The largest multi-port operator of India, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), has partnered with the blockchain-based supply chain solution platform TradeLens. APSEZ plans to integrate TradeLens’s blockchain solutions across 10 of its major courier management facilities across ports in six Indian states — four in Gujarat and one each in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Digitizing to curb supply chain shortcomings exposed by the pandemic According to the local business news outlet, Business Line, APSEZ’s move to digitize its supply chains comes as an effort to reduce the impact of vulnerabilities of the …

Ontology recently partnered with German digital identity and cloud wallet provider, Spherity, to collaborate on expediting development on digital identity solutions for products and enterprises. The partnership will see Spherity’s Cloud-Edge wallet integrate with Ontology’s (ONT) blockchain, and allow Ontology to use Spheriy’s Decentralized Digital Identity solutions. The two firms will work together on creating proof-of-concept pilots demonstrating applications for digital identity within the context of supply chain, mobility, and pharmaceuticals — leveraging Spherity’s existing customer base. Ontology and Spherity will also collaborate on research and marketing initiatives. Identity solutions target the supply chain Spherity CEO, Dr. Carsten Stöcker, told …

U.S. berry producer California Giant Berry Farms joined the blockchain-based food tracking solution IBM Food Trust. Fruit and vegetable news outlet The Packer reported on May 17 that California Giant will use a blockchain to share data between all the points of its supply chain. The firm employs Glassbit’s Glasschain IBM Food Trust integration compliance as a service solution. According to California Giant’s senior director of operations Thomas Taggart, the integration with IBM’s blockchain network will allow the firm and its partners to find ways to improve the efficiency of product transportation. Senior director of global food safety at Walmart, …

Blockchain has become one of the most discussed technologies in relation to supply chain management, given its ability to provide transparency and traceability within a number of value chains. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently published a report titled “Blockchain Application in Seafood Value Chains” to raise governmental and international awareness on the role of blockchain in the seafood industry. Key points highlighted throughout the document point to regulatory concerns that arise with global trade, appropriate use cases for blockchain and challenges — such as scalability and interoperability — that need to be addressed in order …

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Rupert Colchester, the head of blockchain at IBM Australia and New Zealand, discussed how distributed ledger technology is transforming supply chain systems worldwide. Colchester also provided insight into some of IBM’s current blockchain initiatives and the state of the industry in Australia, and he shared his excitement for the emerging era of digitization that DLT is driving. Cointelegraph: What is the state of blockchain adoption within Australia at present? Is Australia behind or ahead of the curve regarding DLT? Rupert Colchester: I think Australia's progress on DLT as a technology over the past two years …

Australian livestock tracking platform Aglive has completed a pilot that monitored shipments of beef to China. Aglive’s trial was launched during late-January and was conducted in partnership with global shipping logistics company DB Schenker and industry body Meat and Livestock Australia. The pilot saw cattle tracked from Macka’s cattle farm in regional New South Wales to an abattoir located in the same state. From there, frozen beef products were tracked across the supply chain as the meat was transported by land freight interstate to Queensland, and then shipped to Shanghai — ensuring that the products were stored under safe conditions …

VeChain and Mastercard are among the heavy hitters backing the new APAC Provenance Council, which has already secured millions in funding for supply chain tracking and financing pilots throughout the Asia Pacific region. The consortium will provide comprehensive solutions for authenticating and tracking food, wine and produce using blockchain, with a particular focus on the $76 billion of exports from Australia to China. Payments will be courtesy of Mastercard outside of China, and Alipay Australia for goods headed to China. Products can be tracked using VeChain as the public blockchain or Mastercard Provenance as the permissioned ledger. Supply chain tracking …

This week’s headlines from Japan included Rakuten Wallet, GMO Coin and DMM crypto exchanges achieving regulatory registration, SBI Holdings' VC Trade exchange announcing a 1,700% increase in fiscal year pre-tax profit, and SBI Holdings' CEO calling out the supply chain amid the coronavirus pandemic. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. Japanese exchange gains financial instruments license Crypto exchange, Rakuten Wallet, now holds status as a Kanto Finance Bureau-registered operation, "as a first-class financial instruments business operator based on the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act," the company announced on May 1. At …

Kentucky Fried Chicken has rolled out a blockchain pilot program across the Middle East aimed at improving digital advertising and media buying. KFC Middle East expects the blockchain-powered platform to ensure greater transparency in the advertising supply chain, news publication AMEinfo reported on April 29. By deploying the platform, the company also looks to address issues like security and privacy of advertisers, publishers and consumers. Making ads data transparent on a shared database The pilot aims to show how blockchain can help improve data processing, increase the brand’s visibility and penetration, and optimize advertising revenue. Additionally, KFC hopes to resolve …

Aergo and Blocko, two blockchain firms backed by both Samsung and Sequoia Capital, announced the launch of a regional consortium intended to bolster the adoption of innovative technologies across the Middle East, African, and South East Asian (MEASEA) regions on April 27. The organization, Execution Intelligence Group (E24P) seeks to promote ‘smart’ governance, tourism, supply chain, and finance solutions that leverage blockchain coupled with artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, E24P comprises Aergo, Blocko, remittance startup Topos, Abu Dhabi’s Al Nahyan family — one of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) six ruling families, and “a leading UK and China-based research institute.” DLT …

Shortages of personal protective equipment, or PPE, used by health care professionals are posing a tremendous challenge to the United States health care system as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PPE helps protect health care personnel from potentially infectious patients and materials. The CDC recently released a guide on strategies to optimize supplies of PPE. In addition to these guidelines, technology solutions are being implemented to enable more trustworthy information and accelerated discovery, resilience and adaptation to meet current medical supply demands. For example, technology giant IBM launched its Rapid …

The World Economic Forum published a report looking at how the deployment of blockchain-based solutions can address the supply chain inefficiencies and failures that have been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside the report, the WEF has released a blockchain deployment toolkit intended to assist government and businesses in adapting their supply chains to the current economic climate and to “accelerate an economic rebound post-COVID-19.” World Economic Forums advocates DLT to restart the economy The report, published April 28, asserts that the resilience of private and public supply chains have been tested amid the coronavirus outbreak — citing the supply …