Blockchain Pilot on the way

it is fair to say that it has been some time since our last post, but we are excited to say that we have been making great progress towards a Blockchain pilot implementation. In summary, we have been engaging with core team members within DFID (following a Design Thinking approach where we created user personas based on real users in the DFID Supply Chain) in order to investigate the final form that the eventual pilot will take.

You can read more about our approach in my previous blog post here.

What we’ve discovered

The Rapid Response scenario has been the main focus in identifying a use-case. This particular scenario occurs in instances where emergencies (such as hurricanes, earthquakes) have a sudden impact and require critical aid to be delivered within short timeframes — a matter of days and hours.

Drilling down into this scenario, we have analysed the logistics systems and listened to experienced members of the supply chain team to understand the complex process of getting aid from stockpiles and suppliers to the recipient. With this detailed view of the systems in play, we are now trying to figure out how to improve the process.

What we might do

As a result of drilling down into the pain points that the Supply Chain Team experiences, a few key options have come to the surface. It is clear that there are potential improvement opportunities when it comes to gaining a holistic view of assets once they have left DFID’s control.

One of these areas is the handover of humanitarian aid packages to an implementing partner who is responsible for the assets at the destination. In short, there is a loss of visibility of goods after the handover to partners in a destination country. There are potential improvements in how the reporting of significant changes to the goods (i.e. location, quality, quantity etc.) are made, and hopefully Blockchain can be part of the solution.

We used real Rapid Response Scenarios as examples in our workshops to relate our thinking back to real, practice use-cases — above picture shows an example of one of these scenarios

In short, Blockchain can be used for better accountability of stakeholders and bringing greater transparency to the delivery of aid to the final beneficiary.

We are now scanning the market to see what Blockchain platform options are out there, which we will bring down into a shortlist when we have pinned down the detail of the pilot.

Check back for the next step in our journey! We will be updating you soon.