Blockchain, a chain of blocks converted into a certification chain

There was a time when lack of knowledge prevented consumers and businesses from authenticating things, be it equipment, supply chains or documents. Now, blockchain is beginning to emerge as extraordinary certifying technology.

Several experts discussed the potential strengths of Blockchain during a recent broadcast of the SAP Startup Focus with Game Changers radio program entitled, "Blockchain, Trust and Startups," presented by Bonnie D. Graham. Ethical supply chains The group came together at one point: each industry can benefit from the digital confidence base of blockchain. Peter Ebert, Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Cryptowerk, demonstrated a case of blockchain use that helped the pharmaceutical industry better track drugs. During the radio show, he placed blockchain as an incredible fighter against fraud that supports ethical supply chains, as well as end-to-end visibility for regulators. "If you buy something ... you want to make sure that there is no child labor involved, that the raw materials were obtained fairly, that you do not pay for a counterfeit thinking that it is the original," said Ebert. "Many different laws in various industries require knowing where something was sent from, when it was delivered or returned. The intrinsic confidence of blockchain automates the need to store all these events. " Security in the heavens Drew Hingorani, CEO of AI-BlockChain, told how a plane crashed when a member of the maintenance crew placed a mechanical jack in the wrong place. "There was an incompatibility between a lubricant and a set screw: the right screw has a different composition. If you trace the parts of a jet engine, which is a use case we're talking about today, you can actually solve that problem using the blockchain technology, "Hingorani said.

Fight against fraud Ebert agreed that aerospace engineering was a compelling use case for blockchain. "You have pieces that are very expensive, they change from one plane to another, and suddenly you have a part that does not come from where you thought it would come from. It does not comply with the quality metrics that are required, and you meet your loved ones sitting in a plane where, even if they are only five parts, they are not what they are supposed to be. That is very scary, "he said. Detect fakes anywhere Ebert thinks that the same authenticity scenarios are true for business software. "We see things where you see an image, you watch a video, and you hear someone talking and you think you know who it is and it sounds and it looks completely authentic, but it is not," he said. "The same foundations of our confidence can be shaken by other technologies, blockchain can come and automate this confidence ... at some point, you will not trust a document that comes before you, unless it is anchored in a chain of blocks in some way" . Confidence in blockchain Andreas Fichter, Network of Innovation Centers of SAP, predicted the eventual appearance of blockchain as the new standard for trust, whether in tracking documents, 3D printing or any type of digital asset in companies and in consumer space. "Paper is dead, everything will be digitized, and there will be a new expectation when it comes to trusting these new digital records and how we do business," he said. "We'll probably get to the point where people will say, why did not we do it before, or why was it so complicated before?"