The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared war on the corona virus also at the digital level. On March 28, the organization joined forces with several companies that already use the blockchain technology to develop a platform to collect and share data to fight the virus. Among them are IT groups such as IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and the blockchain company Hacera. In future, regional data on the spread of the pandemic will be summarised and evaluated on the “MiPasa” platform. The information will be exchanged between government agencies, health authorities, but also individuals. The Blockchain provides significant advantages: At the same time, the data can be transmitted and stored securely and always up-to-date and verifiable.

One of the pioneers in this field is the IT group IBM, which was once the largest manufacturer of personal computers, but has specialized in software, big data analysis and now blockchain technologies for many years. With its blockchain platform IBM Food Trust, retailers can trace the origin and whereabouts of individual goods, such as fresh fish or vegetables, back to the manufacturer in virtually real-time. What used to take days or weeks of research can now be retrieved in seconds. If you are intere

Customers of the IBM platform include large retail chains such as the French company Carrefour. By 2022, it wants to enable the traceability of hundreds of fish products in all 12,000 stores. Customers will then be able to scan a QR code on the packaging and receive all information about the origin of a product.

By using the blockchain, however, the companies are by no means only concerned with strengthening consumer confidence and guaranteeing the freshness of fish. The example of the luxury goods group LVMH shows this. With the technology companies Consensys and Microsoft, the French have created an application based on Blockchain that can be used to verify luxury goods. This means that the trade with cheap copies is massively hindered – and that one’s own brand can be strengthened and revenues tend to increase.

The market for blockchain applications will grow even faster, also due to corona expansion. Experts estimate that the volume will grow from $1.5 billion in 2018 to $23.3 billion in 2023. In the view of Gartner’s market researchers, the service and transport industries will benefit most from this. The blockchain already plays an important role in the financial sector. The growth drivers are: Greater efficiency, more transparency in the movement of goods and the controllability or verification of goods. Achievements that are more in demand than ever in the corona crisis.

(Read the full article on Medium)

180 million Euros.

That’s about how much the EU has invested in blockchain-related Research and Innovation projects. How much for projects in the category “Environment”? Well.. 1%.

With Environment being on top of government’s agenda, we have good hopes at PositiveBlockchain that this trend will change. And this was exactly the point of the workshop held in Brussels on the 14.01 on the initiative of the EPE and hosted by the Sustainable Development Observatory of the European Economis and Social Comitte (EESC). The event gathered experts from various institutions, representatives from the commission, research organizations and companies working in the fields of blockchain for SDGs with a focus on Climate Change and Sustainability.

A new man-on-moon moment

Goal of the workshop was to propose to include blockchain and DLTs in the program of the upcoming European Climate Pact which will be launched in March 2020 as part of the EU Green Deal, the so-called “man-on-moon moment” announced recently by the EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The plan has the ambition to reach a total of 100 billion euros of funds in the next seven years and will be the horsepower of the “new European growth strategy”.

Participants have all acknowledged the transformative potentials of blockchain and DLTs to fight Climate Change. Presentations addressed potential benefits ob blockchain to fight Climate Change, streamline carbon certification exchanges, create incentives for individuals and organizations, provide transparency and trust in supply chains and food systems, etc. Potential ways forward as well as risks and current challenges of the technology (e.g. energy consumption) have also been addressed.

The slides presented by PositiveBlockchain are available here: http://bit.ly/EU-EPE-workshop

You’ll find in the slides an overview of:

• what is PositiveBlockchain and what are the key analytics of our projects database
• what are the EU initiatives in blockchain for SDGs/Climate Change: Ledger, Decode, P2P2 Models, My Health My Data, Next Generation Internet, PlasticTwist, Blockchain for Good Prize, etc.
• what are the main organizations fostering innovation, conducting valuable researches, curating communities and shaping the ecosystem of blockchain for SDG/Climate Change.

You may also want to read this previous article we wrote about 13 organizations and communities watching blockchain for good.

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