Blockchain technology consists of a network of computers to maintain a collective book keeping via the internet. The advantage of this is this is neither closed nor in control of any single party. It’s public and available in one digital ledger which is fully distributed across the network. Each node in a network owns a full copy of ledger.In blockchain, all transactions are logged including information of time, date, participants and amount of every single transaction. Based on mathematical principles the transactions are verified by bitcoin miners. These are also devised in a way that they agree on the current state of the ledger if anyone tried to tamper with the transaction there will be no consensus and hence will refuse to incorporate the transaction. of open forms a core of Bitcoin. This is how blockchain and bitcoin functions.
Bitcoin is one of the possible technologies for blockchain instead of bitcoin it can be an identity like a digital signature to verify the documents example companies: Onename. The basic unit might also be stocks, bonds, land titles, and frequent flyer miles. ex: NASDAQ, Chain, Openchain .
References:
https://www.quora.com/What-are-non-Bitcoin-applications-of-blockchain-technology