ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · The impact of advances in technology
A logistics company records each shipment handover on a shared digital ledger. Entries are copied across many participants' computers, linked cryptographically, and cannot be altered without detection by the network. Which technology is being used, and what is its main advantage for the audit trail?
The technology is blockchain. Its main advantage is that records are copied across participants and cryptographically linked, so past entries cannot be changed without detection. This gives a tamper-resistant, verifiable audit trail. Big data, AI and IoT do not describe a shared immutable ledger.
- ABig data analytics, because it processes large unstructured datasets quickly
- BBlockchain, because records are tamper-resistant and verifiable by all participantsCorrect
- CArtificial intelligence, because it learns patterns and automates judgements
- DInternet of things, because sensors transmit real-time location data
Explanation
A distributed ledger of cryptographically linked blocks replicated across participants is blockchain. Its key advantage is that past entries are very hard to change undetected, giving a reliable shared audit trail. The other technologies have different features and do not describe a shared immutable ledger.
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