Podcast: Transforming Medical Cannabis and Windmill Turbine Supply Chains with Media Sourcery, Inc.

Recently, Topl Founder and CEO Kim Raath sat down with Larry Ketchersid, CEO of Media Sourcery, Inc., to record the very first episode of Topl’s new podcast: Purpose, Planet, Profit. Their conversation covered major ground. They touched upon novel capabilities of blockchain, particularly in the ESG arena. They traced many of the opportunities that Media Sourcery and Topl are exploring and building toward.

As the conversation between Kim and Larry unfolded (and as they gamely answered live questions from listeners), it became clear that Media Sourcery is leading several pioneering initiatives.

Many are or will be supported by the Topl Blockchain.

Cold Chain and Covid-19

To open, Larry and Kim recapped Cold Chain, a solution by Media Sourcery that incorporates temperature-sensitive barcodes by Varcode and the Topl Blockchain to monitor COVID-19 test kits as they’re shipped from lab to patient, ensuring they stay cold enough to remain fully effective.

The idea came to Larry when, visiting a lab, he became aware of issues with test kits not proving as effective as they should have been. This was traced back to kits and temperatures. Using Cold Chain, supply chain parties can ensure that kits have stayed at the right temperature.

Larry joked that the Cold Chain solution needs a new name. Cold Chain has swiftly expanded beyond monitoring temperature-sensitive products in transit.

Medical Cannabis

Collaborative Media Sourcery-Topl solutions can improve other supply chains, such as those of medical cannabis.

“There’s an obvious need to track medical cannabis,” Larry explained. “There’s a lot of fraud. There are reporting requirements. There are some tax requirements… and there are requirements to track which product got to which person and if that product is effective or not.”

Larry has started to use Media Sourcery’s solutions to help track medical cannabis for Nature’s Key Edibles. Founded by veteran Nathan Richter, Oklahoma company Nature’s Key has created, among other solutions, a medical cannabis product, Battle Buddy, to help veterans with PTSD. The “audit trail” of medical cannabis as it moves through the supply chain will soon be tracked using Media Sourcery software and the Topl Blockchain, offering proof of provenance.

Recycling Wind Turbines

Media Sourcery has recently partnered with Houston-based Everpoint Services, a wind and energy services company involved with inspections and recycling of wind turbines, solar arrays, and batteries. Media Sourcery is building tech solutions for these core areas, including wind turbine recycling.

Currently, a low-tech solution exists for tracking wind turbines and proving recycling. Media Sourcery is working on a solution backed by the Topl Blockchain that would track digitally and more comprehensively, helping to give life to a “circular economy” of recycling.

“Just like Covid kits, we’ll have this track… and then, in the end, we can offer proof of recycling,” Larry says. “The blockchain is the ledger. It is where we’re putting all of the tracks.”

Carbon Credits

Data points from wind turbine recycling, Larry noted, could be used to calculate carbon credits. And since these data points are stored on Distributed Ledger Technology, if the method for calculating carbon credits changes, the data can be used to recalculate — transparently. Larry explained that Media Sourcery is working with a partner to track trees, presenting a similar opportunity. Using a dendrometer and the Media Sourcery tech stack, he says, “You can track how much carbon a tree is sequestering.”

This data can be kept on the Topl Blockchain. “We make all that data available, so it is as transparent as possible,” Larry says. “That will make people trust the system.”

Kim noted that Topl is constructing an economy for transacting carbon credits and other impact credits, an approach that will prevent double-spending. “One of the things we’re doing is creating this environment where you can create these creative carbon credits,” she explained.

Further, the Topl Blockchain has the capacity to register and certify carbon and other impact credits, meaning the Topl Blockchain can track, tokenize, and transact these credits — covering the credit creation and sale process from beginning to end. Kim noted that Topl is working with partners to build and connect such a market right now.

On the Next Episode

Mark your calendar for the second episode! October’s edition of Purpose, Planet Profit will put Topl in conversation with Seedtrace, a Berlin company that maps the supply chain journey of an array of impact-driven products. Tune in on October 20 at 11:30 to watch and listen.

Editor’s Note: Purpose, Planet, Profit is a live podcast that airs every third Wednesday of the month at 12:00 pm ET. Our podcast is produced by Let’s Talk Supply Chain, and episodes will have a supply chain focus. Each will feature a Topl founder and a guest. After brief segments providing Topl and ESG news updates, the main event, the guest interview, begins.