), we first turn to their predecessors mentioned above.

Centralized applications are managed and owned by a single company and run on a single server or server cluster. The principle of operation is simple: someone downloads a copy of the application, and the application works by sending and receiving information from this server.

In other words, the application will not work if it is not associated with this server. If the centralized server fails, the app stops working on user devices until the problem is fixed.

Examples of centralized applications include Facebook, WhatsApp, Netflix, Steam…

What Is The Difference Between Web 2.0 Vs. Web 3.0?

Centralized apps have several distinct advantages over dApps. As a developer, you retain complete control over the application and how it is used. Centralized applications can usually handle large amounts of traffic.

Moreover, it is much easier to update the centralized application since the update is automatically sent to the user’s device.

All this suggests that there are disadvantages. In the event of a system error, no one will be able to use the application until the problem is resolved, which may cause inconvenience to your customers. Also, you may incur higher cybersecurity costs as you need to secure the central server.

user-privacy-on-social-media-platform

What are the Decentralized Applications (Dapps)?

And now, let’s go directly to the “protagonist” of our article. Decentralized Applications, also called dApps or simply dapps, are digital applications that operate on a blockchain or P2P network (such as BitTorrent, where participants both download and distribute content simultaneously). Thus, we see that these applications existed long before the Web 3.0 era. But they were just isolated cases.

Instead of downloading the application, the user pays the developer a certain amount in cryptocurrency to download the smart contract or source code. Thus, there is no single center for the “distribution” of data. DApps are most often created on the Ethereum platform.

What Is Web 3.0? Internet Next Era Based On Blockchain

Ethereum is a flexible platform for creating new dApps, providing the infrastructure developers need to innovate digital applications. In this way, you can quickly deploy dApps in any industry of your choice. Today it is decentralized finance (DeFi) and banks, ecommerce, games, social networks, that is, in all those areas in which we most often resort to the services of centralized applications. 

What is Dapp Used for?

Speaking about the practical application of dApps, among which:

  • DeFi (in 2021, the cryptocurrency market was about $40 billion)
  • Digital collectibles (NFT market)
  • Gaming/Gambling
  • Communication
  • Marketplaces
  • Healthcare (blockchain as a logistics method in pharmaceuticals)
decentralized-credit-service-financial-institutions-and-other-types-of-dapps

source

A decentralized application must generate digital assets that serve as proof of value.

An example of a social network as a dApp is Peepeth, similar to Twitter in its communication principle. In Peepeth, the difference is that you won’t be able to delete your post if you change your mind. But, on the other hand, no one will remove it at anyone’s request.

With games as an example, the fun app Cryptokitties immediately comes to mind, where users can buy and sell virtual funny cats.

What is Dapp Cryptocurrency?

Here, dApps work on the same principle as in any other area. It is open-source and free from interference from anyone’s authority.

Internally, dApps interact with the respective blockchain network through a wallet that bridges the blockchain ecosystem.

Wallets manage your address on the Ethereum blockchain and the cryptographic keys needed to identify and authenticate you. Instead of using the HTTP protocol to communicate with the blockchain, dApp wallets run smart contracts that interact with the blockchain and execute transactions.

Once smart contracts are deployed on the decentralized network, you cannot change them. Dapps can be decentralized because they are controlled by the logic in the smart contract, not by an individual or company. It also means that you need to design your smart contracts carefully and test them thoroughly.

ethereum-dapps-underlying-blockchain

Pros and Cons of Decentralized Apps

Decentralized applications definitely have their benefits, depending on what you need from your application.

First, because there is no single server, users will not lose access to the application if the server goes down. Secondly, since there is no centralized storage, user data will not be compromised in the event of a data leak or hacking attempt.

Decentralized systems based on blockchain or other distributed ledger technologies avoid the single point of failure problem inherent in systems based on centralized servers. In addition, the blockchain has robust consensus mechanisms that make it resistant to malicious attacks.

network-congestion-and-other-cons-as-well-as-pros

However, dApps have a few drawbacks.

Your target audience is smaller because cryptocurrencies and blockchain are not yet mainstream technologies. Moreover, because dApp transactions are often slower and more expensive than centralized, it can be difficult for you to get people to your dApp in the short term.

Finally, since there is no centralized deployment, fixing bugs or updating software on user devices is much more difficult.

What You’re Paying For Or How Ads.Txt Helps To Fight Adtech Fraud

The fact that all dApps are essentially open-source allows developers to build on each other’s work, combine and recombine different elements from different projects to create new types of applications and services. This encourages innovation and allows the space to grow and develop in exciting and often unexpected ways.

user-interfaces-written-by-ethereum-developers

How to Make a Dapp?

It should be mentioned right away that the easiest way to do this is on the Ethereum protocol. This platform is maximally adaptive for any developer’s idea since it was created to come up with innovative solutions based on it.

How Does Blockchain Amplify Adtech Industry

Next, we will provide general step-by-step recommendations on how to build a decentralized app.

  • Create a smart contract (it is the base for any dapp)
  • Take care of the front end (even if your users are knowledgeable in blockchain technology, you still need to work on UI/UX to attract not only new consumers but also retain old ones)
  • The back-end must be centralized (yes, and here we are forced to return to the direct competitor of dapp if your application is not only ordinary transactions but also add extra features)
  • Include QA (as already mentioned, changes in the code after entering production are almost impossible, so testing of such applications should be carried out much more carefully than it is with standard applications)
  • Deployment and support (download dapp to your usual App Store and Google Play and don’t forget to update the user interface from time to time)

How To Make A Personal Finance App 

As you can see, you can’t do without professionals here because, in addition to creating a dapp, you need to consider interactions with external user interfaces that would attract users with their usability. And at the same time, create an ecosystem of comparable analytics and server system.

The APP Solutions is committed to achieving long-term results in conjunction with its customers and will be able to choose the best solution for you.

how-is-developing-decentralized-environment

source

Key Takeaways

So what is a dapp? Decentralized applications are emerging with over 70 million users worldwide, but many more users are downloading centralized applications. But, of course, like any innovation, not everyone is ready to accept dapps with open arms, considering it an overrated idea, fun for a limited circle of people.

However, the real competition between dapps and centralized applications and the entire technology of Web 2.0 as a whole can be spoken of as technology develops when more and more new opportunities open up.

Credits to Depositphotos

What Is DeFi? The Basics of Decentralized Finance

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
In this issue:

DeFi or decentralized finance is a way to receive, use, distribute and store money by eliminating intermediaries using the blockchain method. DeFi is a global, peer-to-peer (i.e., directly between two people, not through a centralized system), anonymous, financial ecosystem open to all.

 

What Exactly is DeFi?

DeFi is based on blockchain technology, which allows you to store a copy of a transaction in several places at once, while no organization can control or change it. DeFi is different in that it expands the use of blockchain from simple transfer of value to more complex financial use cases. Formally, you become a bank for yourself because you can freely duplicate its services in lending, borrowing funds, insurance, trading in assets and derivatives, only without completing countless pieces of paper.

peer-to-peer-internet-connection

DeFi vs. Traditional Finance

Imagine the banalest situation in your routine. For example, every day you go out for lunch at the same cafe because they cook really delicious food. You pay for this meal with your credit card. But have you ever thought that you are not paying to the business but are using an intermediary, the bank? If the latter does not like something or seems suspicious, your payment will be rejected or considered in a particular order – and along with your entire banking history (just went out for lunch, right?)

But what if it’s not a trivial dinner but a “serious” money transfer that you sent to another continent? If the speed, in this case, is a decisive factor for you – the last thing you would like to hear is “the transfer will take several banking days.” 

What Is The Difference Between Web 2.0 Vs. Web 3.0?

But not only direct purchases are in the field of view of centralized financial institutions. It’s the same for:

  • Loans
  • Insurance
  • Crowdfunding
  • NFTs
  • Rates
  • Securities and so on

 

In the case of DeFi, this inconvenience disappears. You pay directly from your wallet to the counterparty’s wallet for any product or service. Moreover, even some progressive companies began to issue salaries in cryptocurrency.

The blockchain technology market is expected to grow to nearly $70 billion by 2026, according to MarketsandMarkets.

decentralized apps - new financial system participant

What Is A Dapp? Understanding Decentralized Applications

What is DeFi, and How does It Work?

DeFi takes the core premise of Bitcoin – digital money – and expands on it to create an entirely digital alternative to stock exchanges. But huge offices of several floors in elite business centers are not needed here. A gadget with which you can access the Internet is enough. So DeFi fans are talking no more, no less about open, free, and fair financial markets accessible to all.

DeFi uses cryptocurrencies and smart contracts to provide financial services to eliminate intermediaries. Users typically interact with DeFi through software called dApps (“decentralized applications”), most currently run on the Ethereum blockchain.

How Does Blockchain Amplify Adtech Industry

In DeFi, a smart contract replaces a financial institution in a transaction. The smart contract is a type of Ethereum account that can hold funds and send/refund them under certain conditions. No one can change this smart contract while it is running – it will always work as programmed. Contracts are also publicly available for review and audit. This means that bad contracts often quickly become the focus of community scrutiny.

Because DeFi is open source, the protocols and applications are theoretically available for users to test and innovate. As a result, people can mix and match protocols to unlock unique combinations of possibilities by developing their own dApps.

How To Make A Personal Finance App

what is defi - emerging technology

Pros and Cons of DeFi

Any innovative technology is designed to make life easier for ordinary people and improve the quality of life. From this perspective, DeFi is a very attractive concept that is still gaining potential. At the same time, everything new, one way or another, has its drawbacks, both in terms of flaws and the human factor. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of DeFi.

Among the advantages are:

  • Lack of intermediaries in transactions (a plus both in terms of security and the financial side)
  • Ability to take out a loan without “baggage” in the form of a credit history
  • Higher interest rates due to market dynamics

What You’re Paying For Or How Ads.Txt Helps To Fight Adtech Fraud

Interestingly, the disadvantages of DeFi are the flip side of the advantages.

  • Yes, you keep your data secure, but if you forget the password, you may lose your assets as there is no governing body to call and ask for a password reset after answering the mother’s maiden name question.
  • Yes, you can take out a loan without fear that your credit history will catch up with you. However, as a consumer, you are deprived of the guarantee of your rights protection.
  • Yes, you can make good money on high-interest rates, but high volatility always comes with risks.
decentralized-financial-transactions-in-defi-apps

Types of DeFi

The most popular (but far from the only) types of DeFi include:

  • Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)
  • Stablecoins
  • Lending platforms
  • Prediction markets

 

Roughly speaking, it is like a currency exchange point in a bank, only cryptocurrencies and not in a bank, without intermediaries. If, in real life, with real money, such an exchange with a high degree of probability could end in fraud on someone’s part, then in an online exchange where the transaction is stored on more than one medium, a scam is almost impossible.

Stablecoin

This is a currency whose stability outside the Internet is confirmed by the currencies we are used to (for example, dollars or euros). Such a measure is needed to stabilize the price of crypto since their stability is not as strong as fiat funds.

 

Credit Platforms

These are intermediaries in the digital world of decentralized finance. If you can get a loan from a bank, why can’t you borrow cryptocurrency? With a high degree of probability, you will want to use an intermediary platform that will direct you to the right source of crypto finance.

Similarly, an intermediary platform allows you to offer your services as a crypto lender. Interest rates for services depend on demand. To take out a loan, the user needs to deposit collateral – often ether, the token that powers Ethereum. This means that users do not reveal their identity or associated credit score in order to take out a loan the way conventional non-DeFi loans work.

 

Prediction Markets

The same betting shops, but again without intermediaries. As you know, betting offices do not operate legally in all countries of the world. Here you can bet on any event – from the next presidential election to corgi races this summer – and not be afraid that you will not receive your finances if you succeed.

decentralized-financial-products-and-centralized-finance

What is a DeFi in Crypto?

While DeFi is usually a significant player in the cryptocurrency conversation, it goes beyond creating an alternative digital currency or value. Instead, DeFi is working to replace the role of traditional financial systems with its smart contracts.

As of December 2021, there are 9,822 different cryptocurrencies available for trade, investing.com tells us. For comparison, as recent as 2019, there were 3,000 of them.

DeFi is designed to use cryptocurrencies for transactions. However, the technology is still evolving, so it’s hard to pinpoint precisely how existing cryptocurrencies will be implemented, if at all. According to Coin Metrics, five different cryptocurrencies process over 100,000 transactions each day.

 

While Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that runs on its blockchain and is used primarily as a store of value, DeFi is a concept that describes financial services built on public blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. They allow users to earn interest or borrow against their crypto assets.

DeFi consists of many applications related to financial services such as trading, borrowing, lending, and derivatives.

ethereum-based-lending-apps-decentralized-finance-or-def

 

Here we are talking about Ethereum not as a cryptocurrency, but as a platform where applications for DeFi are developed. Since Ethereum is considered the most manageable base for developing dApps, most applications are written on this platform. Accordingly, you can borrow tokens on one site and exchange interest tokens on another market in a completely different application. They are universal. This process is similar to how you cash out your money in a “foreign bank” when yours is not in the immediate vicinity.

DeFi on Ethereum is not only a blockchain but also assets, protocols (smart contacts), and finally, full-fledged product applications that power the protocols.

 

What Can You Do with DeFi?

In addition to the absolute freedom of transactions in peer-to-peer trading, you can also create ideal conditions for passive income if you lend to others and earn interest on loans, as we mentioned above. Moreover, you can trade tokenized versions of investments such as stocks, funds, NFTs.

DeFi can also be seen as a long-term benefit – put some of your cryptocurrency in alternative savings accounts and earn better interest rates than you would typically get from a bank.

 

Why is DeFi Important?

However, do not forget that investing in DeFi is a risky undertaking at the moment. About $2.2 billion was outright stolen from DeFi protocols in 2021. Moreover, many scammers used plausible pretexts for theft, imitating the “security” of the site where reckless crypto investors trusted their money. And if you or your financial advisor don’t understand the subject well enough, it’s better to invest in something more stable.

Decentralized finance is still in its early stages of development. First, it is unregulated, which means that the ecosystem is still full of infrastructure failures, hacks, and scams. Other issues are system stability, energy requirements, carbon footprint, system upgrades and maintenance, and hardware failures.

However, you can get a good profit and, if you’re lucky, worldwide recognition, only if you are on the wave of the business avant-garde, understand all the trends, and successfully apply them in practice. Right now, when the dApps market is not yet oversaturated with offers, it’s time to start developing an application for DeFi. Then, you can put it in the hands of The APP Solutions. Like no one else, we understand the importance of such technology and are ready to face any challenges!

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DeFi development services

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
In this issue:

Decentralized finance, or DeFi for short, is a technology-based blockchain network, banking services in your pocket without a controlling authority, where you are your banking institution.

The attraction of DeFi lies in personal data security, in the transparency of the process due to the code being open to all, high-interest rates, and the absence of intermediaries. Moreover, the idea seemed so tempting to investors that, as of January 2022, about 92.3 billion dollars have rotated in decentralized finance.

Despite such a considerable amount, the market is still far from oversaturation; moreover, it is beginning its journey. So, if you are planning to get into DeFi development you will definitely not jump on the last step of this locomotive. Still ahead! That is why it is so important to navigate the DeFi development service market to seek services from a trustworthy company.

defi-development-services-defi-ecosystem

What is DeFi development?

DeFi development is a complex process that is somewhat different from classical development due to the specifics of the Web3 area. It has many branches, features, and complexities. Thus, it is impossible to be an expert in absolutely everything. Each development team must be sharpened for a specific set of solutions to achieve the ideal result. Accordingly, hiring a huge staff of people, adapting them, giving them time to work together (and all this for the sake of one project) does not make sense. It is better to outsource professionals who do not have a successful project behind them.

What Is DeFi? The Basics Of Decentralized Finance

The general DeFi development mechanism looks something like this…

decentralized-finance-token-development-cycle

As with any software, we first need to decide what we build. Who is our target audience? What are their needs? Then you need to prioritize features under ROI expectations correctly.

Design should be considered when developing DeFi scalability. The user interface must remain flexible enough to support additional features that will be added to the application over time. In general, not all applications for Web3 now look as attractive as they could. Presently, this step is a weak link that needs to be eliminated.

More often than not, it’s best to work agile at the moment, as flexibility is critical, especially in crypto and blockchain projects where so many things come up every month.

Maintaining the protocol means releasing updates with new features and fixing bugs. However, if the front end can be easily updated without problems, how do we update the back end in the blockchain system? To do this, you need to continue cooperating with the team involved in the development.

decentralized-finance-development-vs-traditional-finance

What is a DeFi Service?

Let’s talk in more detail about the services whose development is most promising at the moment.

How To Make A Personal Finance App

Smart contacts in the field of DeFi are a vital technology that needs to be developed with the utmost seriousness. Literate programming solves many problems, including accuracy, speed, scalability, reliability, security, transparency, easy exchange and access, and much more.

What Is A Dapp? Understanding Decentralized Applications

Decentralized applications are taking over more and more areas from the NFT market to gaming, from Communication to Healthcare. But by far, most dApps exist in the decentralized finance space. As of 2021, investments in the market amounted to $40 million. Of course, such popularity is associated with a good level of privacy and the complexity of hacking. However, as practice shows, “craftsmen” are still there. This suggests that there is no limit to perfection, and whoever creates an almost perfect application in terms of security will quickly earn popularity.

In addition, at the moment, due to the relatively small number of users who use dApps, UI/UX design issues are not at the highest level compared to the apps we are used to. So in this regard, too, there is room for improvement.

How Does Blockchain Amplify Adtech Industry

A decentralized currency exchange (DEX) is a promising project due to the absence of intermediaries. DEX allows blockchain, a distributed ledger, to act as a third party. The underlying cryptocurrency technology eliminates single points of failure by moving critical transactions to the blockchain, allowing consumers to retain ownership of their assets and enabling more secure and transparent trading. The DEX uses smart contracts to execute market transactions by distributing transactions across an offline code. However, order fulfillment methods with varying degrees of decentralization are available.

Accordingly, it is very promising to work on developing such projects. However, do not forget that a crypto exchange is a complex system that cannot be created without knowledge of the matter. Therefore, a comprehensive study is needed.

Building a DeFi lending site, followed by native mobile apps once you get real support, is an ingenious strategy, as long as the site scales appropriately for the web and mobile platforms. Keep in mind the powers of the agile methodology, crucial to the project’s success: flexibility, transparency, and speed.

DeFi Wallet differs from the usual in its technological features, where it is not a centralized financial institution that is responsible for the safety of funds but smart contracts. And to create secure and functional smart contracts, good experience with the blockchain is required.

What You’re Paying For Or How Ads.Txt Helps To Fight Adtech Fraud

As a rule, DeFi wallet should include the following options:

  • DUO
  • Face/Touch ID
  • Multi-signature
  • Session logout

DeFi Staking is the storage of funds in a cryptocurrency wallet to ensure the support of all transactions on the blockchain. The more favorable reward terms you offer, the more likely users will deposit their assets into your platform’s liquidity pools. Therefore, the more liquidity a platform provides, the more reliable it looks in users’ eyes. In addition, by delivering staking opportunities, your platform will be able to earn more from transaction fees as there will be more transactions.

The emergence of new staking models and improved staking platforms allows this type of passive income on crypto-assets to attract more and more investors. No wonder the development of the DeFi staking platform is booming.

An attractive idea could be to create your own crypto-bank that works with the help of smart contracts. Thus, any crypto-assets operations become more secure and confidential, and no one will check the credit history. This always attracts a large number of cryptocurrency holders. Therefore, the complex development of such a decentralized financial institution can bring substantial income relatively quickly. The main thing is not to spare investments to turn out to be of high quality.

What Is The Difference Between Web 2.0 Vs. Web 3.0?

This is not the entire list of services somehow related to blockchain technology. The more opportunities open up in the Web3 dimension, the greater the range of DeFi development services becomes, which already penetrates all spheres of our lives.

defi-development-services-offered

Where can I find DeFi Developers?

Since DeFi and the Web3 niche, in general, are only at the beginning of the journey, finding the right company to implement your project as you see it is not so easy. Of course, now hundreds, if not thousands, of outsourcing companies worldwide offer DeFi development services in the field of decentralized fintech, but if you compare them with the number of developers of traditional Web2 software, then there are not so many of them. And the quality of services can also be questionable.

However, hiring a whole pool of developers with specific knowledge and skills can also be costly. Therefore, the best solution is still seen as hiring an outsourcing company that will fulfill all your wishes and even offer the best alternatives where required. We can become a DeFi development company for you – The APP Solutions.

Credits to Depositphotos

What is ERC20 token

Posted on by Pavel Tantsiura
In this issue:

The universal Ethereum platform has dramatically simplified the life of developers, making it possible to quickly and easily create more and more new tokens. However, at some point, there were so many of them that it was already possible to get lost in them. This created great inconvenience. Imagine that you have to learn a new language each time to understand the technology and apply it on your platform. Moreover, all these languages ​​are not similar to each other. And there are already hundreds of them, and there are more and more every day. This happened due to the lack of general instructions, so everyone did what they could in their own way.

In 2015, Ethereum introduced a standardization system for tokens to prevent further chaos, which helped to bring them into a more consistent form. This greatly popularized the platform. It is still the most popular platform for creating tokens here, and it does not have to be done from scratch. Figuratively speaking, Ethereum gives you the backbone that you build muscle on.

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What is ERC20?

ERC or “Ethereum request for comment” is a standard used to create and issue smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. And 20 is the identification number of the offer. There are other numbers, but the number 20 is the most popular. These are how the main technical notes and requirements are communicated to the development and user groups. In fact, the Ethereum platform thus significantly helped developers; they do not need to learn a hundred “foreign languages” to work.

This simplifies the task for developers; they can continue their work knowing that each new project will not need to be redone every time a new token is issued.

What Is DeFi? The Basics Of Decentralized Finance

What is ERC20 Used for?

Historically, ERC20 has become the technical standard for writing smart contracts on the Ethereum network used to implement tokens. It contains a kind of set of rules by which tokens should be created on the Ethereum platform. We will talk about them a little lower.

As of August 2021, around 442,647 ERC-20-compatible tokens exist on Ethereum’s leading network. This is about half of the Entire ETH Blockchain.

Pros and Cons of ERC20 Tokens

Standardization always leads to order, and order is always good. If everyone were to create their own tokens with their own functionality, it would be a compatibility nightmare. Also, keeping these tokens in wallets and listing them on exchanges would be a hassle. The transmission could have broken contracts and make them vulnerable to hackers.

In addition to convenience, the scalability of the whole direction can be noted among the advantages. If the projects on top of Ethereum are active and interact with each other, this will invariably lead to an increase in the number of projects and users. Although, at the moment, some experts are talking about problems with scalability.

But this system also has certain disadvantages. For example, despite the apparent convenience of creating tokens in the ERC20 format, some other tokens and wallets do not support our format. Thus, you need to use the transfer() function to make a transaction (we’ll talk about it in more detail below). And in such cases, it is not work with flying colors. If the user makes a mistake and selects the wrong function, the token will be stuck inside the contract (the contract does not recognize the transaction). There will be no way to retrieve stuck tokens. Accordingly, even in such an established system, the human factor can lead to the loss of millions.

DEFI DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

how-to-create-ethereum-tokens

How To Create Your Own Ethereum Token

The Internet is literally full of hype articles where authors compete for how much they can create an ERC 20 token? It may take an hour for someone, and someone promises that it can be done in just a couple of minutes. As a result, junk tokens often appear that are not needed by anyone except the egos of their creators. Or even worse, fraudulent tokens.

So is it really that simple? After all, a token is not only a digital certificate but also a whole marketing strategy behind its development.

You can start from these positions:

  • The Token’s Name
  • The Token’s Symbol (usually, it is recommended to use no more than 4 symbols)
  • The Token’s Decimal Places
  • The Number of Tokens in Circulation

Most tokens have 18 decimal places, which means you can have up to 0.00000000000000000001 tokens. When creating an Ethereum token, you need to know what decimal places you need and how they fit into the big picture of your project. However, you can use any other division.

It is very important to come up with a catchy name for your token. So, the ERC20 Shiba Inu token, which was created as a parody of the already legendary Doge, has not only a funny name, but also a powerful marketing strategy. For example, instead of white paper, they have woof paper. The original name, as well as the original token symbol (logo), will immediately attract attention. But under the title, there must also be some far-reaching rational basis.

EOS, for example, remains a popular token based on ERC20, which raised over $185 million in a five-day ICO launch.

How To Make A Personal Finance App

The so-called mandatory standards include such basic functions:

A characteristic that determines how your token will be split. In such a case, you cannot act, for example, as with pizza, cutting it into as many pieces as you want, but only after cooking. Here, the fractions must be determined in advance because the value of your ERC20 token will directly depend on this.

You go to the banking application when you want to know how much money is left on your bank card. The same principle works here (although a different mechanism, taking into account decentralization). Function balanceOf is specifically designed to return the total number of tokens that any given address has. So it actually acts as information about the user. So, if you originally created some tokens and sent them to other addresses, you can use this to check how many tokens you have left.

Why do we need a token that cannot be exchanged with anyone? After verifying that the user has enough tokens to transfer, the owner can use this feature to send tokens to another address. Moreover, transfer tokens act like a typical crypto transaction on other blockchain platforms.

What Is A Dapp? Understanding Decentralized Applications

The next function – transfer but with a nuance. The principle is the same, but it concerns, for example, regular monthly payments. To make it convenient for your token holder to make such payments, you need to take care of the transaction automation function.

The approve function helps to get rid of any fake tokens. Once the contract owner checks the balance, they can approve the contract to collect the money. This assertion function will also check if the number is correct compared to all the tokens. So, it is impossible to fake tokens. If this function finds any differences in the numbers, it will cancel the payment and the smart contract.

The boost function allowance is the most important. In fact, when a contract wants to execute a transaction, it needs to see the balance of the Ethereum smart contract to understand if the user has the minimum balance between doing so. The contract can fulfill the deal or even cancel it using the add-on function.

Steps to develop a token

  1. Code smart contracts
  2. Test The Token
  3. Verify the Source Code
  4. Deploy it on the MainNet
  5. Verify on Etherscan

Ethereum smart contracts are written in Solidity. Although there are alternative languages, hardly anyone uses them for this purpose. However, Solidity is similar to JavaScript, so if you know JavaScript, or even Java and other C-like languages, you should have no problem understanding what a piece of code in Solidity does, even before you actually master Solidity enough to use it.

How Does Blockchain Amplify Adtech Industry

Challenges and Alternatives

While ERC20 has received widespread support in the form of new tokens conforming to its standards, many in the developer community feel that ERC20 is limited or deficient for one or more reasons.

ERC20 tokens have been important to the growth of the crypto ecosystem, but they may have been delayed. People are already experimenting with newer standards.

For this reason, several alternative token standards have also been proposed since the development of ERC 20 token. These include ERC223, which aims to address issues with the approval and transmission of ERC20.5 elements.

ERC621 is another alternative that offers the same basic features as ERC20 but also adds the ability to increase or decrease the total number of tokens. ERC827, on the other hand, allows the holder to approve the spending of tokens by a third party. Each of these new protocol proposals builds on ERC20 to some extent.

Change is always slow, and it looks like we need to wait a bit before we can move to other standards. However, let’s not mistake “criminalizing” the ERC20 standard. It certainly deserves respect for the profound impact it has had on the crypto space.

What You’re Paying For Or How Ads.Txt Helps To Fight Adtech Fraud

Is it Free to Create an ERC20 Token?

Let’s start with the fact that even if you make your own token according to someone else’s template, without resorting to the services of developers, in any case, you will not avoid the network fee, which is constantly changing. Still, on average, it is several hundred dollars. Thus, even if your ERC20 token does not have any non-standard functionality, you still have to pay for the “luxury” of its creation and support.

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How Much does it Cost to Create an ERC20 Token?

The first thing you will hear in response to your question is ‘it depends’. It depends on your goal – whether you want to make a full-fledged product or it will be just a kind of toy that will be abandoned as boring after a couple of months.

The cost of creating an ERC 20 token plays an essential role in developing a crypto token on the Ethereum blockchain. Some of the most critical factors determine the cost of developing an ERC20 token. Such as: 

  1. Type of business
  2. Token features
  3. Token design
  4. Number of ERC20 tokens to be developed
  5. Complexity of the token
  6. Size and location of the ERC20 token developer
  7. Development and testing of the ERC20 token
  8. Distribution
  9. Maintenance

These factors will determine the cost of developing ERC20 tokens. As a result, the range is too big for us to name a specific amount. Therefore, if you have specific, clear ideas about how you will use your token, you can write to us – The APP Solutions – and our sales managers will calculate the project’s cost for you.

Credits to Depositphotos