As governments clamp down on security and safety practices of international shipping companies to prevent illicit goods making it across borders and packages vanishing, FedEx CIO has demanded that blockchain technology should be used as a standard for international shipping companies. Speaking at Revolution Global Conference, Robert Carter – FedEx CIO – said that governments need to mandate that blockchain technology must be used in international shipping. FedEx joined the Hyperledger Hub back in September 2018, and is now using this technology to track every package in its care.
Cutting Down on Counterfeit and Illegal Goods
Carter went on to explain that currently, it’s too easy for illicit goods and counterfeit products to flow through the international shipping world, and blockchain technology could help cut it out. A standardized blockchain for international shipping would create a chain of custody to track the provenance of goods more efficiently. This would then allow government agencies to stem the influx of counterfeit goods and illegal substances by tracking them back to the sender or point of entry to the supply chain process.
Supply Chain Management Heading On-Chain
It isn’t just FedEx that feels this way, a vast number of companies are turning to blockchain technology to help secure their supply chains. Gazprom recently announced that it had successfully completed a pilot program to track its gas supplies from fields to consumers using RFID tags and blockchain technology to record the data. As well, Carico Café Connoisseur has deployed blockchain technology to allow consumers to verify the authenticity of their coffee beans. With millions of tons worth of fake beans entering the market every year, blockchain technology in the supply chain helps to keep products authentic and provably genuine.
Blockchain Provides Numerous Benefits
Blockchain technology provides an incredible range of benefits to companies that deploy it, ranging from increased cost savings all the way to added security. Each package will have its entire journey recorded on a blockchain, allowing shipping firms to highlight issues causing delays or items to go missing. By using all this data, shipping firms can streamline the entire shipping process to make it faster and therefore cheaper – hello better corporate earnings announcements!
Blockchain technology is already active in the industry, and FedEx is calling for governments to mandate it in the industry. Virtually all shipping firms use some form of ledger technology, and by making it distributed the industry will become far more secure and transparent. Carter finished his talk by saying:
“you’re the government. You can mandate that it’s widely adopted.”
