Technology giant IBM has advised the British Columbia (B.C.) government to use blockchain technology to track the entire supply chain of legal marijuana.
As Canada prepares for the legalization of recreational, non-medical cannabis next year, US technology giant IBM has urged the B.C. government to adopt blockchain technology to track the marijuana supply chain, from seed to sale.
In its submission to the B.C. government’s public consultation on cannabis regulation, IBM wrote in a document, now available on the government’s website:
IBM suggests Blockchain is an ideal mechanism in which BC can transparently capture the history of cannabis through the entire supply chain, ultimately ensuring consumer safety while exerting regulatory control – from seed sale.
Blockchain technology will help ensure health and safety of consumers while preventing fraud and counterfeiting of the product, IBM said, underlining blockchain technology as “one of this decade’s technical disruptors.” The technology will “reduce or eliminate black market sales completely” by ensuring the provincial government take control of sourcing, pricing and selling of the products and producers will also benefit with real-time inventory management and awareness of supply and demand, IBM added.
IBM is a major early mover in the blockchain space, offering commercial platforms for enterprises and services for governments alike. Still, IBM’s submission doesn’t publicize its own blockchain offerings, choosing instead to highlight the advantages of adopting blockchain technology for the legal marijuana industry.
“An interconnected Blockchain network can assist retailers identify supply/demand gaps, ways to mitigate those gaps, providing feedback mechanisms to producers and use data to create predictive insights,” the 3-page summary concluded.