The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a dramatic shift to digital transformation as millions of employees began to work from home. Now, with pandemic disruptions suppressing global supply chains; manufacturers, ship operators and importers are switching from paper to digital transactions using blockchain technology, reports Enda Curran in Bloomberg.
As discussed in a previous post, blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger of transactions that records data in a way that prevents hacking and altering of the data. Among its many benefits, blockchain provides secure data sharing that is necessary for trade. One organization already using blockchain technology to make trade easier is Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), a Hong Kong-based nonprofit technology consortium that simplifies trade using blockchain. Its product Cargo Release has reduced the process of physical document exchange at Shanghai port from as many as three days to just two hours.
“There’s no more people going to a shipping line counter to present documents,” GSBN Chief Executive Bertrand Chen told Bloomberg.
How Blockchain Creates Transparency in the Food Supply Chain
Blockchain is doing more than helping companies cut back on paperwork. It’s also creating better transparency, safety, and traceability, according to Maclean’s. Particularly within the food supply chain, blockchain’s digital ledger provides consumer insight into the products they purchase from farm to table. Before they find their way into kitchen pantries, food products make their way through a long chain of stakeholders: farmers to truckers to manufacturers to importers and exporters to government agencies to grocery stores. If anything goes wrong, such as a food recall, locating the offending product can be near impossible. As a result, producers and suppliers in these situations are often forced to throw away the entire product inventory, constituting an enormous waste.
However, Erik Valiquette, president of the Canadian Blockchain Supply Chain Association, told Maclean’s that replacing the current process with a blockchain-enabled system that can store “timestamped activity and verify transactions throughout the food supply chain,” in conjunction with “artificial intelligence, robotics, scanners and the internet of things” will create a more “efficient and transparent” infrastructure.
How Blockchain Prevents Fraud in the Supply Chain
Blockchain can also reduce and prevent fraud. As various stakeholders input data along the supply chain, any inaccurate or fraudulent data is tracked and stored, which can be used to hold accountable anyone who inputs bad information. This accountability makes altering or melding with product data much more difficult.
“All players will be forced to take a step back, look at their processes and make sure that the data-entry mechanisms are accurate,” says Valiquette. “Will that keep an actor from putting in bad information? Probably not. But by automating certain processes, talking with industry partners, and building a system together, the chances of bad information are greatly reduced.”
The global supply chain’s adoption of blockchain is just taking off. As companies continue to struggle, the need to integrate this emerging technology into the supply chain will only become greater.
Preparing Your Industry for Blockchain Technology
In addition to the supply chain, many fields can benefit from distributed ledger technology. Check out Enterprise Blockchain for Healthcare, IoT, Energy, and Supply Chain to learn about highly anticipated use cases.
Developed by leading experts in blockchain technology, this five-course program is ideal for managers, professional engineers, and business leaders.
Contact an IEEE Content Specialist to learn more about how this program can benefit your organization.
Interested in getting access for yourself? Visit the IEEE Learning Network (ILN) today!
Resources
Curran, Enda. (15 November 2021). Blockchain to Ease Logjams as Supply Chains Ditch Paper for Digital. Bloomberg.
Sing, Nathan. (11 November 2021). How blockchain could revolutionize food supply chains—and lower your grocery bill. MacLean’s.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has the power to connect all devices through a cloud-based ecosystem. In the future, it could potentially undergird the infrastructure of smart cities. This would make communications far more streamlined and efficient than they are today. However, a major obstacle for IoT is that it still depends largely on centralized platforms. This can make sensitive data vulnerable to hackers.
Blockchain technology has the potential to fix this problem. As discussed in a previous post, blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger of transactions. It records data in a way that prevents hacking and altering of the data. It does this by duplicating transactions and dispersing them to “nodes” across the network.
Blockchain would allow contracts known as “smart contracts” to be completed autonomously in a decentralized manner. This creates a web of connected devices that gives users control over their own data.
Unfortunately, there are obstacles preventing a full merger between blockchain and IoT. Currently, all IoT devices that “talk” to each other must be on the same blockchain. Similar to how the internet runs on a vast web of servers, a future IoT will need to rely on a network of blockchains. As such, scalability is a major obstacle to merging IoT and blockchain. Current blockchains have yet to reach this level of maturity.
While there are obstacles, the integration of blockchain and IoT would be revolutionary. It would create a record of every transaction made on the IoT, which cannot be altered, making data far more secure. Additionally, it would streamline the entire supply chain—from manufacturing lines to consumers. This would give every stakeholder access to documentation when required. Furthermore, a fully integrated blockchain and IoT will make industries that rely on one another, such as insurance companies and supply chain logistics, interconnected and seamless.
How IoT and Blockchain Can Revolutionize Healthcare and Finance
COVID-19 has created a logistical nightmare for both vaccine distributors and health care workers worldwide. Two of the most common vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, must be kept at below zero degree temperatures or they will degrade. This vaccine challenge is a primary example of how blockchain and IoT can work in tandem to streamline operations and enhance distribution.
As discussed in a previous post, vaccine manufacturers can place IoT sensors on vaccine packaging or even on individual vials. These sensors allow distributors to track and monitor their location and temperature during delivery. They also help quickly spot and fix problems as they arise. When the vials arrive at vaccination centers, health care workers can scan the packages to get immediate access to important information about the quality of vaccines.
Blockchain and IoT also have the power to revolutionize finance through smart payments. For example, JPMorgan Chase & Co recently piloted blockchain payments between satellites orbiting Earth. As an experiment, the bank worked with a nanosatellite supplier called GOMspace, which gave them the ability to run software on their satellites. The test revealed that blockchain networks can fuel transactions between devices. It also demonstrated that it’s possible to build a marketplace where satellites send data to one another in exchange for money. Such a system, for example, could allow a smart refrigerator connected to the IoT to order food from an e-commerce site when it runs low. It could also give an autonomous vehicle the ability to buy gas.
While obstacles for blockchain and IoT remain, a merger between the two has the potential to radically impact our world.
Understand Enterprise Blockchain for Your Industry
What other industries can benefit from blockchain technology? Get Enterprise Blockchain for Healthcare, IoT, Energy, and Supply Chain, a five-course program from IEEE, to find out. Developed by leading experts in blockchain technology, this advanced program provides business use cases across key industries and sectors. It’s ideal for managers, professional engineers, as well as business leaders.
Contact an IEEE Content Specialist to learn more about how this program can benefit your organization.
Interested in getting access for yourself? Visit the IEEE Learning Network (ILN) today!
Resources
Chai, Raullen. (7 May 2021). Internet of Trusted Things: Democratizing IoT. IoT for All.
(24 March 2021). The Future of the Internet Of Things with Blockchain. Manufacturing Business Technology.
Kavinsky, Marc. (10 March 2021). How Are Blockchain And IoT Helping COVID Vaccine Shipments? IoT Business News
Irrera, Anna. (24 February 2021). JPMorgan’s blockchain payments test is literally out of this world. Reuters.
The COVID-19 pandemic is fueling reliance on remote work, thereby increasing the need for cloud computing in organizations.
The video conferencing platform Zoom has received a 300% day-to-day increase in use, according to a JPMorgan study. Additionally, Microsoft’s collaboration platform Teams saw a jump in 12 million daily users the week of March 18. In India, 64% of organizations are expected to transition to cloud computing amidst the pandemic. In Europe, a cloud computing project dubbed Gaia-X—a collaboration between the European Commission and the French and German governments—aims to create a European-based cloud environment that will lessen the continent’s dependence on private companies.
“Cloud computing, which has been touted for its flexibility, reliability and security, has emerged as one of the few saving graces for businesses during this pandemic,” writes Evan Ellis, CEO and President of K2, in Forbes. “Its use is critical for companies to maintain operations, but even more critical for their ability to continue to service their customers. However, many organizations have lost sight of the original purpose of the cloud and are therefore failing to fully harness its potential.”
The Benefits of Transitioning to the Cloud
Without cloud computing, this large-scale dependence on remote work would not be possible. As the pandemic pushes more organizations to rely on the cloud, it will likely speed a shift from hybrid public-private cloud models to fully-integrated cloud models. According to David Linthicum, Chief Cloud Strategy Officer at Deloitte Consulting LLP, the benefits of fully transitioning to the cloud include:
1) Flexible storage: Because the public cloud is more flexible than physical storage, it offers benefits such as virtual servers that don’t need to be managed manually, quick access to on-demand storage with no limit to the amount you can store, and the ability to embed resiliency.
2) The ability to shift processes to different areas in the cloud and maneuver around disruptions.
3) Enhanced security features including identity advanced encryption in flight and at rest, multifactor authentication (MFA), access management (IAM), and biometrics.
4) Advanced remote control over assets in the public cloud in situations where physical assets cannot be accessed, such as the current situation of widespread business closures during the pandemic.
How to Adopt Fully to the Cloud
To transition fully to the cloud, Ellis recommends the following steps:
1) Have a plan: Make an assessment of your current infrastructure before moving forward.
2) Prepare your apps: Some apps may already be ready to move to the cloud, while you may need to be modernize or replace others.
3) Make the commitment to transition fully to the cloud: Enable and train your users to utilize apps in the cloud. Additionally, prepare to adapt to a cloud system that will require smaller and more frequent updates.
Understand the Challenges
Before moving forward, you’ll need to consider the challenges involved. First, inexperienced IT professionals may inadvertently expose private data when transitioning data to the public cloud—meaning it is vital to make sure they are properly trained before making the transition. Second, it’s important to have a good understanding of how much storage you will need to provision before you make the switch.
“The overall message here is that there is value in looking at potential cloud computing solutions,” writes Linthicum. “When the crisis passes and IT falls into a ‘new normal’ routine, enterprises should assess how well they fared through the event by checking in with their ops teams. If your ops teams have worked regular days during the crisis, chances are you had the right mix of cloud or noncloud technology. A stressed ops team could mean there is much that can be improved.”
Understand the Cloud
Learn more about the benefits and challenges of cloud computing and how it pertains to your organization. Check out the Cloud Computing Course Program, which offers 37 self-paced courses focused on various aspects of cloud computing technologies.
Contact an IEEE Content Specialist for more details about getting access to this program for your organization.
Interested in getting the program for yourself? Visit the IEEE Learning Network today.
Resources
(3 June 2020). 64% Indian firms to adopt cloud computing amid COVID-19 pandemic: IDC. The News Minute.
Potoroaca, Adrian. (4 June 2020). France and Germany back plans to create a European cloud computing ecosystem dubbed Gaia-X. TECHSPOT.
Linthicum, David. (26 May 2020). Leveraging The Cloud During The Pandemic. Forbes.
Ellis, Evan. (22 May 2020). The Current Pandemic Gives Cloud Computing A Needed Jolt. Forbes.