what is distributed ledger technology dlt 
distributed ledger technology dlt is the technological infrastructure and protocols that allow simultaneous access validation and record updating across a networked database dlt is the technology blockchains are created from and the infrastructure allows users to view any changes and who made them reduces the need to audit data ensures data is reliable and only provides access to those that need it history of distributed ledgersdistributed computing is not new businesses and governments have been using the concept for several decades in the 1990s it became possible for multiple computers and users in different locations to solve problems and return the solutions to a central location 1advances in data science computing software hardware and other technologies have made ledgers much more capable improved connectivity through intranet and internet protocols allowed for much more data to be collected analyzed and used however because there can now be many users with access to data it is necessary to have someone verify the changes computer and data scientists developed programs that reduced the need for auditing data these programs used automation and data encryption techniques to verify database transactions or changes in a database s state this is called consensus the act of automated majority agreement on transaction validity where a transaction is simply a change made to a database s state distributed ledgers evolved into scalable and programmable platforms as seen in ethereum and hyperledger where solutions can be created to use a database or ledger for everything from tokenizing physical assets to streamlining manufacturing and other business processes 