WEF has created a set of blockchain tools for supply chains.
While the internet has enabled a world where supermassive digital files can be sent globally in seconds, the world’s shipping orders have largely been trapped in 1950s accounting technology, relying more on paper bills of lading and phone calls to document the shipment of goods, than the benefits of online commerce. The modernization of this process has largely been hamstrung by two factors: competitors (and even partners) who don’t trust each other with valuable accounting records and therefore keep largely redundant files that need to be constantly audited; and then there are certain legal responsibilities that come with accepting one of those paper bills of lading and the accompanying goods.
In theory, the solution to both these problems could be blockchain, the accounting technology behind bitcoin that lets strangers do business with each other without sharing their personal information and that can prove a digital object is only in one place at a time. So, in September 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) started looking into the world’s aging supply-chain infrastructure and how blockchain could fix it. Back then, few people outside the blockchain world cared about food supply chains. While foodborne illnesses were estimated to cost the U.S. $90 billion in revenue annually, that was just a fraction of the $660 billion in revenue generated by the supermarket and grocery store industry.
WEF has created a set of blockchain tools for supply chains.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a set of tools on the blockchain Redesigning Trust, which will help solve some of the problems in the supply chain.
According to the Forbes report, the WEF-developed Redesigning Trust toolkit for deploying blockchains should help create an ecosystem with minimal functionality (MVE) for supply chain participants that will help automate their systems and transfer some processes to a common distributed registry.
WEF has joined forces with 80 leading firms and 20 governments to develop blockchain tools to make it easier for as many companies as possible to implement innovative technologies that will solve some problems in supply chain tracking.
Analysts used the data to create a comprehensive guide on blockchain capabilities in supply chains and how market participants can replace legacy systems with a more modern solution.
Project Manager Nadia Hewitt commented on the development and said that if everything goes according to plan, the project will ensure the completion and implementation of hundreds of evidence of the concept, which could potentially increase the transparency and efficiency of supply chains.
In particular, the new toolkit focuses on the ecosystem of food and energy supply chains. The guide describes how participants in these industries can create an ecosystem with minimal functionality (MVE) on the blockchain to launch food supplies.
WEF notes that MVE should consist of at least one retailer, a wholesale processing plant, a bank, a distribution center, a retail processing plant, and a regulator. MVE participants will be able to exchange information in real-time, anticipate a shortage of goods, and determine the exact temperature of food products at every point in the life cycle of the supply chain.
Meanwhile, AB InBev, a beer company, will track shipments through the blockchain. At the same time, Canada wants to track the supply of steel through the blockchain. Lufthansa uses blockchain in logistics.
